From the annual Harris Interactive Poll on prestigious occupations comes this shocker:
Lookee who is sitting firmly at the bottom of the list.
And this is nothing new. Harris added real estate agent / broker to their poll in 2003 and we’ve been at the bottom every year with the exception of 2005 when we were just (barely) above stock brokers.
Oy.
Why might this be? Why does John Q. Public have such a lowly opinion of the real estate agent?
Could it be the absurdly low entry “barrier”? Let’s face it, all it takes is some butt-time in “real estate school” and an ample checking account balance to get a real estate sales license. If you are 18 and take 90 hours of “education” you can have a real estate license in as little as nine days. Heck, in Arizona, you don’t even need to complete any high school to get a real estate license. Contrast this to getting certified as a nail technologist. For that you need almost 6 times as much education and 2 years of high school.
Or maybe it just boils down to the silly things some real estate agents do.
Things like setting up email auto-responders that say, “For Monday, August 10th I will be checking emails from 9-10 am and 2-3 pm”. Or worse, follow the advice of some real estate sales guru’s who will instruct you to only answer email for 30 minutes in the afternoon. This is done so you “appear busy” to some nameless “lead”.
What a crock of poo.
Or maybe it’s blog post titles like, “Suck Highly Targeted Leads In Like A Shop Vac”. This article contains such nuggets as:
Watch this video it’s got all the gory details on how you can use it to get a ton of new leads in your sales funnel. You’ll need a towel to mop up the drool you’re going to have all over your keyboard when you get a load of this
Doesn’t this make us sound oh-so-intelligent?
To be fair, this didn’t come from a real estate agent. It’s from a “real estate internet marketing strategist” that I suspect is wildly successful because agents tend to throw money at anything that has a glimmer of hope for landing the ever-elusive sales commission.
I just finished spending a week in San Francisco at three separate real estate conference-like events. It was full of some brilliant people. I’m talking very intelligent, thinking WAY outside the box, leading edge thinker type folks. I know our industry is full of this kind of person.
Problem is, it’s often full of something else.
Hat tip to the ever brilliant Jonathan Miller for the Harris poll chart/link.
Email This Post
Print This Post
Next post: [ The End of the McMansion? New home sizes fall for first time in 15 years ]
Thanks for reading! We value your thoughts and opinions, so please feel free to leave a comment. Please contact us if you have any questions or need help. You can also get automatic updates for this blog free via:
{ 36 comments }
Well put. Keep this kind of conversation at the forefront of an award-winning blog like this one, and maybe more will get done to fix the situation. A lot of folks talk about increasing the barrier to entry and nobody seems ready to actually do it. At least not that I can discern. Meanwhile, dues revenues keep driving the budgets of most associations and MLSs (the more members, the better!) and education courses keep running through the same old same old (learn how to make an e-newsletter that really sizzles in 6 easy steps!) as class attendees goof with their smartphones during class and knit sweaters. Yes, I've seen a REALTOR® knitting in class.
Just about every other industry in the world has standards. Our only standard is one's ability to write a check, fog a mirror and fake 'til you make it.
Problem is our association from the top down is run by people who are not in the business. They have job security as long as they “grow” the organization. It's not about quality, just quantity.
We need to have a minimum set of standards to be able to obtain a license. The COE is cool, but just doesn't cut it. Continuing Ed is a joke. We need serious benchmarks for education, understanding and competence.
On top of that we need to be evaluated. Ha! There I said it. Evaluation standards would raise the bar. We all would have to be accountable, in a transparent way.
Let's make it harder, so we too can have a little respect.
kk
It's funny, well… not really. I am still fairly new to the real estate industry – just about 2 years. Until I started working I actually did not have THAT bad of opinion of brokers/agents. Is there some reason the agent down the road can't put six photos of a house on the MLS so I don't look like a jerk while trying to show a client their “dream” home (wipes up sarcasm drips). I've met some wonderful people – including my brokers. Hard working, compassionate people, not robots. However, in our rural area, there are also several who are not educated enough to get a house on the MLS according to bare minimum standards, or sadly, too lazy.
Blogs like this, events like Inman, and Rebar camps go a long way to help change the perception, however, there is still the “something else” out there that hurts us all on a daily basis. Six photos people… can we start there?
Truly bizarre. I guess when it comes to real estate marketing, everybody has his own strategies even forgetting about ethics. Thanks for sharing this. By the way, I know a great Kentucky home that might interest you too. Thanks.
