True. Ignore the NAR. Read local real estate analysis that is actually relevant.

If you’re looking for insight into and analysis about the Charlottesville area real estate market, start here.

I’d like to think that since I started writing this little blog, regular readers have come to recognize that the analysis provided here is honest, transparent and truly my best effort to provide clear, cogent and thoughtful analysis about the Charlottesville area real estate market. In spite of the NAR.

The NAR is a trade organization for the benefit of Realtors. As a Realtor, I’m glad to have such a trade organization; they lobby for Realtor things. Their (our?) Mission is clear: “The core purpose of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® is to help its members become more profitable and successful.”

- It’s Not about the NAR’s Numbers, It’s about the NAR’s Credibility (RealCentralVA – 12/14/11)

- The National Association of Realtors: The Housing Bust Was 14.3% Worse Than What We Told Buyers, Sellers, Congress, and the Media From 2007-2010 (Charlottesville Bubble Blog)

- Somebody At The NAR Finally Decided Not To Laugh At The Joke That Is Their Marketing,,, I Mean Data (Zero Hedge)

- US Housing Market Was Artificially Inflated By 14% In 2007-2010 NAR Reports (Zerohedge)

- Home sales bounce but off lower levels (Big Picture)

- Three Questions for NAR (Housing Wire)

- Michael Olenick: NAR’s Big Miss on Home Sales Underscores Lack of Transparency and Accuracy in Mortgage/Housing Data (naked capitalism)

- Lawler: The NAR “benchmark revision story” is not over!

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Or more succinctly:

@mortgagereports How will they help? More accurate data is good, but who trusts the NAR? My take is: national is irrelevant,local is crucial

There’s a bit more after the break, but the above sums it up.

And … question everything. Always. I do.Looking back to February of this year:

This is a big and important conversation because the NAR’s data, along with Case Schiller, are important, widely read, and depended on by many to ascertain the psychology of buyers, sellers – real estate consumers. Their data tries to demonstrate where we are now in the real estate market and where we’re going.

To which I say – So. What. I trust my local MLS nearly 85.7324%* myself, so why would I trust others more? I’ve said it before, when you’re evaluating the Charlottesville real estate market, ignore the national data; it will only cloud your opinion. Perhaps use it as a guide, but don’t count on it for anything other than high-level, disinterested trend lines.

And:

I started blogging to fill a void – a void of credible real estate information and analysis about the Charlottesville real estate market. Also, I needed a forum to voice my opinions (I have a lot of them). There are more bloggers today, but few respect real estate blogging as a craft to be perfected; too many see it as “the next best thing” (hint: blogging’s jumped the shark – look to Twitter for the “next” thing).

The void still exists. I’m doing my best to fill it.

Realtors spend too much time discrediting Lawrence Yun (from 2007)

A few relevant stories about the NAR’s revisions in 2011:

Calculated Risk – Lawler on NAR Revisions for 2007 through 2011

The Wall Street Journal – Housing Bust to Look Worse With Sales Revised

Matthew Ferrara – NAR Loses Nearly 1in 5 Home Sales; Confidence Next?

Zero Hedge – Existing Home Sales Debacle, As Larry ‘Baghdad-Bob’ Yun Confirms Overstatement

CNBC – Realtors: We Overcounted Home Sales for Five Years

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“The fundamental issue is that law schools are producing people who are not capable of being counselors,” says Jeffrey W. Carr, the general counsel of FMC Technologies, a Houston company that makes oil drilling equipment. “They are lawyers in the sense that they have law degrees, but they aren’t ready to be a provider of services.”

The same holds true in the real estate profession – except in Virginia, it takes a bit less than three years (try less than 100 hours of “education”) to get your real estate license. And the state-mandated real estate exam (and Broker’s exam, too) is so mind-numbingly easy and irrelevant as to be farcical.

Expertise comes with practice, time, production and learning from mistakes. More from the NYTimes:

And they have each spent three years and as much as $150,000 for a legal degree.

What they did not get, for all that time and money, was much practical training. Law schools have long emphasized the theoretical over the useful, with classes that are often overstuffed with antiquated distinctions, like the variety of property law in post-feudal England. Professors are rewarded for chin-stroking scholarship, like law review articles with titles like “A Future Foretold: Neo-Aristotelian Praise of Postmodern Legal Theory.”

So, for decades, clients have essentially underwritten the training of new lawyers, paying as much as $300 an hour for the time of associates learning on the job.

The answer is: apprenticeship. No classroom can effectively replicate practical experience. I’m still working on devising a practical apprenticeship for real estate … I’m sure it’s doable, but everything would have to change – compensation of agents, most of whom currently work on 100% commission, real estate office business models, education requirements, hiring salaried mentors? … suggestions welcomed.

