Author: Dave Phillips (page 2 of 2)

CEO, PA Association of Realtors

April 28, 2008

(If you are not a country music fan, you may have a serious character flaw, but that is the subject of another post on another Blog. For now, here is a video that will help you “get” the title of this post.)

Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy

Across the nation, in most markets, we not only have too many listings, we also have too many overpriced listings. It is true in Charlottesville; it’s true in Atlanta, Austin, and Atlantic City. I know it is true even without looking at the local statistics for all these markets because “too many listings” and “too many overpriced listings” goes hand in hand. The basic law of economics – supply and demand – dictates that prices will adjust downward when supply is too high.

Following that logic, what we need is a good old fashion INVENTORY REDUCTION SALE! Can you picture this ad as part of the NAR public awareness campaign?

“Hi, I’m Charles McMillan, President-elect of the National Association of REALTORS® and I’m here to announce an across the board 30% reduction in home prices. That’s right, this is the REALTOR® Spring Spectacular event of a lifetime. Buy before July 1^st and save BIG on any home in any market.”

Okay, that’s not going to happen, nor could it. The real estate market is not like the market for toilet paper at Wal-Mart. In real estate, we have something like five million owners (sellers) of the “company” that would have to approve an across the board price reduction. That’s a lot of decision makers even by Wal-Marts standards.

Some sellers have figured out the economics of the current market and agreed to price their home correctly. Guess what? Those are the homes that are selling. In the CAAR MLS, homes that sold in March sold after and average of 130 days on the market (DOM). That’s not a particularly good number, but it beats the 149 days (and counting) that the current active inventory is averaging for DOM. In addition, a closer look at the numbers will show that many of the homes that sold in March, sold quickly; Read more

April 27, 2008

Update On New Data Standards for Listing Displays

by Dave Phillips

CEO, PA Association of Realtors

On April 12th, I posted some “news” from NAR regarding the unanimous approval by RESO (Real Estate Standards Organization) of the draft data standards for listing display.

On Friday, April 11th, NAR announced that the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO) had unanimously approved a “draft standardized data format for distributing real estate listing information.”

A few of you wanted more information, so I contacted NAR’s Technology Center and got the full scoop.

First, the draft is NOT available on-line, at least in a format that non-techies can read. Here is a link to some really technical stuff for those of you who know what an “enum” is all about (I do not have a clue).

Second, I found out that these standards are a subset of the RETS data. The RETS Syndication Standards (the official name) includes less than 2 dozen fields (I’ve heard 14) from RETS. That sounds like a lot of field at first, but once you count up the obvious ones (e.g., agent name, contact, beds, baths, etc.) that is not very many. Not that I’m second guessing the wizards who came up with this stuff.

Finally, the near riff I reported in the original post was reasonably accurate. The big aggregators were tired of the slowness and bureaucracy of the process, but after they threatened to create their own standards, the process moved very quickly. Essentially, they are beta testing now and will make the final decision in August.

So, what does this mean to REALTORS®? Here’s what Chris McKeever from NAR said in an e-mail:

With the RESO and NAR backing of this Syndication Specification, this could very easily be adopted into MLS systems to allow them to be the clearinghouse for data transfer between all points. In other words, your single point of listing data entry into the MLS could then also dynamically be sent to every site that you choose, very similiar to how REALTOR.com is fed now. This, coupled with the growing number of consumer facing MLS search portals(link) could throw a complete paradigm shift into how listings are marketed on the web.

April 22, 2008

Is It A Great Time To Buy, Or Just A Great Time To Be A Buyer?

by Dave Phillips

CEO, PA Association of Realtors

I’ve said it my self hundreds of times in the last 12 months – it’s a great time to buy. How could it not be a great time to buy – tons of inventory, prices have come down, interest rates are still low – of course it is a great time to buy. Or is it? Whenever I shout “it’s a great time house to buy” in a particularly loud fashion (generally quoted in the local newspaper), I get an e-mail from some intelligent sounding person saying, “no it isn’t.” Here let me give you the latest example that was spurred by a front page story on a local promotion to promote first time home buying:

(unedited)

Let me see if I have this correct:· House prices are falling;· Houses are not selling at a rate which will supportrealtors, because no one wants to buy a depreciating asset;· So, realtors want to sell more houses;· Therefore, they target first time buyers, whopresumably know the least about the pitfalls of homeownership and are the most likely to try to ‘catch a falling knife.’ · The lines they use in their propaganda are the sameused nationally in every newspaper article on housing which publishes a realtor quote, to-wit “now is a great time to buy,” or “it’s a perfect storm.”Why do I find this reprehensible?