Let's not forget NAR's role in the public perception of Realtors. I am still feeling the backlash of our “professional” organization preaching “Its a great time to buy” as the market was tanking.
As to the entry “barrier” , it is much harder (by hundreds of hours) to get a hairdresser license than a real estate license in Tennessee.
Thank goodness for the conferences and forward thinking folks in our business. Its those folks, paired with the transparency of Web 2.0 that will make old school real estate practices obsolete.
@Greg & @Kristal – excellent points about membership numbers motivating the associations. We try to do our (very small) part in raising the bar by being selective in who we hire.
@Heather – you hit on one of my pet peeves — photos, or lack thereof. I simply do not get it.
@Peter – slipping that link in was really rather spammy. I removed it as it violates our no advertising policy.
@Joe – you don't even want to get me started on “it's a great time to buy”….
Joe, you hit on my latest pet peeve – I started to post to Twitter yesterday that I thought those radio ads terribly insincere … we've got to do a better job of cutting through the crap and boiling it down to value. Charts like this only reinforce that.
But Jay, I don't think it's a low barrier to entry – honestly. I mean, we all have the same barrier to entry, so why are some considered a professional and others a snake? IMO it's because of the consistency with which we conduct our business – good or bad, our individual actions on a daily basis determine how we our viewed as an industry.
An excellent point Jeremy. Let's face it, doctors and attorneys have a pretty high entry barrier and there are lousy doctors and attorneys too.
It really does boil down to our individual actions and the way we conduct ourselves. I think you can also throw brokers into the mix. Far too many brokers out there will bring someone into their brokerage that meet two simple qualifications: 1) they have a license; and 2) they have a pulse.
If more brokers would screen more stringently and hire agents like their business success depended on it, then the lousy agents would get weeded out. The typical brokerage model of “bring in as many as you can and hope they make a sale” is broken.
I feel a blog post coming on….
Jay, I think the low entry barrier plays some roll in our perception to the public. Many newer agents are acting much more professional than some of the old guard.
However, I think our behavior as an industry is also to blame. Too many of us are perceived as “salespeople” over “advisors” which lends to our bad reputation. No one wants to be sold anything.
@mattdollinger wrote an excellent post which I expanded on recently. More being an advisor and less being a salesperson will bring up our ratings to the general public – and improve the industry overall.
http://www.sandiegolifestyle.info/2009/08/real-...
Any thoughts?
The fact Congress ranks where they do discredits the entire poll/list/survey. Meh.
NAR's been talking abut raising the bar for a while now … getting anything through their system/bureaucracy is tedious and requires persistence and tenacity – tenacity that lends itself to complacency and never accomplishing anything of consequence. *
The only way anything is going to change is for brokers not to bring on crappy, do-nothing agents.
* I'm going to Chicago next month for just such a meeting.
As always – the nail took a whack on the noggin with this post, Jay.
One thing that does have me happy is the fact that we've lost over 500 agents in our area during the market shift. We ain't that big down here in East Gawgah anyway – so this loss means market share for those of us who do attempt to protect our reputation.
Two years ago – the GREC and GAR tried to increase the amount of CE credit required, and to improve and extend both the pre and post licensing courses. Got shot down – God forbid we'd make it HARDER to get a real estate license….
Navy Chief, Navy Pride
not sure i follow plz elaborate when you get a chance
Jay as usual I agree with 90% of what you say here, the only part I dont get is the email auto responder that says I will be checking my email from x-x and y-y today. I do not think that is a problem at all. While I do not do this, I think there are some very positive merits to it. If I am going to be busy with clients most of the day and I know of a time frame I will be available I think this could be a good practice. Not only that if you read the studies on how much time people waste on email each day, having a set time could make you a lot more productive.
OK so minor point, because I agree with just about everything you say. I personally do not mind agents typically suck. For us who try to go above and beyond for service it makes us look even that much better. 10% of agents in this business will always do 80% or more of the volume. Aim for the top, there is more room there.
Transparency and adapting to the communication style of our clients will bring us up somewhat on that list. I feel like even the best agents are still in the dark ages with their technology. I met an agent who carries his BlackBerry with him everywhere just in case a client emails he wanted to be able to get back to them right away. It was pretty horrifying to find out that he was still using a Yahoo mail account, and emails were only checked every few hours. A blackberry doesnt have much point if you have it setup wrong. Buying the technology does not make you a cutting edge savvy agent.