As I said elsewhere recently:

“I realized a few years into my career that the real estate “education” I had that prepared me to pass the test to get my real estate license was woefully inadequate to competently practice real estate, but more importantly, I was not prepared to represent my clients. Luckily, I was blessed to have a mentor, my mother, who helped and guided me through the first few years, and to whom I still turn for assistance from time to time.”

“The REALTOR® “Code of Ethics” is a good document, but mostly meaningless beyond the halls of the NAR. Most REALTORS® neither read nor understand it, and the methods for enforcement are inadequate. “REALTOR®” currently doesn’t mean much – to the public or the bulk of the membership. As one of the founders of Nest Realty in Charlottesville, we wanted to set a higher standard for ourselves – demanding experience, professionalism and ethics. In doing so, we seek to raise the bar for ourselves and on behalf of our clients.”

(thanks to the Richmond Fishburne blog for pointing this story out)

And … this is an interesting correlating story at the Volokh Conspiracy.

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I was in a meeting last week with non-Realtors and one of the questions was, “why hasn’t the real estate industry changed more?” as other industries have? One reason: we don’t talk about our deficiencies publicly.

… I wonder what an open source real estate profession would look like.I’ve long held this thought about the real estate profession, but it makes sense when looking at wordpress plugins, too … this time from a security standpoint:

The most popular plugins have had the most eyes looking at the source code. If you stick to the top 1/3 most popular plugins, you will be in pretty good shape. Less popular plugins will have been reviewed less often and are more likely simply be easy ways for people to add data to your database and files to your site.

Couldn’t the same be applied to real estate agents?

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2 – Unemployment has declined to a two year low. (more)

3 – I am hearing this more and more from buyers with whom I am working:

“She is in no immediate rush but she is aware that this is probably the bottom of the market so would like to capitalize on that.”

Update 3 February 2011: Blue Ridge Internetworks reminds me that they have already run fiber to 50 buildings in Charlottesville. Impressive.

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Transcript after the fold:

Good Morning, Jim Duncan with Nest Realty here thinking about and talking about dual agency or specifically single agent dual agency.  This is something that I’ve been advocating against for years and when we founded Nest it was one of our core principles in that realtors, agents in our firm would not do single agent dual agency.  In short, that means that both sides of a transaction, a buyer and seller would be represented by the same agent and in my opinion that representation would be worthless because you can’t represent both sides in the same transaction effectively.  I’m open to debate on that but it’s something I feel very strongly about.  I take representation very seriously.

But now there’s a bill in the General Assembly that the Virginia Association of Realtors thank goodness has worked extremely hard to do full disclosure.  I sat on a committee or two for a couple of years that worked on this to get it through and finally it’s in.  If you want to look it’s House Bill 1907 which is real estate board approved continuing education for renewal brokerage, etc. and licensure.  I think this is a huge victory to get this bill in front of the general assembly.  Just that in and of itself is a victory and what it does, and it’s 20 or 30 pages to look at, but specifically it does not outlaw or make illegal single agent dual agency.  What it does is it says that realtors agents can do (and there’s a difference  between realtors and agents) agents, licensees can do disclosed dual agency if they disclose it up front and if they explain to the buyer and seller what they cannot do from that dual agent position going forward.  Specifically, and this is why I think it’s a victory because it outlines what a dual agent cannot do and this has been the same since buyer agency existed.  This just outlines it and defines it for the consumers.

Number one: following the commencement of dual representation, the licensee will be unable to advise either party as to the terms, offers or counteroffers however the licensee may have previously advised one party as to the terms prior to the commencement of dual representation.  So if I’m the agent trying to represent both sides, I can represent both sides, I just can’t tell anybody – give them any advice whatsoever about the offers.

Number two: the licensee cannot advise the buyer client as to the suitability of the property, its condition other than to make an disclosures as required by law of any licensee representing a seller and it cannot advise other parties as to repairs of the property to make or request.  So you know, again, I can represent both sides I just can’t give any advice whatsoever to either party because in doing so I would be violating my fiduciary responsibilities to both sides at the same time.

Number three: that the licensee cannot advise either party in any dispute that might arise later relating to the transaction.  Okay so again, a dual agent cannot advise either side.

And number four: that the licensee will be acting without familiarity with the clients’ needs, clients’ experience in the market or clients’ experience in handling real estate transactions unless he has gained that information from earlier contact with the client.  Again, part of what I do as a good buyers agent and good listing agent is I listen to my clients and I advise and I guide and I do what’s right for my client.  A dual agent cannot do that by law and this isn’t new.  This just outlines specifically what a dual agent cannot do.  