In case you did not read the story I linked, just suffice it to say that we are doing a major local promotion to educate new home buyers on the new issues with financing and promoting them to purchase a home from the massive inventory. Self-serving, yes, but there are also great benefits for sellers, mortgage bankers, others in the real estate business, and for the general economy. Locally, people look to us to lead and that’s what we are doing. Fortunately, our local economy is insulated from the national issues that are present in other areas.

The real issue in this rant is the claim that it is NOT a good time to buy because “no one wants a depreciating asset.” Of course every market is different and prices have fallen here in Read more

April 20, 2008

Calling All Women

by Dave Phillips

CEO, PA Association of Realtors

Teri’s latest post on BHB sparked a thought for me. She mentioned that BHB was not really a friendly place for women, but she plays with the boys anyway. As someone who has 3 daughters and works in an office full of women, I was taken aback by Teri’s comment. After a few moments of introspection, I realized just about every Blogger I know was male and despite my best efforts, I had failed to get the gals in my office very interested in Blogging (reading or writing). Heck, I can’t even get my wife to read my Blog.

Out of curiosity, I Googled “women blogs” to see what’s out there. I found a fair amount of Women’s Blogs. Topics such as dating, sex, art, and health with featured posts titled 10 Things You Can’t Change About Men and Mean Mom Selling Son’s Xbox 360 can be found on women’s Blog sites. Nothing, however, on real estate.

women lifting

Okay, maybe my semi-sexist-pig sub-conscious set that Google search up a bit skewed. Ah, “women real estate blogs” found much better results. Lots of good Blog sites and a Top 12 Women Real Estate Bloggers list and a post titled Top Women Real Estate Bloggers Speak Out.

To be politically correct (something I loath doing), I Googled “men blogs” and “men real estate blogs” to see what I could find. The “men blogs” search revealed expected topics like sex, sports, dating, and beer. The “men real estate blogs” search came up with a similar list called 10 Good Men, but not much else. No directory of men’s blogs or any other specific reference to the blogging men in real estate.

man lifting

So, what does this tell us? Not much, but I am curious why men are doing all the heavy lifting on BHB? Ladies, do tell. It could be all our scary faces on the home page, or titles like the one just posted by Jeff Brown – Don’t Listen to the Arrogant Attention Whores – just Skin Your Cat.

Women are starting to take Read more

April 16, 2008

Raising the Bar or Bellying Up to It?

by Dave Phillips

CEO, PA Association of Realtors

I hear a lot of chatter from successful REALTORS® about “raising the bar” for being a REALTOR®. In other words, do a better job of distinguishing between REALTORS® and licensees. This came up during a strategic planning break-out group today and we all thought it sounded like a good plan, but had no idea how to get it done. So where do you go to figure out how to make the term REALTOR® actually mean something more than a common licensee? A bar, of course. Surely a few beers would generate enough creative thinking to solve this conundrum.

“Sam Adams, please.”

The first order of business is to figure out how we got here – by “here” I am speaking figuratively and not how we arrived at the Dog House Bar and Grille. Why is there no difference between a REALTOR® and a licensee? I blame license law. That’s right, license law. It seems to me that over the years, state license law has “improved” to a point that there is very little difference in the REALTOR® Code of Ethics and state license law. The ironic thing is that the REALTOR® organization has worked hard to strengthen license law over the years. That’s a classic example of a raising tide lifting all boats.

Take disclosure, for instance. I can only think of one thing that the REALTOR® Code requires to be disclosed that the license law doesn’t – REALTORS® are required to tell their seller clients about verbal offers where license law only requires disclosure of written offers. Well there’s a strong marketing point! Other than that, I can think of nothing significant that REALTORS® are required to do that a licensee is not also required to do.

“Another Sam Adams, please.”

So, what is the solution? Do we think up a whole bunch of things that REALTORS® have to do or disclose that a common licensee does not? Maybe we could require REALTORS® to disclose that the neighbor will throw potatoes at you if you purchase this home? Or maybe we require REALTORS® to disclose all the future development plans within a mile of Read more

April 12, 2008

Big News on Data Standards

by Dave Phillips

CEO, PA Association of Realtors

photo credit: wfyurasko

I’m guessing that the main purpose of BHB is not to spread the news – especially NAR news. Being the resident NAR insider on BHB, I promise I will not use this site to spread NAR propaganda…er…news. But this quiet piece of information is actually VERY big and I doubt it will get much attention outside the hallowed halls (or ivory towers, if you prefer) of the REALTOR® organization.

