Some real estate agents around the country are riding bicycles to save gas and the environment while they show their clients homes for sale.   Amazing!   In this photo, an agent in San Diego takes clients out.

This presents a challenge to all of us who are Realtors.   Do we promote bicycling to show houses and land?   Would clients like that?   Should be we more conscious of the environment and try to save fossil fuels?

The answers are no, no, and yes.

Bicycling has not caught on in Sequim or Port Angeles as a popular form of transportation for showing listed properties for sale.   Hmm.   How long would it take for me and two clients to look at eight houses on bike’s stretching from Freshwater Bay west of Port Angeles to the John Wayne Marina in Sequim?   Answer:   too long.

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We are living in challenging times, even violent times.   We all want more, and we want it for less. No, we demand more, and we demand it for less. Homeowners who want to sell their homes are no exception. They want more services from their Realtor, they want those services yesterday, and they want results now. Maybe it’s the culture we live in. Maybe homeowners are sick and tired of Realtors who promise the world and deliver very little.

We are in the middle of a massive change in how real estate is marketed and how buyers shop for property. Old print media, like newspapers and real estate magazines, have lost their stronghold as the most effective way to advertise real estate for sale.   McClatchy newspaper advertising revenue for real estate is down 37.1% in the second quarter of 2008 from the same time last year.   Wow.   That’s no small shift in the tectonic plate.   Yes, the real estate market is down, but that is the point here.   Everything is changing.

I’m not one of those guys who boldly claims that the newspaper will be dead in 10 years. I’m like the next guy. I like to read the morning paper when I eat my Big Breakfast at McDonald’s.   But that’s not the way I shop for real estate, and it’s not the way buyers are searching for their next home either.

This is why homeowners who want to sell in a slow market are demanding results, which they tell me they are not getting from traditional real estate brokers and agents.   Homeowners know something is wrong.   They feel it in their guts.   They know their Realtor is not doing what it takes, but they hope for the best.   This is why so many homeowners are going FSBO.

Homeowners are frustrated, and some are asking, “What happened to the professional Realtor who knew what to do and how to do it?”   Good question.   The vast majority of Realtors are in the same twilight zone as homeowners.   That’s what a massive paradigm shift feels like–a twighlight zone.   Confusion reigns, and frustration turns to anger.

A word of encouragement to homeowners who want to sell their homes.   There are professionals who do understand what to do and how to do it.   Your assignment, if you choose to accept it, is to find that Realtor.   Do you know what to look for?   How will you know when you find him?

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Real estate agents are leaving the business around the country.   No surprise.   Jokes abound about how every Tom, Dick, and Jane holds a real estate license.   With a real estate market that is way down, one would expect that many would be washed out of the business.

The National Association of Realtors just announced they lost more than 100,000 members since 2006.   I believe that number only represents the tip of the iceburg.   Here’s why.   For every agent who stops paying their dues to the NAR, there are several agents who are on the fence.

I’ve talked to some local agents, and this is not an unusual statement, “I’ve not done anything in real estate in months.   I’ve been home with my (husband or wife), and frankly, I have no idea what’s doing on in real estate.”   Many agents have left the business in favor of a salary so they can pay bills and support their families.   Nothing wrong with that.

My speculation on a local level is that as many as 30% of all licensed agents who were working when the business was better are not currently working full time and are essentially out of the business, although they are still licensed and paying their dues to the local, state, and national associations.     There are no reliable stats we can analyze to understand how many agents are quitting and leaving the business.   We do know they are leaving the business in droves.

This is actually good news for consumers.   When the dust settles, consumers of real estate services will be left with agents who are full time professionals and committed to the profession and their careers.   This will leave consumers with Realtors with more experience, better track records, and   greater longevity than the “flock” of licensees who got licensed and made money in easier times.   (We can also expect that some real estate brokers will literally go out of business.   You may be surprised at who does go out of business.)

Our free enterprise system has a way of cleaning up imbalances.   The system is often harsh, but in the long run, opportunities to fulfill greed diminish, prices find balance, poorly managed brokers shut down, and slowly health returns.   Good will come out of this, and in the long run we will all be glad for the results.