So in closing I think that my hope and expectation is that this bill will get passed.  Well my hope is that it will get passed.  My expectation is that it probably won’t just because I tend to be realistic or pessimistic by nature but in closing, House bill 1907 I think in and of itself is a victory to define for the consumers what cannot be done by a single agent dual agent.  It’s something that again I’ve advocated against for years.  I think the consumers deserve representation and I think that this is a way for consumers to educate themselves because realistically agents are still going to try to do dual agency but now consumers are empowered with knowledge about specifically upfront what the limitations are.

My name is Jim Duncan with realcentralva.com, Nest Realty here in Charlottesville Virginia.  Happy to debate this with anybody who is interested.  (434) 242-7140, realcentralva.com

Have a good day.

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“How much is the commission on that house?” That question is one of the many reasons that I choose to use Buyer Broker agreements with my buyer clients. (and why ending cooperative compensation would be a boon to the real estate world).

1 – The Seller and the Sellers’ Realtor are going to do whatever they can (legally and ethically) to induce a buyer to look at the house … and hopefully buy it.

2 – The Buyer’s Agent is going to earn a fee …

3 – Somebody is going to pay that fee. I like to think that the Buyer is paying the Buyer-Broker fee … they’re the ones choosing and hiring their representation, anyway.

And then there’s this -

… this highlights the conflict of interest inherent in the “seller paying” the Buyer-Broker commission.

As a buyer – when do you negotiate the fee you are paying your buyer’s agent? I do so very early on the process.

I’ve heard the arguments time and time again:

- “It’s FREE to use a Buyer’s Agent! The fee is paid by the seller!” (this argument becomes much harder when the seller has no or negative equity)

- “It’s none of the Buyer’s business how much I’m being paid!” (as argued by the Buyer’s Agent who ostensibly is seeking to “represent” said buyer)

Look, I’m not begrudging Realtors earning livings what I do encourage is for buyers to be aware of what may be going on behind the scenes.

** Disclaimer: The above represents the opinion of Jim Duncan, Charlottesville Realtor and author of RealCentralVA.com, and are not necessarily shared by my partners or agents at Nest Realty in Charlottesville or by the Charlottesville Realtors’ Board of Directors (of which I am currently a member) nor perhaps the majority of members of the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors.

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Here’s what I mean:

Seller needs to make $400k. House is worth $335k. Realtor tells them it’s worth $425k in order to secure the listing, with the intent of asking for a price reduction in the next few weeks and months.

Not only is buying a listing a waste of time – mine and the Sellers’ – but I’m thinking that the answer to the afore-mentioned question is “yes.”

Someone asked me this question last week, and after a bit of deliberation and thought, I think that the argument could be made that a Realtor “buying a listing” – telling a Seller what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear – is a breach of the Realtor Code of Ethics.

Standard of Practice 1-3 REALTORS®, in attempting to secure a listing, shall not deliberately mislead the owner as to market value.

The services which REALTORS® provide to their clients and customers shall conform to the standards of practice and competence which are reasonably expected in the specific real estate disciplines in which they engage; specifically, residential real estate brokerage, real property management, commercial and industrial real estate brokerage, land brokerage, real estate appraisal, real estate counseling, real estate syndication, real estate auction, and international real estate.

Proving the breach is the challenge.

It’s my job to provide the best possible advice and guidance to my clients – buyers and sellers – so that they can make the best possible decisions; after all, they are the ones who are buying or selling. Part of my job is to know the market – the trends, the inventory, the market values – and to convey this information to my clients.

Realtors do in fact have a Code of Ethics and a Board that enforces them. The challenges to a viable Code of Ethics are (at least) three-fold:

1 – The system is self-enforcing (and I could make the argument that if I were to file a violation against another agent, I could be violating my fiduciary duty to a future client).
2 – Few members of the public know that they can file a violation and those that do know don’t care enough to do so. It’s easier to say, “my Realtor sucks; I won’t use him next time (in seven to ten years).
3 – Is the NAR Code of Ethics Meaningful? – For those who choose to live by the Code, yes. For those who don’t, there are no real consequences that I have seen.

Is incompetence unethical?

Is deliberately misleading an owner as to market value unethical? Yes. Is it enforceable? Doubtful.

Is ignorance unethical?

This is one of the many reasons that I share all market data with my buyer and seller clients – I want them to be educated, informed and competent as to the decision that they are making based on my professional advice.

Related reading: At What Point Does an Agent Become a Criminal?

