I was reading Barry Ritholtz’s The Big Picture earlier today.
The Big Picture is an economics-based blog that is every bit as cynical about financial markets as the the writers at BHB are fanatical about real estate markets.
Both blogs have cult-like followings.
Barry recently “moved-up” and used his blog to share his experience selling and buying. Summarized, here are Barry Ritholtz’s Rules for Real Estate Agents (and smart move to not call them REALTORS?):
- Don’t try to sell me something I don’t want
- Answer my questions with the truth and in full, even if it will cost you the sale
- When showing a home, don’t point out the things I can see for myself. Point out the things I may miss.
- I told you what I can afford. Respect that.
- Ask questions that matter such as “What are you looking for in terms of architectural style?” or “How close would you like to be to the water?”
- Be a conduit to good negotiations, not an obstacle
- Sometimes, you just need to know when to stop talking
Good stuff, for as Greg properly called me out in public, I am selling my home right now and can understand Barry’s thought process.
But, the reason why this post stood out to me was something buried in the comments from Pat Kitano. Real estate bloggers and even casual readers know that Pat is the brains behind the Transparent Real Estate Blog.
Pat wrote:
Spot-on… what I find unusual about your purely real estate article is the lack of participation by real estate bloggers in commenting. I author a real estate blog and I don’t recognize any names of my colleagues. It’s evidence of blogging’s reader segregation.
I have been an avid reader of Barry’s blog since 2004 and The Big Picture was part of my inspiration to start blogging (along with Alex Stenback and Dustin Luther). Barry and I used to correspond now-and-again until he went Big Time.
But, as Pat points out, Barry’s world of economics and our world of RE blogs are so far separated that when an insightful real estate industry post shows up on the largest economics blog in the country, none of us don’t even know that it’s there.
This isn’t a call to action by any means; it’s just an observation. Or, an observation of an observation.
[In my best Carrie Bradshaw voice]: Have we grown so comfortable with the voices of our friends that we stopped listening and looking for new ones?
If you’ve got room for more friends, consider meeting Barry. He’ll make you laugh at our world, he’ll make you question the “truth” you think you know, and best of all, he posts with such frequency that you won’t be able to keep up no matter how hard you try.
Pat may be the first of all of us to discover that on his own.
Greg Swann says:
I saw it earlier this week. I forget who first cited it, but there have been several mentions. I left the tab open, thinking I might comment on it. Frankly, I didn’t believe the “rules” were based on real experiences. I could be wrong — I only show with myself, after all — but it sounded more like a Hollywood parody of Realtors than the real thing.
In any case, tell him to come to me next time. I wrangled with a client last night about her not doing something that was to her clear financial interest. I lost the battle, alas, and now it will be my job to see to it that the bad consequences she might have easily avoided don’t befall her anyway. That’s the difference between being a salesperson and a fiduciary.
March 17, 2007 — 10:26 am
Franz says:
I posted my take on this at Blue Collar Agents. I thought most of Barry’s points were valid, although his expectation that listing agents should reveal their client’s negotiating position was off base.
As a regular reader of Barry’s blog, and based on what I’ve seen in this business, I have no doubt his post was a result of his real experiences.
March 17, 2007 — 11:24 am
apella says:
I am currently at about half of the blogs on your list as far as reviewing, reading, classifying and adding to my blog roll on Table Talk With Apella, all the while seeking new ones and doing the same on Active Rain. Wow there are a ton and that is a great thing!
I cannot agree with you more in your comment as to the stopping of listing/reading and looking for new ones. I have yet to start reviewing other blogs such as business or social however I encourage all bloggers to attempt to review as many as possible. There is a wealth of information, contacts and other items that may prove to be of an interest.
March 17, 2007 — 11:58 pm
Barry Ritholtz says:
Use Technorati or Google Blog Search to keep you informed when a non RE blog has RE content . . .
Of course, you should also be reading TBP everyday, but thats a nother story
March 18, 2007 — 8:27 am