Ask An Ambassdor: Proving Your Value

Good evening Bill,

You are right agents who can prove their value will still continue to do fine. Others will go by the wayside! If you can adapt and adjust to changes you will thrive if not you should be looking for a another job.

Bill- once again, well said. We discussed using AI today when writing a blog. What I  think we miss is getting to know the blogger via their own voice. And yes...sharing something of yourself and hobbies, etc. lets them see who you are as well. 

Thought I'd stop by to tilt my hat to my old friend. ✌️

Bill well ,in my mind it's always been about showing your value and building a referral business over the years.  When I started we all 'technically' worked for the seller - which seemed odd to me until they created Buyers Agency.  Now, Agents that continue to showcase their value to their SOI whether that's thru blogs or whatever will weather whatever changes come down the pike.

I sold some land this year to buyers whose first message to me indicated they had also been to Algonquin Park in Canada, something I had mentioned in my About Me page online. That was the thing that started our conversation. So cool.

I have never enjoyed having to prove myself to others, if my actions don't give them the answers they need, then they aren't someone I really want to be dealing with anyway, haha.

I recently moved to a new market. Been hitting the blogging again hard. It works, but like anything else requires being consistent 

I have no idea where this lawsuit will land, however, for those of us who have worked hard, diligently and built a business of repeat and referral business because of who we are -- we will be fine.  I have been an ABR since 1995 (was actually one of the first in my county) and have proven my value over and over again.  It also has so much to do with the relationship you build with other Realtors, and there too, I have worked earnestly to have a good reputation and rapport with those I work with.  It all pays off! IMHO

As an agent, YOU are your product.

If you cannot pitch your product, you can only pitch price. This is why we see commission reductions. 

Liz and Bill!

It amazes me this is not being written about in all the Forums and news media reports.  

Serving primarily as a Listing Agent, I well know 99% of my listings sell with the help of a Cooperating Agent representing the Buyer.

Blogging is huge. The information found on the World Wide Web drives people to us. A niche makes us easier to find. 

I always ask, who referred you or how did you find me?  It makes me smile when the response is something like, you keep coming up everywhere when I search. 

What is nuts about that?  Nuttin!  

Manhattan has REBNY as our trade association rather than NAR, and we a finalizing the changes to decoupling commissions- set to go into effect on Jan 1, 2024. Proving value is an easy one for me. That said, the new model will introduce more more administrative steps with a buyer's commission agreement- as this was non-existent before. The new model will make the marketplace more difficult to buy and sell which was already more complicated here vs. most of the nation. On the flip side, it could make the process a bit more affordable for either party or perhaps both. I suspect it will be a wash in the longer term for condos and a far more complicated issue in co-op's where the co-op board, and not the seller, have final say over the price likely resulting in less transparency over pricing as deals get structured raising the price (public facing) with a non-public credit. I am sure there will be a lengthy list of pro's and con's as the process moves forward, but the certainty is that the change is happening.   

Liz and Bill Spear while REBNY attracts it's own controversies at the city and state level, we are not in the line of fire at a Federal level. That said, we see the direction that things are going with the government and the NAR, so we are proactively addressing it by decoupling commissions prior to receiving such scrutiny. Depending on how this all plays out- it might even be possible we decouple commissions, only to reverse it in time because it may provide less transparency than it would in the rest of the nation. While I don't know the realities of that scenario- I know for sure since co-op's represent about 70% of NYC sales, and the whole co-op sale process is very different that real property sales- that we can expect all sorts of problems in the decoupling process. Co-op boards are very protective of their prices- and if prices adjust because a buyer is now paying for all or some of their own commission- it's understandable that they might expect a lower purchase price. The co-op board might not permit the apartment to adjust to a lower price due to commission structure- so buyer and seller agree to non-public arrangements to occur at the closing table as an effective rebate. This has already been happening for years when boards reject buyers due to price- but it wasn't overly common. Now this commission aspect related change could cause many, many more deals to be structured this way- creating far less transparency in the marketplace- which is an unintended consequence of decoupling commissions. I suspect this will create chaos in the initial roll out period of these new policies that will be different from the national rollout. REBNY or the market itself will have to find ways to adjust (which I think is likely) or they go back to the current way of doing business (less likely) arguing that our business is different - which I think is true but not likely to sway the Justice department.  

My first 3500 or so blog posts were all real estate related and my ActiveRain rate of return was between 3 to 4 buyers per year and at least 1 listing per year.

Out of the blue I got clobbered by a AR troll who shut down my AR referral business and pretty much almost ended my real estate career. NAR did not protect the REALTOR (R) trademark and so I changed my way I blog and stuck it out.

Blogging is great, just be weary of the trolls… 🙂.

Most come out teling them they are looking for a Supra lock box key opener or a doorman.  Some are interested in your compensation.  Sorry wrong agent.

This is a hot topic especially now with the Burnett vs NAR trial going on right now here in Kansas City!  Our office has had many discussions about demonstrating value; whatever the outcome of the trial, many people will be more aware of exactly how we earn a living and discuss more details about commissions with their agent.

Thanks for sharing your wisdom and being an AR Ambassador. Do you happen to be familiar with the Indian Hills community in Cincinnati?  I have a friend that might be selling their estate home there in the next few months.

Hi Bill:

I think demonstrating our value to potential buyers and sellers has never been more important than now. Blogging is a very visible way to do that (when done well), in addition to staying in touch with past clients for referrals, and building positive relationships here.

Jeff

Very early on this platform, the idea of localism with a long tail was stated as being important and for those that followed that mantra the results were there and even through all of the transitions, they can still be rewarding.

We expect to see a sea change in our industry. Presenting our value to new clients will be a major issue in future success. Proving that value must follow so that we can then show additional clients why we should be properly compensated for our services.