Note to sellers: Vet your Realtor. Find out their production. Repetition leads to excellence and competence.*

*Search Malcom Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success for “ten thousand hours”

.

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(And you should be interested if you’re in or will be in the market to buy or sell a house in Charlottesville or if you’re a Realtor … times continue to change as people continue to question and challenge the archaic way by which the real estate world operates)

And here is the crux of the issue: If a broker just opens the door for a buyer, has that broker become the “procuring cause,” thus entitling that broker to the (commission)?
…
As the real estate industry matures in the modern, internet-based world, hopefully it will move towards a more rational way of compensating buyer’s brokers, one that compensates them for services peformed and value added, not just for “procuring” a buyer.

I’ve said time and again – my business, and hopefully the better parts of the real estate industry, will continue to shift towards representation of clients’ and their interests and away from selling.

(come back on 9 September to read a very relevant story about buyer broker fees)

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I thought of this question last week while contemplating the molasses-like pace of Realtor politics and maneuverings … does a Realtor have an obligation to disclose to a potential client if they have not yet done a short sale in Charlottesville?

It’s really a rhetorical question, but I’ll answer it anyway … yes.

Article 11 of the Realtor Code of Ethics states: (bolding mine)

The services which REALTORS® provide to their clients and customers shall conform to the standards of practice and competence which are reasonably expected in the specific real estate disciplines in which they engage; specifically, residential real estate brokerage, real property management, commercial and industrial real estate brokerage, land brokerage, real estate appraisal, real estate counseling, real estate syndication, real estate auction, and international real estate.

REALTORS® shall not undertake to provide specialized professional services concerning a type of property or service that is outside their field of competence unless they engage the assistance of one who is competent on such types of property or service, or unless the facts are fully disclosed to the client. Any persons engaged to provide such assistance shall be so identified to the client and their contribution to the assignment should be set forth.

Short Sales in Charlottesville are common now, and likely aren’t going away anytime soon … knowing about them is now a core competence. Knowing how they work, whom to call locally who is expert in the matter, what data to read, what blogs and industry reports are pertinent …

This Article speaks to at least a few things:

1 – A mentoring program for the real estate industry is beyond needed.

2 – Customers/potential clients (they’re different things by the way; see Article 1, Standard of Practice 1-2) should be interviewing their potential representation as if they are hiring someone to represent them in the biggest financial transaction of their lives. Because they are.

3 – If a Realtor is not doing at least five (and some have argued ten) transactions a year, they are most likely not up to speed on the most recent happenings, changes, relationships that are crucial to client success in this market. As it stands right now* fewer than 7% of Realtors in the Charlottesville MSA have met the “at least ten transactions” criteria. Fewer than 18% have met the “at least five.”

4 – The (Charlottesville) real estate market is evolutionary and changing every single day. I’ve spoken to eminently qualified Realtors in Charlottesville whom I respect and trust who state that even they feel like new Realtors in this market. If you’re not doing this full-time – living, breathing, eating, sleeping, real estate – you’re likely doing a disservice to yourself, your profession and most importantly your clients who depend on their representation to be competent.

Advice for buyers of short sales: Be patient. And prepared.

(Buyers) put in an offer and they wait and wait (sometimes for months). They hope that at any moment their real estate agent will call and say the magic words, “The bank approved your short sale!”

Part 2: I’m a Top Producer, So What?

* Right now – Monday morning, 9 August 2010.

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The house is priced well – $260,000 below its first asking price last year, 38% of its original asking price. It’s owned by an LLC and is a short sale.

The house is in a neighborhood that could stand for a bit of good news.

Here’s the thing …

The lockbox doesn’t work and apparently hasn’t worked for many months; another Charlottesville Realtor told me that he had tried to show the house five times, to no avail … seven months ago.

This is an exceptional situation, but it’s unacceptable, and there is little that I can do. But I’m left agreeing with my clients that the Realtor isn’t doing his job, that the house might have been worth something nine months ago.

The house is deteriorating, caving in on itself and dying. Weeds are growing where they shouldn’t be. Windows are fogging. Houses, like humans, need to be lived in.

It’s wrong. It’s sad – for the house, for the sellers, for the neighborhood, for the market.

The challenge with looking for homes in the Charlottesville area is that while inventory is up, quality inventory has been fairly stagnant.

Think about this – nearly 28% of the houses currently on the market in the Charlottesville MSA are vacant – that’s about 700 homes. About 40% of those have been on the market for at least six months. About 155 homes have been on the market for at least a year. 72 of these vacant homes have been on the market for at least 600 days. Allegedly, only two of those 72 are short sales.

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Raise the Bar on Blog Talk Radio. Tuesday 9 February at 2pm EST.