On Friday, April 11^th, NAR announced that the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO) had unanimously approved a “draft standardized data format for distributing real estate listing information.” Okay, I expect that most of you NAR skeptics are not particularly impressed by that bit of news, but let me try to explain why I think this is important.

First, you should understand this was not a group of NAR leaders in a back room filled with cigar smoke that agreed to this draft. Yes, NAR helped organize this group, but check out this list of organizations/companies that UNANIMOUSLY agreed to a set standard:

The standard was drafted and unanimously approved by a RESO working group composed of NAR’s Center for REALTOR® Technology and many of the real estate industry’s leading publishers and consumers of real estate listing data. They include MLS Assistant, MLS Listings Inc., MLSPIN, New Jersey MLS, TREND MLS, Move Inc. (operator of Realtor.com®), Bridge Interactive, Bainbridge, Cevado Technologies, CLRsearch, eNeighborhoods, eShowings, FBS Data Systems, Google, Homescape, Marketlinx, Oodle, Point2, PropBot, Prudential Preferred CRE, RealEstate.com, Realtracs, ThreeWide, Trulia, Vast, Yahoo! and Zillow.

Now approving a “draft” means there is likely more work to do, but this is an important first step in making listing data seamless on the Internet and between MLS systems. What’s the next step? According to the news release:

The draft standard will be implemented immediately by several of the partner organizations. Following their feedback, a final draft will be presented and voted on during a meeting of the partners in August.

This agreement has far-reaching and mind-boggling implications for listing data on the Internet, but there is more to the story. This whole process was in danger of imploding recently Read more

April 3, 2008

NAR News From the Legal Front

by Dave Phillips

CEO, PA Association of Realtors

Over the years, NAR has had its fair share of legal battles. Currently, there are a few big and interesting cases involving NAR that could have dramatic impact on the real estate industry. Here’s an update on three cases that are in the works.

US vs NAR

This is the famous case brought by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against NAR’s Virtual Office Website (VOW) and Internet Data eXchange (IDX) policies. (Note: NAR has changed the name VOW/IDX to Internet Listing Display or ILD.) There are two main issues at the core of this suit which is likely to go to trial this summer.

The IDX opt-out policy is what started the case. The policy allows brokers a blanket opt-out option to keep their listings from being displayed any competitor’s web site. NAR policy also allows brokers a surgical opt-out option where a broker can opt-out of a particular competitors IDX feed (e.g., I will not allow my listings to appear on Swann Realty’s site). The DOJ thinks there should be no opt-out option and that ALL listings should be available for ALL brokers to display.
NAR policy, as proposed, only allows ILD privileges to brokers actively engaged in real estate sales and leasing. In other words, anyone who simply gets the ILD data for the sole purpose of generating leads and is not otherwise involved in real estate would be banned from ILD. The DOJ wants listing data to be like the water that flows from your tap – available to all.

(My prediction: split decision. NAR wins on #1 and loses on #2)

David Berry vs the Entire REALTOR® Organization

I am NOT talking about Dave Berry the fabulous writer for the Miami Herald. This is David Berry the lawyer who has made a career of suing NAR. He has tried to have the term REALTOR® declared generic, attacked MLS membership rules, and numerous other wacky lawsuits. Recently he tried to get a ballot initiative in Maine to legally require all listed properties for sale to be placed in his Open MLS system. NAR and several state associations have fought many legal battles against Read more

March 31, 2008

NAR Will Channel Data

by Dave Phillips

CEO, PA Association of Realtors

I’m thirsty, but not drinking the Kool-aid just yet

The NAR project formally known as the Gateway, a mash-up of all real estate data in the country, has now been relabeled The Real Estate Channel (TREC). There has been a new “interim” report issued by the Presidential Advisory Group (PAG), but still there is very little detailed information about NAR’s plan.

The new report makes it clear that the intent of TREC is NOT to be a national MLS or have a public access point (other than REALTORS®). These two clarifications will ease the fears of many local MLS systems and REALTORS® who were worried about the Gateway project. For others, the idea of a national MLS is appealing and they are still thinking that eventually TREC will become a national MLS, but they are keeping quiet about the prospect for now.