By the way, I’m not leaving the business.   I’m as busy as an agent could be.   This week I wrote an offer on a $400,000+ house, and today I write an offer on a lot for $200,000+.   I have several pending transactions, and many listings.   As I have said elsewhere, there are still buyers, just less of them.   The key is connecting with them.

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Sequim real estate and Port Angeles real estate is sold on the Internet, but it is very technical and takes a lot of hard work.

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I recently saw a recruiting ad for new agents published by a large franchise in another county. It almost sounded impressive, but after pausing for a few seconds on what they were really offering, I broke out laughing. I will shout from the mountain tops, “Brokers don’t get it!”   If only these recruiters could see their true reflection in the pond.

Here is the list of HUGE bonuses for agents who join this brokerage, besides getting to pay almost $300 per month (but you get to keep 100% of your own commissions, like the ones you’re not earning in this market).   Oh, the $300 per month does not cover all your licensing, education, and subscription fees, which is about another $300 per month.

1. Web based Document Storage System
2. Lead Router (sends email leads to your cell phone instantaneously)
3. [Large Brokerage Name] Works (Intranet Site)
4. [Large Brokerage Name] University
5. [Large Brokerage Name] Email
6. [Large Brokerage Name] Referral Network (x,xxx U.S. offices)
7. [Large Brokerage Name] Websites
8. Television Advertising Option
9. 7 Day a Week Broker Support

Why is this list so lame?   Here is the brief answer.

(more…)

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Realtors are bombarded daily with Internet proposals from the thousands of would-be Internet millionaires who are trying to suck unwary Realtors into their services.   A search of the Internet in Google for the phrase “real estate agent websites” gives you . . . 55 million results. For the phrase “real estate agent blogs” you get almost 26 million results.   Wow!   The claims are nothing short of extraordinary.

We Put You On the Top of the Search Engines!
Impress Your Clients!   Get Top Google Search Rankings!
Your Listings On The First Page of a Google Search!
Be Top Dog!   You Website Will Get Leads Galore–Guaranteed!
We Gurantee Leads for You!
Capture More Clients Than You Can Handle on the Internet
We Guarantee Top Search Engine Rankings!
Buy Your Zip Code and Be The Exclusive Agent in Your Area

So, here’s a thought.   Since these are experts on the Internet and search engine optimization, you would expect that they would be on the first page of a Google search themselves.   But only 10 of them can show up on the first page of a Google search, right?   Of course, that’s impossible, since there are thousands of them.   Some of them are paying to show up in the right hand column.   So much for organic and guaranteed first page presence.   It would seem they are guaranteeing Realtors something they cannot do for themselves, at least the vast majority of them.

Then there are the annoying websites that consumers hate.   I’m talking about the real estate websites and portals that make you register before you can find out more about the property.   ANNOYING!   Just leave those websites, because there are good Realtors who offer you free search options without demanding your social security number and underwear size.

And there are still more real estate portals that offer you some scanty information, but not the listing agent’s identification or contact information.   On those sites to get more information, you are forced to register so an agent can contact you, or you are forced to contact some agent who pays to be the exclusive agent on that page.   These sites do generate some business for Realtors, but the Internet is evolving to give us more freedom and more options.

Okay, there’s nothing illegal or unethical about any of this.   This is America the Great, free enterprise and all that.   Just understand that the primary goal of the vast majority of all of these sites is not to help you buy or sell real estate, but to make money by selling services to real estate agents.

Did you notice this blog is absolutely free, and does not require you to register or identify yourself?   I hope you enjoy this site, and I hope you get real value out of all that you can do through this blog.   And watch this, if you are benefiting, it is still all free.     And I let you be anonymous, if you want to be.   I know, I’m a nice guy.   (Humor intended.   I’m really quite a boring guy.   I think.   Maybe.)

Conclusion.   When you do your due diligence to find a Realtor who is competent and trustworthy, may I suggest you be certain he or she is also an Internet marketing expert?   That’s critical in this day and age.   Hint:   Very few are.

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