-Tyler
Point taken Dean. I've just never been a fan of auto-responders. They seem impersonal to me. At least the first example is dated and specific. This is good, unless the agent forgets to update it one day, at that point he'll look like either a buffoon, or someone who pays no attention to detail. The practice of saying you only check email once/day so you “look busy” is utterly ridiculous (and I wish I could find a link to that. It was some big shot Buffini like “guru” that suggests it). Here's an idea — instead of faking your volume of work, try actually working and being busy.
Maybe I'm just jealous that I can't rigidly schedule my day so that I know to the minute when I'll be able to check email. On second thought, I'm glad my schedule isn't that fixed. I check email basically continuously, unless I'm actively with a client. Seems to me the best way to provide customer service. That auto-response implies that if the agent gets an email at 3:01pm, it would not be responded to until the next day.
On the other hand, it's far better than an agent I talked once that said, “I try to check my email every week”.
LOVED your post Jeffrey. Highly recommend anyone that is reading this should stop and click on the link above in Jeffrey's comment.
OK, so I'm not a real estate agent/broker, but I've been working with/for you folks for 18 years (Arizona Assn of REALTORS). I've noticed that real estate people are always referencing the Harris prestige survey, but what does it really mean? It's a popularity contest… I mean LOOK at the top-rated occupations – they all have cool TV series or heroic movies about them – it's really more of a pop-coolness index. Yet where do people go when they want to sell or buy a home? A real estate agent!
For ages, the for-sale-by-owners (now we call them “unrepresented sellers” heh, heh) have hovered around 15% of the market. Surveys conducted by NAR consistently show that over 80% of recent home buyers and sellers survey would “probably” or “definitely” use the same agent.
I don't have my head in the sand… I hear the crazy stories, too; even if I can't define what it should be, I know there needs to be some fundamental change in the business. However, I'm just pointing out there is a disconnect between concern over a prestige rating and the public's appreciation of the role of the real estate agent in the transaction process. That's all I'm saying.
Ron LaMee
It is interesting that this survery was (1) conducted via phone, (2) included only 1010 responders which is then extrapolated to the Nation, and (3) only half of those (500) were asked to rate all the categories.
As people cancel their land lines, or resist calls from survey companies (privacy issues), I question as to how much of a cross-section of the Nation these survey companies really obtain. How many of us have clients that are likely to be sitting at home willing to answer these questions? How many of our clients still have land lines or answer them if they do? I personally don't put much stock in these phone surveys anymore because technology habits of the population has simply changed too much over the years.
As someone noted above, having the Congress, bankers and stockbrokers show up with such positive results really makes the survey questionable given the current mood of the country.
I think it has a lot to do with the perception or reality that agents/brokers are overpaid. I mean I don't know of any profession that people are making 3 times what they were 10 years ago. 10 years ago a house sells for 100k now it sells for 300k (we'll maybe during the boom). Commissions for listing and/or selling agents go from 3k to 9k??? For what, is there truly 3 times the amount of work to list a house or sell a house than 10 years ago? Is the average guy/gal that was making 40k ten years ago making 120k now doing the exact same job? Is any other profession on that list making 3 times what it was 10 years ago? I think the answer is no. Agents/brokers should be happy that they weren’t bested by used car salesmen. Really think about it, how many agents during the recent boom advised clients “hey this is crazy maybe you should buy in this market” I would bet nearly none. Funny agents claim to be reality experts and yet couldn't see the bubble? Yeah right, or was greed blinding them when it came to advising clients. Don't get me wrong people who signed the contract our responsible, but they were also seeking council from the experts.
Ken –
I think you're right (in part). There is a common perception that real estate agents make a lot of money. But the fact is, the vast majority of agents make very little. I don't recall the exact statistic, but the average annual income of an agent is something like $12,000. That's well below poverty level.
None the less, the perception that we're all loaded is out there. So I think you're right that this is a factor (though agents have generally been thought pretty poorly of by many for years prior to the run up).
For what it's worth, I've told many clients that they shouldn't buy or sell. And I wrote back in in 2005 that appreciation rates were not sustainable: http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/the-real-es... but again, I know there are agents out there preaching the “Now is a great time to buy!” mantra. And it may be — for some. But clearly not for everyone.
Thanks for the great input Ken!