Not making the data publicly accessible is a similar situation. If you are against public access to data (read: still haven’t made the shift to reality), you will feel good about the new clarification. If you don’t worry about your clients having access to data, you will be happy with the report because you know that eventually such a massive mash-up will become available to the public.

So, what the current report says is that NAR will set aside the controversial aspects of the project for now. This seems like a good compromise to keep things moving forward although is does not feel particularly honest. So I find myself struggling between integrity and progress – between trust and fear – between belief and skepticism. Someone referred to the issue in terms of the Wizard of Oz – is there really anything behind the curtain?

The difficulty with this issue is that NAR does not have the details/answers to the questions because this is still a work in progress. This lack of answers causes fear because it is human nature to fill in information voids with negative beliefs. There is so much still unknown about TREC, that there is a lot of negative stuff being made up or inserted into the general thinking on Read more

March 25, 2008

Less is More

by Dave Phillips

CEO, PA Association of Realtors

If I asked you “what business are you in” and your answer is “the real estate business,” you (like 98% of REALTORS®) are wrong according to Michael Russer of Russer Communications. Michael is a genius of sorts; he claimed the title Mr. Internet before we even found out that Al Gore invented it. Russer was tech before tech was cool. He made quite a name for himself in real estate circles back in the 90’s with his Mr. Internet moniker and a passionate belief that the Internet is not about technology, it is about connecting people. Now he flies all over the world telling real estate and other businesses how to use the Internet to market themselves and connect with clients and customers.

So why does Michael Russer think 98% of agents don’t know what business they are in? Actually, he asks his classes a different question. He asks attendees at his seminars if they have a specific target market that would be recognizable by visiting their personal web site. 98% do not have such a specialty or niche market. In other words, only 2% of REALTORS® are NOT generalist.

I am not a REALTOR®, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, and that empowered me to come up with a few niche market suggestions for those of you who might want to stand out from the 1.3 million other REALTORS®. One of my strong beliefs is that if you try to be everything to everybody, you will end up being nothing to nobody. This is as true for an association of REALTORS® as it is for each individual member. It is also true in every other part of our lives. Remember High School? If you did not find your niche (band, AV Club, football team, etc.) you really struggled to fit in – to be relevant.

Why then, do 98% of REALTORS® fail to develop a niche within the overall real estate industry? For the same reason many other businesses fail to find a target market – they fear that limiting the pool of potential clients will Read more

March 21, 2008

2008 Swanepoel Trends Report

by Dave Phillips

CEO, PA Association of Realtors

This is a summary of Trend #1 from the 2008 Swanepoel Trends Report. I have included a link below to the summary of the other 9 top trends below. I recommend purchasing the book and getting the full boatload of information Swanepoel provides. I left out a lot… To purchase the report for yourself, go to www.retrends.com.

Trend #1 Two Worlds; One IndustryThe Evolution of Online Communities & Networks

The first phase of the Internet was surfing or browsing where you just aimlessly wondered until you stumbled onto something of interest. Then, powerful search engines like Google and Yahoo let us sort through the Internet with ease. Now, we are at a third stage where we use the Internet for sharing both personal and business information. We share on blogs and social networks where users interact with the help of technology.

Social networking is not a new concept – the term was coined in 1954. It first hit the web in 1995 with classmates.com and other sites. Later, MySpace and Facebook came along and social networks soared. As of September 2007, 1 in 20 visits to the Internet went to one of the top 20 social networks. Americans spend about 12% of their Internet time on social networking sites. Investors are betting that number will grow dramatically as the value of social sites soars. Microsoft paid $240 million last year for about a 2% stake in Facebook.

The report lists 5 examples of on-line communities that are worth looking at:

www.linkedin.com – a business oriented social networking site
www.ning.com – allows users to build their own custom social networks.
www.squidoo.com – this is a network of experts who are sharing their knowledge
www.digg.com – users add stories and if other users like the content, they “digg” the story or rate it.
www.secondlife.com – this is a virtual world in which you can live and even do business.