From ethics to contract-writing to putting photos in the MLS, there are no real (enforced or enforceable) standards of professionalism in the real estate profession. (One of the many ways that Nest Real Estate Group is different )

For a primer on this conversation, spend ten minutes reading this fantastic discussion.

Update 10 February 2010: If you have an hour to kill, you can listen to the Raising the Bar show.

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Production matters.

How many clients do you represent every year?

But it’s just one of the many questions buyers or sellers should ask when they are interviewing their potential representation.

Questions to ask your agent in Charlottesville

Great Questions for Sellers to ask

I’m grateful (and work really hard) to be in the 10+ segment of the above chart. I firmly believe that if an agent is not doing at least 10 transactions a year, they’re likely not going to survive.

If they’re doing less than five transactions a year, they’re likely doing themselves, their profession and their clients a disservice. (one of the reasons Nest has high standards for our agents)

The Charlottesville and national real estate markets are changing and evolving so rapidly that unless one is practicing regularly, they’re just not going to be prepared.

Think about it – would you go to the thoracic surgeon who did two surgeries a year, or the one who did dozens?

Do you want your attorney figuring things out as he goes?

Your mechanic reading “how-to” books (or worse, not) throughout the process?

Your barber trying a few things out?

Update 13 October 2009:

The WSJ has a related story today.

The housing market’s long decline has left once-thriving real-estate professionals scrambling for supplemental income or changing professions.

Realtors, agents, brokers and builders rely on sales and commissions for most of their income. And their incomes plunged as sales of existing homes fell 13.3% to 4.9 million last year from 7.1 million in 2005, the most recent peak. The National Association of Realtors says median income for Realtors and brokers fell to $36,700 last year from a high of $49,300 in 2004. The group’s membership fell to 1.14 million in September from 1.35 million in September 2006.

That only 16% of Realtors nationwide have chosen to change careers is a bit shocking.

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No doubt, my wife had already informed you that I visited (the property*). Frankly, I was shocked and angered by revisiting the photos of that property. The property as it is today bears little resemblance to the pleasing pictures used to advertise it, which were almost certainly taken when the property was in better condition; one could even say the pictures are a hoax.

During my admittedly brief encounter with properties in Charlottesville, I learned that pictures of practically all the properties I visited were modified by a combination of software and choice of camera lens. I don’t know if there is a way out of this conundrum except by physical, onsite visit.

Incidentally, the video you provided on (another property) was an accurate reflection of the property, a far cry from doctored photographs.

…

I am not certain whether my wife expressed our combined gratitude for your effort in obtaining the video of (the home in Charlottesville), hence I mention it here. Broadly speaking, however, it is not practical to dispel the carefully constructed myth around each property of interest with the energy you have invested in obtaining the videos for (these two homes in Charlottesville).

You’ve seen them – the pictures in the MLS that look too good to be true, with colors that seem as if they were photoshopped by someone on acid or mushrooms, lights so unnaturally bright that the house can’t possibly have that many recessed lights, or it must have a wall of glass and the pictures were taken on an exceptionally bright afternoon … these pictures suck.

Nothing good can come from unrealistic photos –

1 – The seller suffers because the buyer is either disappointed or pissed off or both
2 – The Realtor has served to discredit him or herself and his fellow Realtors.
3 – I suffer because members of the public may assume that I practice real estate in the same manner – which I don’t
4 – It’s an opportunity for good Realtors (such as myself) to distinguish themselves by doing the job better.

I know which Realtors generally do a good job with marketing homes, and I know which ones do a poor job … and I really wish someone would tell these sellers what a disservice their “representation” is doing for them; but that’s not my place. I do however tell my clients this insight.

Sure, it could be construed as puffery, but why stoop to that level?

For an example of realistic versus marketing, take a look at these two videos for a property I am marketing in Parkside Village in Crozet. Both are valuable and un-puffed, if you will; the one on top provides a very good “marketing” video and the one below is a “realistic” point of view. I take a lot of videos for my buyer clients, particularly ones who are out of town (and quite a few international clients this year … more on this later), and put the videos on password-protected sites.

I’ve been experimenting with post-processing of listing photographs for some time. But the intent is always to provide a clear, honest and accurate representation of the properties I am marketing in the Charlottesville area. The absolute worst thing I can do in my capacity of representing the seller is to set potential buyers’ expectations at an unreasonable level – be it high or low.

I’ve been talking about how sellers need to check up on their Realtors for far too long, by the way.

It is the Realtor’s responsibility to do his or her job well. It is the client’s responsibility to check up on what their Realtor is doing on their behalf.

