The Odysseus Medal — 99% of all sub-agents don’t even exist any longer, but why should that matter to the Wharton School of Business?

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

I’m a busy boy. We’re busy with money work, but Cathleen has been sick, sicker, pneumoniated. The good news is, you don’t have to cut off your ear to take great pictures, you just have to hack like Selma on the Simpsons. I’m picking up the slack, plus I have a great new idea for BloodhoundBlog that we’ll be rolling out shortly. In any case, I might seem abrupt here, but that is no stain on the quality of today’s winning posts.

Jim Duncan was one of the first real estate webloggers I became aware of when we started BloodhoundBlog. We discovered the power of the long tail together in posts about dual agency. He is always to be found on the side of righteousness in real estate — ethics, education, putting the client first with first-rate service. He’s a great blogger, too, as he demonstrates with this week’s Odysseus Medal winner, Wither false blame?, an extended riposte to a particularly lame lamentation about imaginary offenses by the sub-agents who no longer exist in most states:

The author and professors make one accurate argument accidentally – until the real estate industry, mortgage industry, HUD, etc. embrace divorced commissions, we have a long way to go. Divorced commissions means simply that the buyer pays the buyer’s agent and the seller pays the seller’s agent. Until this is fixed, the perception will exist amongst those who don’t know any better – whether by unfamiliarity or neglect (as would seem to be the case in the Wharton professors’ cases) – that true representation does not exist.

I come not to condemn the professors (I have read the Mortgage Professor site for years), but to enlighten them to the wonderful world known as the 21st century and Buyer Brokerage. While the seller may pay my commission now, the loyalty and trust I am earning is the buyers’.

Here’s a proposal – First, apologize and clarify. Second, invite a guest speaker write a guest post on your blog and to explain to your classes what real estate agency and buyer/seller representation are. Explain how much the profession has changed in the past twenty years.

I don’t know if Jeff Brown has ever won a real estate competition. I entered him week after week in the RE Investing Carnival, but they always ignored him and he finally made me stop. Even so, this is Jeff’s week. He takes The Black Pearl Award for House Agents — Wanna Start the New Year Kickin’ Ass? Here’s How:

I’ve been speaking to a few agents around the country this year. I’ve said the same thing to all of them: Build a hyper-local farm as a website/blog.

See? Told ya it wasn’t anything new.

The problem as I see it, is nobody (that I’ve found so far) does it the way I think would work like gangbusters. I keep hearing agents, a couple whom I know, say they tried it, but there just wasn’t any traction. In my opinion they didn’t give it even half a chance to take its first breath. Also, I’d bet my last quarter’s earnings they did about 10% of what I think is required to make it successful. I saw firsthand what one of them did — and to be kind, it was pathetic. Seriously weak. His best shot was something about him being their neighborhood expert….here it comes….serving all their real estate needs.

Jim Cronin won last week’s People’s Choice Award by a landslide. He PR’d the nomination to his weblog clients, and they voted in vast abundance. I told him this week if he did that again, I would ignore the votes and ignore his posts from now on. Even so, he won by honest, organic voting again this week with Looking For Ready To Act Buyers? Blog These Proven To Succeed Real Estate Topics:

What Should Realtors Be Blogging About In Order To Attract Ready To Act Home Buyers?

As a disclaimer, I don’t know that there is an objectively correct answer to the question, given that every target market is different, be it urban or rural, or beach front or mountain living.  Nonetheless, it made for a fascinating conversation in the Tomato Forum.  Here’s what we made of it:

The Internet Lead is generally considered to be a lead that is going to take some time to incubate. 

The length of time thrown around is usually 6–18 months.

Can real estate blogging help a lead develop more quickly, or rather can blogging attract leads that are further along in their own incubation?

Blogging about the Neighborhoods is an obvious choice, but it is how and where you choose to write about that brings the quality of leads.

I normally prepare artwork for the winners, but I’m behind for this week and for last week’s winners. I’ll get to it when I can, offering my apologies in the interim.

If you didn’t look at this week’s nominees for The Odysseus Medal, you should. As always, if you trip lightly upon something fantastic, nominate it.

Deadline for next week’s competition is Sunday at 12 Noon PDT/MST. You can nominate your own work or any post you admire here.

Congratulations to the winners — and to everyone who participated.

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