Greg put me on this #RTB nonsense. I will say this: anyone who supports increased prelicensing requirements is a lazy coward who is deluding himself into mediocrity by legislation. They don’t want to compete with young whipper snappers, so they make it harder. Even the most innocuous opinion by Real Life Sheri is dead wrong. The responsibility for education lies with the practitioners, not with someone that’s disseminating information. I didn’t learn anything from my prelicensing except this: that my Real Estate Career was going to be filled with egomanical blowhards that were going to do their best to maximize the drama in a transaction. And that the state had the power to make me sit through 120 hours of nonsense before I could tell full grown adults that “this…is the living room.”
That’s the insanity of getting in bed with the government. When you advocate increased rules, you’re carrying a scorpion across the river and expecting something good to happen. The result will be destruction, always.
However, I’m certain that #RTB is to succeed. It’s a perfect example of Johnson’s law: All randomly generated bad ideas that benefit the government will find a willing partner in the government for their execution. See, the government doesn’t need to plot and scheme to get bigger. Once she attains a critical mass, people will kowtow and bring her offerings in the form of enslaving ideas. There is no conspiracy, there are no black helicopters. There is nothing but a bunch of morons abdicating their use of a brain and ceding what is rightly theirs to a government or trade organization. That’s enough to create massive growth in the government.
Ken Brand puts it nicely:
I don’t want to raise the bar, I want to take the steel bar and beat the crap out of the leaders (Broker’s/Sales Managers/Team Leaders/etc. who hire, support, allow, retain and reward people who violate natural laws of human interaction, common sense and professional conduct (as defined by our association).
He also gives the just deserts to the consumers that accept morons. When you advance the causes of government you are a friend to slavery, the worst kind of Uncle Tom imaginable. That will be your legacy, that will be your life: furthering the enslavement of mankind
The good news, though, is that there is always time to repent and turn your back on the evil you’re attempting to do. To raise your own bar and to embrace the competition that comes and beat it. To use experience–rather than the privileges of station–as a way to beat back the already low standards in the marketplace. Take continuing education, post licensing requirements off the table. Embrace competition from all sources. It makes competent people better and incompetent people cry to the government for solutions.
Pick a side, people.
Greg Swann says:
Well done, Chris. A profoundly important argument, and not just with respect to real estate.
February 17, 2010 — 6:58 am
Teri Lussier says:
>The responsibility for education lies with the practitioners, not with someone that’s disseminating information.
This is a serious concern with #RTB. Okay, that and the fact that it is now a hashtag- making it predestined to #fail but that’s another story.
If you pass off responsibility for your own education, your own standards, you are now abdicating the joy of raising the bar on yourself. What are we here for except to reach and stretch and strive and push our own selves- not push that responsibility onto another person. It has to come from within- willingly, joyfully, unthinkingly to have any real meaning.
To say to a governing body, here, take this responsibility from me, makes us slaves. How does creating professional slaves make a better profession? How does being a slave make us better at the business?
That’s one thing.
But the real issue is: How does making us slaves benefit our clients at all? At all? How does this benefit clients?
Removing barriers creates a place where the best- in terms of client-centric service- will push to the forefront and push the rest out of the business. Clients have to be given the right and the opportunity to decide what constitutes service, and not have it foisted upon them by an industry that begins and ends by keeping information from them.
February 17, 2010 — 7:20 am
Sheri Moritz says:
Hey, thanks for the shout out/at. 🙂 For the record, I am not for increased government control or regulations in real estate and not sure where you made this assumption. I agree with you that the responsibility lies with the student in choosing a company that offers additional education and training or obtaining it on their own from outside sources. But, I also think it’s essential for the educators in real estate to make advanced training available and/or valued (i.e. designation training).
Honestly, I am sick of the negative words and tone associated with blogs, tweets, fanpages, comments etc. on every side of the argument. Using terms like blowhard, moron, sleazy etc and pointing out flaws of other agents with no offer of assistance to improve (from both sides) does nothing but show me that there needs to be more training on professionalism and possibly a trip to the playground to show everyone how to play nice.
Chris, for research purposes; what caused you to leave real estate sales? How long were you active in real estate sales working with clients to buy and sell homes? While you were active in real estate how many transactions did you close?
Again, Thanks for the shout out and best of luck with flat rate web jobs. I know a couple of pro-bloggers that have been very happy with the designs you created for them.
February 17, 2010 — 7:22 am
Genuine Chris Johnson says:
Sheri- The playground is for children and this is a forum for grown-ups. If you’re a fraud, I’ll call you that. If you’re acting cowardly, I’ll point that out, too. If I am, please inform me of the error of my ways. I have been wrong this year, and I’m continuously refining my standards and I’m continuously trying to raise my own bar. I have men and women that I’ve failed to thank for the consecration of my character.
“All that’s necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.”
We have a choice, if you stand with an organization that will ultimately advocate more pre-license requirements…you are putting manacles on your brothers for you own gain.