* As much as I want to write about specific properties and Realtors, there is the potential that doing so might be construed as being in violation of the Realtor Code of Ethics – even if what I write is true and accurate. So, I’ll save whatever capital I have for another day. I’ve learned to pick my battles.

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Heck, I heard a story last week about people who had moved into the City of Charlottesville thinking that they were moving into the County of Albemarle. (I don’t think those folks had representation) Check, check and double check everything.

This stuck out to me in the HooK this week:

Almost as soon as she moved here in 2006 and bought a three-acre spread on Pritchett Lane in northern Albemarle, Neff got a taste of local issues like rural v. growth areas.

"My realtor didn’t bother to say that North Pointe [development] was moving in across the street," recalls Neff. "I’ve got cows across the street." (Ed. note: link to North Pointe added by me)

Not speaking directly about this particular example but the "what’s going on around me" in general:

The Commonwealth of Virginia Disclosure Statement says -PDF- (in part):

(a) The seller is making no representations with respect to any matters that may pertain to parcels adjacent to the subject property. Purchasers should exercise whatever due diligence they deem necessary with respect to adjacent parcels in accordance with the terms and conditions of the purchase contract, but in any event prior to settlement on the subject property.

If you don’t own it, it’s going to change.

This is why I tell my clients that everything can change.

As a consumer, it is your responsibility to ask questions. As a Realtor, it is my job to educate my clients as much as possible. My particular favorite answer is, "I don’t know … but I’ll find out. Have you looked at Charlottesville Tomorrow?"

Resources:

Albemarle County’s fantastic GIS site.

Louisa County’s great GIS site

City of Charlottesville’s GIS site Wait, they don’t have one for some bizarre reason. With all of their budget surplus, couldn’t they find a way to fund a better, more functional online tax assessment site?

Update: Thanks to Dirt Worshipper’s comment, I remembered Albemarle County View. Awesome. Now … if they’d just post their crime statistics in a format other than a PDF …

Update #2 17 August 2009: This seems like the most appropriate space to mention Albemarle County’s being named the Sixth best county for delivering digital services by the National Association of Counties and the Center for Digital Government.

From the press release:

For the seventh year in a row, Albemarle County has been named among the top ten most technologically advanced, cutting edge county governments of its size in the U. S. by the Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties (NACo) in their 2009 Digital Counties Survey. Albemarle County ranks sixth in the nation, up from ninth place last year, in utilizing information technology (IT) to deliver high quality service to its customers and citizens based on a population category of 150,000 or less. Albemarle is among only six Virginia jurisdictions ranked in the top ten for the four population categories.

“We are delighted to be included in the elite communities across the country that are receiving national recognition for providing quality information technology services to their citizens,” said County Executive Bob Tucker in response to the county’s ranking. “We continue to see significant increases in the number of citizens using our website to conduct business at their convenience, which greatly improves the efficiency and accessibility of county government.”
The Center for Digital Government (Center) has found in its annual Digital Counties Survey that America’s counties are embracing new technologies to involve citizens, are moving toward transparent government and are increasing green and sustainable measures while continuing to improve online services. The 2009 Digital Counties Survey is an annual study by the Center and the National Association of Counties (NACo) which identifies best practices and recognizes those counties with exemplary digital service to their citizens.
Center Executive Director, Cathilea Robinett, said, “Despite challenging economic circumstances, America’s counties are continuing to use new tools such as social media to engage and encourage citizen participation and feedback. Additionally, counties are moving forward in very responsible ways by green and sustainability efforts, energy efficiency monitoring, e-waste recycling and government transparency. We heartily congratulate all the winners!”
Counties were asked to respond to questions that included more than 100 measurements and data points about online service delivery, infrastructure, IT architecture and governance models.
The Center for Digital Government is a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government. The Center is a division of eRepublic, Inc., a national publishing, event and research company focused on information technology in the public sector.

View the full list of winners at www.centerdigitalgov.com

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“10 Things your Realtor won’t tell you” is a silly article that plays on fears, stereotypes and ignorance – some of the stereotypes are true, but don’t lose sight of the fact that lists like this drive traffic and help them sell their book. As with much of what you read, do your own due diligence. I’m surprised they didn’t have #11:

Dual Agency is good for you.

Smart Money’s "10 Things your Broker won’t Say":

1. “Your open house is really just a networking party for me.” – True.

2. “My fees are negotiable.” True.

3. “Think you’ve had no offers? Actually, there’ve been several.” A ludicrous statement. Every offer gets presented.

4. “I’m not obligated to keep my mouth shut for you.” True. Unless the client signs a buyer-broker agreement.