Blogs are great places to share and gain knowledge. The report list several blogs, but I would suggest the following as must reads for REALTORS® in Charlottesville:

www.varbuzz.com – the official Blog of the State Association of REALTORS®
www.inman.com/blog – great news content
www.RealTown.com – Read more

March 20, 2008

Real Estate is Entertainment – Are You Entertaining?

by Dave Phillips

CEO, PA Association of Realtors

Last week I heard my pal Walt Baczkowski, CEO of the Metropolitan Consolidated Association of REALTORS®, make the statement, “real estate has become entertainment.” The statement struck me like one of those V8 smacks to the head. The more I thought about it, the more the statement became true. Just look at the local TV cable listings and you’ll see shows like Flip That House, Home Makeover, Designed to Sell, House Hunters, etc. Real Estate is Cold; Real Estate TV Hot proclaimed RealityTVWorld.com recently.

In addition to reality TV, many shows like Two and a Half Men and Reba have supporting characters that are real estate agents. Unfortunately, these shows often portray agents is a rather unflattering manner.

In my little neck of the woods, real estate has been one of the top 10 news stories for the past 4 years (number 1 for a few years), and we have 2 or 3 media inquiries a week wanting an interview for this or that real estate issue.

So if you buy into the premise that real estate has become entertainment, I ask you “are you entertaining?” If you are a REALTOR®, you are likely charming and engaging (I think that is required by Article 18 in the Code of EthicsJ), but are your marketing efforts interesting, informing and/or humorous? Are you using YouTube for the goldmine it can be? Are you still doing the same ad layouts you used 5 years ago?

This post is not intended to give you the answers, but I hope it will help you understand the questions you need to ask. Below are links to some examples of entertaining REALTOR® marketing efforts. You probably do not want to copy these, but you should seek out your niche in this new paradigm. Consumers want something in return for paying attention to your marketing – what will you give them?

The Hot Tub REALTOR® – This YouTube marketing gets 5 stars for creativity, 2 stars for execution, but is probably not going to have too many copycats.

FSBO Site Video – this non-REALTOR® gets it.

REALTOR® Web Site – This is a local Charlottesville firm Read more

March 17, 2008

Rate Your REALTOR® – Why Are Agents Scared Anyway?

by Dave Phillips

CEO, PA Association of Realtors

I’ve had little luck selling the idea that REALTORS® should embrace an Internet rating system. Local associations, individual REALTORS®, other association executives, NAR, and even other bloggers have rejected the idea of allowing clients to rate their agent. Twice last week I pitched it to influential leaders in the industry, but both times the conversation died with no support. Here are a few typical “reasons” this idea is rejected by the industry:

My competitor will give me bogus ratings
One bad rating and I’ll look bad even if most of my clients love me
Only clients who are upset would be motivated to rate me

I did hear one legitimate argument last week, but it was not a deal killer for me. A wise REALTOR® explained that ratings would not work in the real estate business because a transaction was often a confrontation between a buyer’s rep and the listing agent. Since the agents were working for opposite sides, the other party’s client was bound to think poorly of you. Okay, there is some truth to that, but a properly set up rating system could make sure readers knew if the evaluation came from your client or from the other side.

The reason this idea will not leave my head is that I sit in many industry meetings and listen to REALTORS® and association executives whine about the lack of training and professionalism from their competitors or members. The common answer for most people to this problem is to require more training before and after licensing. While more education can help, it will never weed out the bad from the good. Taking more courses will not make you more ethical, professional or pleasant to work with unless you want it to change you. Only the power of the consumer will require you to change or quit.

Overall, I find REALTORS® to be an amazing group of ethical and professional entrepreneurs, but a few bad apples and rotten eggs has left a bad taste in the mouth for many. Surveys constantly back this up by showing that the public generally loves “their” REALTOR®, but rates the Read more

Author: Dave Phillips (page 2 of 2)

Save a House, Ride a REALTOR®

by Dave Phillips

Update On New Data Standards for Listing Displays

by Dave Phillips

Is It A Great Time To Buy, Or Just A Great Time To Be A Buyer?

by Dave Phillips

Calling All Women

by Dave Phillips

Raising the Bar or Bellying Up to It?

by Dave Phillips

Big News on Data Standards

by Dave Phillips

NAR News From the Legal Front

by Dave Phillips

NAR Will Channel Data

by Dave Phillips

Less is More

by Dave Phillips

2008 Swanepoel Trends Report

by Dave Phillips

Real Estate is Entertainment – Are You Entertaining?

by Dave Phillips

Rate Your REALTOR® – Why Are Agents Scared Anyway?

by Dave Phillips

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