There’s always something to howl about.

In the 21st century world of real estate, nothing says ‘roadkill’ like a dead dinosaur . . .

Why do velociraptors no longer roam the earth? Because they couldn’t change. For all their ferocity and intelligence, they were not able to adapt to their changing world. Not able because they were not blessed with the human triumph of will, they couldn’t want to change, and so they became extinct.

What’s a Realtor’s excuse?

In today’s world of Web 2.0, disintermediation, and DOJ scrutiny, anyone in this industry who doesn’t believe the real estate business in the 21st Century is going to be dramatically different from the last century is going to be in a world of hurt. The only way to survive will be to embrace that change.

Ardell DellaLoggia started an excellent thread on Seattle’s Rain City Real Estate Guide, where she has a conversation about buyers’ reps changing their worldview on buyer compensation.

Clearly, the Buyer Agent truly treating the buyer as a client, is the key to the future of our industry. As long as agents continue to think that the seller is paying their commission, when they are representing a buyer, they will continue to treat the buyer as a second class citizen in the real estate transaction.

Be sure to read the entire thread to get the most out of it.

But, closer to my own heart is Allen Wright’s post on RealBlogging, which also recommends we re-evaluate the method of Realtor compensation. Closer to my heart because he asks the essential question:

As a real estate professional maybe we should take a step back and ask a more serious question, “What value-added-service am I providing?”

I like being in a commission based industry. I like being paid for my results, not just my efforts. There are 1,200,000 of us all expending some type of effort, a consumer might assume. But who is actually creating value for his clients through that effort?

Some business models such as discount service brokers and the Redfins of the industry have answered this question by saying “we’re not going to give you added value, but we’ll give you what you have come to expect from Realtors for less than Realtors typically charge.” For some consumers, this is an adequate answer. Some people hire day labor handymen to remodel their homes. Maybe they’re handy enough themselves to not need a contractor. Or maybe they’re penny wise and pound foolish, not understanding the downstream consequences of being insufficiently represented. Maybe they make too little money doing their own jobs that they need to save money by doing more of the contractor’s job. Whatever their reasoning, people who apply this reasoning to their real estate transactions will not be my clients, at least not until they have failed “on their own.”

So, will there still be room in this century’s real estate business for Realtors who want to compete for business on other than price? We believe there certainly will be! Everyone tries to differentiate themselves from everyone else by doing the same things that everyone else is doing, saying they have “integrity,” saying they “actually listen to what you want,” by offering free CMAs. Then, when someone actually does do something different, they cry “foul!”. I say expect change. Embrace change. Don’t try to stand in the way of change or you might be run over by it. How are we differentiating ourselves? For one things, we’re letting the consumers know about our results, not just our efforts. This has upset some of our competitors, but has forged healthy, mutually beneficial relationships with others. But most important is we are adding value to the real estate transaction for all of our clients, and getting better at it all the time.