5. “Sometimes I forget whose side I’m on.” Insanity. I always know whose side I’m on – my clients’ side.

6. “I know zilch about zoning.” Likely true for some (many?) Realtors.

7. “I won’t let termites—or pesky inspectors—kill a deal.” Note at the end of the linked paragraph that they’re trying to sell books with stupid statements such as this.

8. “I sometimes forget I’m not a lawyer.” Nope. Never. I’m not a lawyer, but I know several good ones.

9. “My website is a dead end.” Nope. My websites and blogs are educational tools that provide plenty of ways to communicate.

10. “You can probably do this without me.” True for some.

This is my response to the NAR’s response to the Smart Money article at Agent Genius, specifically to the claim that all Realtors are trained professionals.

No, no we’re not “trained professionals.” When I finished my 60 hours of real estate “education” I was no more prepared to practice real estate than I was to fly a plane off an aircraft carrier.

Out of the gate, I was no more prepared to represent  clients than I was before. Thank God I had (and still have) a tremendous, successful, ethical and dedicated mentor who has been in the business longer than most Realtors. (my mother)

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I was looking at Google’s blog post about how they have taken their real estate search to Australia, and I revisited their real estate search here in the United States. They have the most boldly assumptive FAQ I think I have ever seen.

I’m an agent. How will my listings compare with those of a broker or MLS? Is it worth uploading?

Absolutely. We recommend that all members of the real estate industry upload their information. The important thing to remember is that you should include as much listing information as possible, and also include a link to your website. Your listings will appear alongside other listings that are relevant to a given user’s query; it’s ultimately up to the user to choose which link they click in order to learn more.

Translation: Of course you should give use your data! Why would you not want us to have it?

My favorite:

I’m a broker. How do I ensure my agent doesn’t upload?

We can’t prevent anyone from uploading content to Google Base; however, your agents will have less incentive to upload if you’re already doing so for the listings they represent.

Translation: Why would they if you’re already doing it? You are sending us your listing feeds, right? Right?

The fact remains that the best real estate search available right now is the one provided by your local MLS – in my case, the Charlottesville area MLS – but that’s probably going to change at some point. Not Trulia, Zillow, Cyberhomes (yet) … this is how to search for homes in Charlottesville …

More at Mashable.

Update: 06 July 2009: Google elaborates a bit on some of their more impressive and useful changes.

More:

Agent Genius

Bloodhound

Google:

For now, I maintain that searching for homes (via the MLS) is not my core competency as a Realtor. I represent clients – buyers and sellers – and search is but one component in that representation.

Buyers (and Realtors) should search everywhere, but that’s often not reasonable or viable … and the wide range of disparate information

From the Virginia Association of Realtors’ Exclusive Right to Represent Buyer Agreement: (pdf) – bolding mine

(f) Buyer understands that Broker’s principal source of information about available properties will be local multiple listing services; however, Broker may from time to time become aware of properties for sale but not submitted to the local multiple listing service and that may be suitable to Buyer. Buyer’s obligation to pay the fee set forth in paragraph 6(a) shall apply to Buyer’s purchase of such property, and any property submitted to the MLS with an offer of compensation to Broker less than the amount set forth in this paragraph 6(a). Broker agrees to apply any fee received from the seller or broker thereof to the amount owed by Buyer under this Agreement and Buyer shall be responsible for any additional amount owed pursuant to paragraph 6(a). Broker shall have no obligation to search out such properties beyond those that come to the attention of Broker in the ordinary course of Broker’s business.

How does one define "ordinary course of Broker’s business"?

Part Two will cover this question.

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Or … get away with it for fifteen years and you’re good to go. Or … after fifteen years, there’s nothing left to learn. Can’t teach old dogs new tricks?

I’ve been assured that the Virginia Association of Realtors will fight this bill; hopefully they’ll have better luck in the House of Representatives, because the bill has unanimously sailed through committee and the Senate. The red italics indicate the proposed change

C. The Board may waive any requirement under the regulations relating to education or experience when the broker or salesperson is found to have education or experience equivalent to that required. The Board shall waive the broker education requirement for any applicant for a brokers license who has, for more than 15 years, owned a real estate brokerage firm and during that time, maintained an active license as a real estate salesperson.

What? If nothing else, this proposal highlights the remarkably low barrier of entry to the real estate profession. That not one Senator felt compelled to vote against it is either astounding or not surprising at all.

This strikes me as an attempt to shore up the flagging real estate business model that has dominated the industry for the last thirty forty fifty plus years. Pure politics wielded by those who are seeking to stave off evolution and obsolescence. Or as Rob says so eloquently:

But at the heart of evolutionary theory is the notion of competition. Evolution is not, as popular usage of the phrase has come to mean, a peaceful, gradual change from one state to another. It is a violent conflict, with winners and losers, and the losers in evolutionary struggle almost always die.

