Transparency – Too Much Is Too Much

by Bill Leider

CEO of Real Estate Shows

Author website

Where is it written that video is the only media capable of telling the unvarnished truth?

To listen to the techie-babblers, video has arrived to save us all from the seductive slime of deceptive sales presentations. Video, they argue, is the best and by some accounts the only way to present a home in sufficient detail to show viewers the flaws along with the features. Video can give a viewer sooo much information that the viewer can say, “Wow, I’ve learned so much about that home that I’m no longer interested in it. I don’t need or want to see it. Thank you, thank you, thank you for saving me all that time.” And because video can do that, it must do that. It’s a sacred calling. All hail.

Not so fast.

In their zealous rush to saviordom, the video geeks have conveniently ignored most of the spectrum of human behavior: the role of emotions in decision making; the normal process of how people want and need to connect, be attracted to, interact and form relationships with other people and with significant possessions (like homes).

In the TB (techie-babbler) world, information (visual, audio, written, whatever) is all that matters. Context means nothing. Holistic models and processes are rubbish. Emotions are to be ignored or suppressed. And some genius found the perfect gift-wrapping to convey this TB notion to the world in one magic word – transparency. God I wish I’d thought of that.

I don’t categorically favor any one medium over all others. They all have their place and time. I’m for competence. I’m against ineptitude. Good still photography used in a compelling presentation is far better than a mediocre video or virtual tour. Well-written, evocative titles and descriptive content beats bad voice-overs. And all media are equally capable of delivering transparency. It’s up to the creators.

Transparency for the sake of transparency, without regard to the setting and purpose of the message, without giving consideration to how people want and need to be communicated with and without taking into account where you are in the relationship and how it will continue to develop – is inappropriate and inept (I’m trying to be kind here).

I do not advocate duplicity, non-disclosure or lying – ever. There is, however, a proper time and place to disclose all the elements and conditions that relate to any given property. And no one’s best interests are served by disclosing those things at the wrong time. Putting one’s best foot forward is not a sin, it’s what people want and expect to see.
If transparency from the get-go is our new mantra, let’s look at the way many REALTORS present themselves on their business cards. If we zealously mandate transparency for it’s own sake, then I propose that we make it a crime, punishable by a fine of $1,000, for REALTORS to put photos of themselves on their business cards that are more than 10 years old. If we could enforce that, we’d raise enough money to fix Social Security.

And while we’re on the subject of personal presentations, we should ban all make-up. The term alone denotes an absence of transparency. Put the Revlon’s of the world out of business. Try selling that idea. See how much traction you get.

ALL homes have imperfections of one kind of another. Prospective buyers should be told of them and led to them as part of a holistic process of introduction, initial attraction and emotional connection. Falling in love, whether it’s with a home or a person, is about accepting all of them/it, warts and all. And there are always warts.

Insistence by some video evangelists that video must rule because it is the great vehicle of truth, the messiah of messaging and that video stands alone in its inherent ability to save the world from deception are delusional (not to mention self-serving). The more they rant, the more they tell us that they have not mastered their own instrument and they do not understand human behavior and human needs.