I do wonder, however, how you reconcile the “There need to be objective standards for what makes a real estate agent good. Every other industry has them.” with the rest of your post, which seems to suggest that the market (i.e., consumers) will decide what those standards are by voting with their dollars?

Would it make sense, do you think, to undertake a survey of sorts of Realtors and brokers to determine what (in their view) qualities make for a “good” agent? Then someone could do the same survey of consumers?

Might be interesting.

-rsh

I do wonder, however, how you reconcile the “There need to be objective standards for what makes a real estate agent good. Every other industry has them.” with the rest of your post, which seems to suggest that the market (i.e., consumers) will decide what those standards are by voting with their dollars?

Would it make sense, do you think, to undertake a survey of sorts of Realtors and brokers to determine what (in their view) qualities make for a “good” agent? Then someone could do the same survey of consumers?

Might be interesting.

-rsh

2. NAR is DEFINITELY NOT the organization to determine the standards (nor, by the way, should real estate commissions). The person who already HAS determined what the standards ARE and should be is right there in the mirror: The Consumer. Markets determine winners and losers by the amount of money the public spends with them. Real estate isn’t a monopoly, so the follow the money and we can see what companies are following the standards of the CONSUMER. Anything created by a committee, political body or lobbying group would be ridiculous – like ten people trying to make a spaghetti sauce in the kitchen. We already know what their standards look like – and they have had decades to “raise the bar.” It hasn’t happened.

3. Further to this point: Most calls for “NAR” to raise the standards are merely PROTECTIONIST calls. It’s one competitor saying, Let’s use NAR to cut off the other competitors. That’s a terrible spirit of entrepreneurship. If any broker wants to raise the bar, then just DO IT. And the customers will come to you because we’re not idiots.

We can’t find the answers to what makes a REALTOR good because no brokers are willing to set standards of performance. At some companies, someone with a “pulse and a license” seems to be “good” considering that’s what the broker is willing to recruit – and believe it or not, what some consumers are willing to accept. At other companies, perhaps the performance levels are higher.

I would note this: I’m not a fan of “one standard” or even “raised standards” because that means there is someone – other than the consumer – who is setting the standards, usually arbitrarily. Real estate is an innovative and entrepreneurial industry – it has to be because it serves so many kinds of consumers. And the standards for “performance” do vary by consumer type, location, need. So perhaps the question should be: What KINDS of standards of performance help REALTORS perform WELL. Rather than trying to define one, cookie-cutter REALTOR “good” template.

Hope all is well!
Matthew Ferrara

2. NAR is DEFINITELY NOT the organization to determine the standards (nor, by the way, should real estate commissions). The person who already HAS determined what the standards ARE and should be is right there in the mirror: The Consumer. Markets determine winners and losers by the amount of money the public spends with them. Real estate isn’t a monopoly, so the follow the money and we can see what companies are following the standards of the CONSUMER. Anything created by a committee, political body or lobbying group would be ridiculous – like ten people trying to make a spaghetti sauce in the kitchen. We already know what their standards look like – and they have had decades to “raise the bar.” It hasn’t happened.

3. Further to this point: Most calls for “NAR” to raise the standards are merely PROTECTIONIST calls. It’s one competitor saying, Let’s use NAR to cut off the other competitors. That’s a terrible spirit of entrepreneurship. If any broker wants to raise the bar, then just DO IT. And the customers will come to you because we’re not idiots.

We can’t find the answers to what makes a REALTOR good because no brokers are willing to set standards of performance. At some companies, someone with a “pulse and a license” seems to be “good” considering that’s what the broker is willing to recruit – and believe it or not, what some consumers are willing to accept. At other companies, perhaps the performance levels are higher.

I would note this: I’m not a fan of “one standard” or even “raised standards” because that means there is someone – other than the consumer – who is setting the standards, usually arbitrarily. Real estate is an innovative and entrepreneurial industry – it has to be because it serves so many kinds of consumers. And the standards for “performance” do vary by consumer type, location, need. So perhaps the question should be: What KINDS of standards of performance help REALTORS perform WELL. Rather than trying to define one, cookie-cutter REALTOR “good” template.

Hope all is well!
Matthew Ferrara

To succeed, an agent does not need to be great in every skill. To succeed sales-wise or service-wise, being great in just one or two skills is usually enough to vault them way out in front of the pack.

One can qualify as an awful agent – from the viewpoint of other agents by not returning *their* phone calls. But, I will add that people who behave this way usually are awful.