Author: Kris Berg (page 4 of 5)

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

Author website

Dear Industry Professional:

Kris Berg will be on vacation the week of April 2nd. Accordingly, any industry news of interest or import should be released during this time. We also advise that, where appropriate, you notify her in advance of any press releases (preferably while she is enroute to the airport for a four-hour flight) to ensure that she is fully informed yet unable to do a damn thing about it.

So it was that I knew about the Refin Consumer’s Bill of Rights and didn’t know about the Zillow changes. Either way, I spent the entire discussion somewhere between baggage claim and rental car hell. A week is a long time at the Bloodhound (about four pages) and, while I have so much I would like to say on both fronts, it has all been said. As my journalist-wannabe-daughter would put it, I’ve been scooped. Even Russell Shaw made sure he shared his secrets to getting the listing with everyone… but me. I was otherwise indisposed, discussing the fine art of cow tipping with my children in the middle of Missouri.

Don’t get me wrong; I am a trained professional. I schlepped my laptop through three airports and three hotels with the best of intentions. I foolishly envisioned quiet mornings reporting from the field (and I do mean “field”), but found myself lacking the necessary inspiration when seated in the Marriott Courtyard Business Center next to an eight-year-old playing “Dress Barbie” on her Internet connection.

Ah, Spring Break! Next year, it’s Cancun. This year, it was the frozen Tundra. Did you know that a professional baseball game can be canceled due to “cold”? It happened in Chicago. Did you know that it can be sunny, with not a cloud in the sky, and yet snow? Yep. The average Kris Berg Vacation Temperature was 200 degrees below zero. It was closer to 250 degrees below (not counting wind chill) when we found ourselves waiting on the street for what seemed like three months to gain admittance to the Art Institute of Chicago Museum. I saw American Gothic, but most importantly, it was WARM inside. Read more

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

Author website

This little diary entry of mine has been suspended in my draft folder for awhile. I think it may be time to pull it from the shelf and dust it off.

The One Room Schoolhouse

(The year is 2006. As the curtain rises, a nation races to their keyboard to find the definition of “blog”. “Rain City Guide” is returned in the search results. The bell rings, and the students rush in to make new friends and receive the day’s lessons).

Call me naive, unassuming or even childlike in my perception of the world around me, but I have always held the belief that another person’s success does not diminish my own. Admittedly, maybe this is not a childlike belief at all, given that children (mine being no exception) tend to measure their worth through the eyes of their peers; acceptance of those they admire being their validation.

Almost a year ago now when I first began blogging, it felt like the one room school house. It was easy to make friends. We were small in number, the atmosphere was one of support, comradery and mutual respect. We were all there to learn and to share. Some of us were stronger in the “sciences” while others seemed to have better communicative skills, but we all came to class with the common goal of success.

When it was time for the school play, everyone got had a role. Not all of us could be the Lead, as some were more experienced or simply more talented, but we all got parts, and we packed the house. Life was so simple.

Mid-terms and the “New” Kid

(The schoolhouse has added a second classroom, as more students are now in attendance. As the house lights go up, the new kid is seen sitting in the cafeteria at a table by himself. He eyes the room in anticipation, hoping that someone will notice him and be his friend).

Arriving as the new kid well into the year can be at once frightening and exhilarating. There is a playground full of possibilities, and a little personality and tenacity are often all that are needed to Read more

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

Author website

I sat down today fully intending to log my own comments on the ongoing dual agency debate. Yawn… I will save it for another time.

Somewhere along the way in my thought process (brought to you by Tylenol), I drifted to the big news this weekend: Britney Spears is apparently channeling Jeff Brown. The big news is not that she has joined the follicly challenged-by- choice ranks of our own Bawld Guy or even that she is an emotional train wreck, but that she seems to be self-destructing. Here is someone with some talent (I will table the “how much” argument) and a truckload of marketability. I have to wonder, then, how she got to this point. Was it too much to soon, was it burn out, was it the challenge of competing in a cut-throat industry, or did her handlers simply not adequately prepare her for sustained success?

These questions, of course (because my brain works in mysterious ways), led me to consider the evolution of the real estate agent. First, I will offer a couple of maxims which few industry insiders will argue. There are too many licensed agents, the ease with which one can obtain a License to Sell is shameful and serves to bastardize the profession, agents are not highly respected by the general populace, and individual brokerages are in large part to blame for what I see as the industry’s current public relations crisis.

I am going to give Glenn Kelman credit for that last one. In my recent sit-down with him, he commented:

Brokerages recruit more agents than a market needs because they want the split or they want the desk fee.

We know why this is. Brian Brady talked about the formula for broker profitability and how the A, B and C agents must all be courted. My question is, why do the brokerages seem to court the newer or lower producing C agents without the intent of giving them a realistic chance of becoming an A agent? Further, why do I see so many C agents who do not possess the fundamental skill sets or traits that could Read more

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

Author website

One of the best pieces of advise I was ever given came from my first Broker. She said that when you encounter disappointment or failure, you have 15 minutes to get over it. Cry, whine, feel sorry for yourself, but in 15 minutes you are going to put it all behind you. I have tried to adopt the 15-minute policy in life and in business, although sometimes my watch is admittedly running a little slow.

Contrary to the clearly posted warnings, objects in the rear view mirror are actually farther than they appear. What you did yesterday, last week, or last year is truly immaterial in real estate. Get mired in your past successes or your past failures and the engine will stall, preventing any future forward progress.

Allan Dalton, President of Realtor.com, was quoted as saying at this year’s CAR Tech Tuesday event (in reference to Zillow’s Zestimate concept):

One consequence is that consumers will be educated to infer that your home’s value can be predetermined. If my home’s value is predetermined, let me just find the person that I can pay the least to execute what’s preordained…

Now, here is the real deal from the trenches. You will certainly encounter the how-low-can-you-go sellers, but these are a minority, at least in the sense that fees alone will dictate their selection of an agent to represent them. We have talked at great length about the personal nature of the real estate transaction, and a seller’s choice of agent is the perhaps the most personal aspect. I don’t see any Zillow truly changing those personal dynamics.

If the decision were based solely on objective criteria, the same top-producing agent would get every listing every time, and new agents would never be able to develop business and enjoy success. We know this is not the case. The harsh reality is that the majority of sellers in a listing interview are not hearing what you say, but are seeing it – in your appearance, in your mannerisms and in your personality. During the interview, they are deciding not so much whether they like your message but whether they Read more