Hey Ron, thanks for chiming in! I agree completely that this survey (and other similar ones) are really popularity contests. Love the “pop-coolness index” thought!
Elaine –
Survey sample sizes are weird. Through the magic of statistics, surveyors can poll 300 people and figure out who's going to be elected. Sometimes. And sometimes not.
Given the numbers, I can bet they didn't survey any of our clients!
I wouldn't call the results for bankers and stockbrokers positive. But given the record of Congress for the past dozen (or more) years, that they rank at all brings the whole survey into question!
Maybe we are comparing ourselves against that which we are not? Where do we stand against a retail sales person, car salesman, etc. ? I am surprised a stockbroker and union leader is higher rated, but how about the local municipal worker? You know, like a garbage guy? With all the trash I deal with I must rate higher or the same as him.
I wonder where “Handyman” would rank on that list? I remember a handyman in California who paid monthly visits to my neighbor's. By way of differentiation he drove a Mercedes, dressed in pressed white shirts and carried a brief case rather than a toolbox. He charged $75/hour and was, in his own words when I interrogated him on his business model, “always busy.” I envied him through and through, (I was a lowly $25/hr carpenter at the time), despite what John Q. might think of the average “Handyman.”
I'm reminded of him when I read this interesting post and comment chain because I can't help but think: “Who really cares how agents — or any profession — ranks?”
I'm a Nordstrom-service type agent, not a volume agent. I have 4 listings right now and 3 are pending. I focus my marketing on educating my sphere, and my “leads” are 98% referral-generated. It's an approach that led to ranking #1 agent in my office last year amongst 60+ agents, (and no, I don't have the plaque hanging on the wall) with this year shaping up about the same. I don't have competitors, as far as I'm concerned, other than the obstacles that stand between this moment and my clients' goals.
And I couldn't care for two seconds what John Q. thinks of my profession as a whole. I'm too busy serving my world class clients.
This just in from The Onion: “NAR Drops Realtor (r) in favor of new title 'Real Estate Scientific Firefighter' (r)”
and in a related story: “NAR Says 124% of Americans hold Its Members in 'Very Great Prestige'”
“…agents tend to throw money at anything that has a glimmer of hope for landing the ever-elusive sales commission.”
Well, maybe.
With the exception of the 1% of the agents out there who 'get it'- the ones like you, Dean, Callie, Dru, Nick, Steve, and a hundred or so others I've met at #evfns and #rebcphx, as well as the like-minded agents all over the country, if not the world who read your informative blog, I'd add “Except for doing anything and everything to effectively market their listings online.”
The other 99% of agents out there who just got into real estate to make the big money, to chase the commissions; well, you get out of it what you put in to it.
Mommas, don't let your babies grow up to be Realtors.
No Respect at all , I tell ya!!!
Real estate agents were portrayed back in the day as sly and misleading. I think that has changed, but the public's mental image hasn't. Real estate agents help person find the home of their dreams. I am sure that its all a matter of whom each persons has had contact with, but in general I think would should be respected alittle more.
From this week's Phoenix New Times cover article –
…”(Porn Star) Thomas tried different jobs — she attended real estate school, but never got her license.”
So even porno models say…”Well, I've tried most everything else that's worse…hey- how 'bout real estate sales?!”
See full story-
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2009-08-13/news/...
Thanks for sending this. Not sorry I read it, just sorry we are at the bottom B U T, Congress higher makes me question the method of gathering.
LOL
I hadn't seen this year's poll..but it figures…I'll just keep my mouth quiet…I have spent way too much time talking about this for years….sad…just sad!
Barry keeping quiet? Say it ain't so!
You're right, it figures and it's sad…
I have to be nice…this is your home and it would make me an unruly guest and I am not looking to get thrown out of any more joints…getting soft in my old age I guess…either that or I finally realized that if those who don't get it by now..still don't get it, then there's little hope for them.
I have to be nice…this is your home and it would make me an unruly guest and I am not looking to get thrown out of any more joints…getting soft in my old age I guess…either that or I finally realized that if those who don't get it by now..still don't get it, then there's little hope for them.
Thank for your practice and for someone who want to learn more on Repo Used Motorhomes For Sale check it now!
There are lots of pros trying to make a buck on real estate agents and it does work. I’ve gone to seminars as well where there are people who talk about how to get wealthy or be successful if you buy more seminars at a higher price, or join their club for a “nominal fee” each year and I watch them jump at it.
{ 1 trackback }