Blurred vision

I took this photo through the back window of a cab when I was in New York City last week visiting a client. At first, (for obvious reasons) I wasn’t going to use it. But I decided it actually provided an apt metaphor for the confusion surrounding what a Realtor should be and should do these days.

That blur in the middle is a billboard reading:

"Get your real estate license: 2 weeks and $200!"

Right. I know. This is easy fodder for yet another post bemoaning the lack of standards in our industry, or the careless manner with which consumers’ trust has been handled. I won’t beat that drum again.

So think about this: If the meaning of "real estate agent" or "Realtor" in the minds of consumers has been so abused, so utterly stripped of meaning, is there not opportunity for a company to fill the void?

How hard would it be for a company to define — and to enforce — what it means to be a [your company here] agent? Might there be just enough slack in the broker/agent tug-of-war to carve out some mutually beneficial standard to which both parties could adhere?

I am not talking about yet another designation. That’s turned into something of a racket and consumers know it. I’m talking about a list of things every agent in your company is, knows, does, and doesn’t do — every time.
Consumers know what they’re getting when they call the Roto Rooter man; when they call their local real estate office, how do they know they aren’t getting a freshly minted two-week tyro?

They will know only if you tell them.

— Brian Boero