You are selling people into slavery to make your life easier. If you can’t see where this is going, F.A. Hayek is a wonderfully eloquent writer that should be read.
For “research purposes”:
I sold 116 houses with 128 total sides (some were double ended deals–I was representing only the seller on some, acting as a dual agent on most). I originated over 30mm in loans. That doesn’t have anything to do with my argument. I spent 3 full years in real estate from 2003-2005. It is ad hominem attack.
Sheri, turn your back on this or else you risk being Judas.
February 17, 2010 — 7:51 am
Sheri Moritz says:
Chris,
“All that’s necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.” – I totally agree and love your passion for change. It was great chatting with you. Thanks for listening to my thoughts and for your advice 🙂
February 17, 2010 — 8:27 am
Genuine Chris Johnson says:
Best Sheri, don’t let the bastards grind you down.
February 17, 2010 — 10:44 am
Ken Montville says:
“Leave a civil reply (Flame comments…will be deleted)”
Of course, that doesn’t apply to flame blog posts. Oh well.
Aside from the libertarian/anarchist point of view being wrong headed, it is naive in the extreme. To think that just by wishing that Government regulation of our profession will go away can make it so is, well, wishful thinking.
We must work with what we have.
My understanding of this whole raise the bar movement is not only to encourage additional government regulation, although that is part of it, rather it is to create and enforce higher standards of conduct, competency and professionalism. The end result, hopefully, will be a greater respect for our experience and expertise by the general public (i.e. those that use our services) and a more civil environment among ourselves.
Raising the bar does not seek to drive out ambitious, energetic, motivated and ethically driven professionals. It seeks to discourage lazy, incompetent, unethical and downright criminal practitioners.
Perhaps raising the bar, too, is wishful thinking.
February 17, 2010 — 2:38 pm
Greg Swann says:
> Of course, that doesn’t apply to flame blog posts.
It doesn’t. Read the comments policy.
> Oh well.
Civility begins with minding your own business. I can’t tell you how ugly it is for me to see people parading their moral superiority by behaving badly on other people’s property.
> rather it is to create and enforce higher standards
There is no way to enforce anything without force. We have caught the #RTB movement in the planning stages of a criminal conspiracy.
> The end result, hopefully, will be a greater respect for our experience and expertise by the general public
This is easy to achieve: Do a better job — and teach your clients how to recognize a better job. This is how free markets create better value for consumers and push substandard vendors out of business. Nothing else is necessary — unless, like the #RTB crew, you don’t want to have to go to all the trouble of doing a better job.
> Raising the bar does not seek to drive out ambitious, energetic, motivated and ethically driven professionals.
Of course it does. That’s why it’s being promoted by Twitterbums.
> It seeks to discourage lazy, incompetent, unethical and downright criminal practitioners.
No, as with real estate licensing in its original form, it seeks to enshrine “lazy, incompetent, unethical and downright criminal practitioners,” making them that much more difficult to get rid of.
People don’t gang up in pursuit of virtuous behavior. Living a life of virtue is not something that can be done collectively. People gang up to commit crimes.
February 17, 2010 — 3:42 pm
Greg Swann says:
Not to put too fine a point on this, but someone pointed me to a thread at Agent Shortbus where some of the very public champions of #RTB are very publicly championing dual agency. I don’ think there is any room for doubt about what it is they want to raise.
February 17, 2010 — 8:10 pm
Vance Shutes says:
Greg,
“When you advance the causes of government you are a friend to slavery, the worst kind of Uncle Tom imaginable. That will be your legacy, that will be your life: furthering the enslavement of mankind.”
Powerful words there, yet true wisdom. Thank you.
February 18, 2010 — 9:01 am
Robert Worthington says:
Genuine Chris, you are a stud and I love your articles. Hey, I’m a young whipper snapper and I agree with you sir.
February 18, 2010 — 10:02 am
Brian Brady says:
“Aside from the libertarian/anarchist point of view being wrong headed, it is naive in the extreme”
We really need to decriminalize the label “anarchist”, Ken. Chris’ argument, along with the voluminous articles here about occupational licensing, are worthy of discussion and not derision.
Call me naive but I stand for anything that lowers costs to the consumer, even if it makes the consumer to work a little bit to save that money.
February 18, 2010 — 1:44 pm
Janie Coffey says:
And that the state had the power to make me sit through 120 hours of nonsense before I could tell full grown adults that “this…is the living room.”
Is this what you think you and other Real Estate professionals offer to consumers? My child could do that. I would think that you and most other’s believe that Real Estate professionals provides guidance and assistance in what is often the largest transaction an individual or family may make. A big difference from the home tour a 5 year old can provide visiting friends….
February 18, 2010 — 2:41 pm
Chris Johnson says:
Janie-
Effectively yes, that’s all that most real estate practitioners offer to consumers. And this is after they have been through all of the courses. I can name very few people that have gone beyond that, and that’s *with* 120 hours of education.
-Chris
February 22, 2010 — 3:39 pm