Why are education, evolution and innovation so anathema to many of those in power, who have been in the business for so long?

If time allowed I’d go to the General Assembly and wander the hallways making inquiries of those who have already voted for this bill and lobby those in the House who have yet to vote. But, this is the best forum I have available.

I’m trying to be open minded about this, trying to keep perspective. Maybe I’m mis-reading the bill’s intent. I welcome any defense of the proposed change. Please – educate me (and do it quickly, because there might be another bill out there removing all real estate education requirements).

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Marketing 3.0 is now the science of devising and managing directed business memes: call them bemes. Bemes are sent by members of social communities to each other and typically contain a reward or exclusive offer, which, when redeemed, also results in a reward coupon for the sender.

Here’s the thing – more now than ever before, the brand that matters most to the real estate consumer is the value added by the individual Realtor, not the brand. (and I’ll bet I could back this up with statistics if I had the resources to pull off a survey)

Of particular note regarding the current fragmentation of the real estate listings universe – (bolding mine)

From silos to simultaneity. Too many retailers today persist in believing that online shopping is merely a virtual extension of real world shopping. That is a big mistake.

Rather, online and offline need to coexist, and we need to rethink how they relate. For example, to their surprise, companies like BestBuy (which even encourages customers to shop the aisles but buy online from in-store kiosks) and Macy’s are discovering that physical retailing is a perfect way to move units online. That is, the physical world has become the showroom for the virtual realm.

Retailers now must reimagine a world where consumers experience products in stores but ultimately buy them on the Web: Stores are for experiences, the network is for inventories. And what in turn prepares potential customers for what to look for in stores? Online communities.

All of this suggests that Marketing 3.0 is not only different from its predecessors, but actively undermines them. If your marketing program fails to adapt to this new world, it won’t just become irrelevant — it will actually work against you.

There are very few big brokerages* in the real estate world who are embracing this “new” media (hint: it’s not new anymore).

The way forward is relatively clear – but will/can the big box brokerages adapt before they become dinosaurs, much like the Big Three automakers hopefully will?

If you’re a broker, big or small, read this at Chris Brogan’s site -

Today, we wonder how newspapers survive. Today, we wonder how the music industry will survive. Today, we wonder how GM and Ford and the rest of the US auto industry will survive. We worry about a lot of larger scale creations.

…

Tomorrow (and I mean the day after you read this), we already are equipped with the most robust and least expensive toolset for communications that the world has ever seen. We possess massive distribution networks for free. We are all Gutenberg. We are all Murdock. We are all available and ready.

Read more about silos and how the concept relates to MLS’ at Michael Wurzer’s FlexMLS blog, where he says, “NAR could create a non-profit that could be the ICANN for property IDs, and that would be valuable for tying together the efforts of those publishing real estate info on the web. Trying to cram everything into one silo is never going to happen.” (bolding mine)

*Better Homes and Gardens excepted

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I thought I had fractured my wrist playing soccer two weekends ago (turns out the x-rays say I just have a bad boo-boo). Apparently it takes a few days for the swelling, discomfort – pain – to present itself, so I went to the doctor (Northridge Internal Medicine at UVA)

Thanks to my wife’s insurance, I went to the doctor to get a service – consultation, x-ray, interpretation – that no one has any idea how much any of that costs. That aspect aside, I was reminded that experience matters, and that one’s pay should be commensurate with one’s experience and track record.

She examined me, contorted my wrist, asked about my pain, asked how I injured myself, and before she sent me for x-rays asked me to “do this.” “This” was using my hand to assist my standing up out of the chair. When I couldn’t do it she shook her head, pursed her lips and said, “The last one I saw like that was a fracture.” The key here was that she’d seen it before.

As a Realtor, I’d like to think that I’m more competent, professional and experienced than I was when I was a newbie Realtor seven years ago. In my required BS classes, I learned very little; however through my experiences – my mistakes, my successes, my near misses, I’ve learned an extraordinary amount of knowledge that is applicable to my business and to my clients. To be blunt, I’d like to be paid for that experience; but our current environment doesn’t allow for that.

Putting aside any preconceptions about attorneys, the Virginia law firm of Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen have recently been playing an ad that speaks to my premise:

One of the problems with the real estate industry is this- very rarely does (in)experience pay. Experience matters, but it rarely pays – for one major reason – inexperience pays so well.

I don’t have a palatable solution (yet) to propose, but I welcome suggestions and inspiration.

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