{"id":1657,"date":"2007-07-14T19:51:17","date_gmt":"2007-07-15T02:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=1657"},"modified":"2007-07-16T21:03:21","modified_gmt":"2007-07-17T04:03:21","slug":"the-imperative-of-divorced-commissions-part-2-the-inherent-value-of-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1657\/the-imperative-of-divorced-commissions-part-2-the-inherent-value-of-free\/","title":{"rendered":"The Imperative of Divorced Commissions, Part 2: The Inherent Value of Free"},"content":{"rendered":"

By far the most entertaining marketing presentation I’ve ever suffered was in the mid-eighties. I was representing a small shoe manufacturer in Worcester, MA. It was early in the comfort revolution, and the company owner had come up with a way to put a donut in the insole for the heel to rest. He’d asked a local ad agency — his brother-in-law, actually — to come up with a bottom to top marketing plan: name, packaging, hook, advertising.<\/p>\n

Cleverly focusing in on the donut, thinking waaaaaaaaay outside the box, this is what was unveiled:<\/p>\n

Manistee presents: ZER0&174;s!!<\/strong>
\n<\/em>with
\n<\/em>ZER0&174;<\/strong> Styling!
\n<\/em>ZER0&174;<\/strong> Affordability!
\n<\/em>and
\n<\/em>ZER0&174;<\/strong> COMFORT!!
\n<\/em>\n<\/p>\n

We never made it to the packaging.<\/p>\n

=====<\/p>\n

Here’s Kendra Hogue, editor for the real estate section of the Sunday Oregonian, a couple months ago:<\/p>\n

For those of you who haven’t purchased a home before, “hiring” a Realtor to help locate a house costs you nothing.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well.<\/p>\n

No matter how we try to twist statutes or the code of ethics, no matter how much we argue among ourselves as to who actually pays the buyer’s agent, the fact is the debit remains on the seller’s HUD-1 and the perception is that buyers’ agents come free. And the value of ‘free’?<\/p>\n

Zero.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

No? How many Buyer Presentations have you been on in the last year? Why is it buyers are much more willing to work with the first person they meet — or with Aunt Rose’s pedicurist’s live in girlfriend’s little brother — than a seller might? Why do they often drift, as if one warm body is the equivalent of another?<\/p>\n

No matter how much we plead that buyer’s agents are as important to buyers as listing agents are to sellers — and they are — the market price<\/em> tells buyers a different story, and the argument falls largely unheard. And note importantly that the price isn’t set by the market<\/em> — the customer — but artificially by the industry. Price-by-fiat is almost always disastrous [Google ‘Nixon price controls’].<\/p>\n

The consequences are both obvious and counter intuitive. The fact that buyers don’t scrutinize their hires is a boon to the inexperienced and inept. That keeps the people Kris just Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By far the most entertaining marketing presentation I’ve ever suffered was in the mid-eighties. I was representing a small shoe manufacturer in Worcester, MA. It was early in the comfort revolution, and the company owner had come up with a way to put a donut in the insole for the heel to rest. He’d asked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,11,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disintermediation","category-dual-agency","category-real-estate","no-featured-image"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1547,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1547\/niggling-peeves-the-nar-and-how-not-to-conduct-pr\/","url_meta":{"origin":1657,"position":0},"title":"Niggling Peeves: The NAR and How NOT to Conduct PR","author":"Jeff Kempe","date":"June 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"It's been a wonderfully grumpy week. Please indulge me: When the NY Times came out with its piece on the Madison, WI FSBO market, the NAR typically over-reacted and sent out another set of talking points. Last time they did that -- Sixty Minutes -- they received some well deserved\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Casual Friday"","block_context":{"text":"Casual Friday","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/casual-friday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":174,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/174\/how-to-make-fast-flexible-web-pages\/","url_meta":{"origin":1657,"position":1},"title":"How to make fast, flexible web pages . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"August 4, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Sellsius\u00b0 has a big bag of how-to's but I'm from Missouri. I like how-to articles that tell exactly how to do something. One from me: How to make fast, flexible web pages. This is Realtor 2.0 stuff: Full-service Realtors who plan to compete need to learn how to punch out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15116,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/15116\/boston-globe-story-on-social-media-and-real-estate\/","url_meta":{"origin":1657,"position":2},"title":"Boston Globe story on Social Media and Real Estate","author":"John Rowles","date":"September 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"With Jeff's post below still fresh in my mind, I read a story in the \u00a0Boston Globe Real Estate section over the weekend\u00a0that attempted to sort of let buyers and sellers know that brokers and agents are adapting to social media: Although it\u2019s hard for Bourgeois to quantify just how\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/how_agent_was_found.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1342,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1342\/now-my-space-really-is-my-space\/","url_meta":{"origin":1657,"position":3},"title":"Now My Space really IS MY SPACE","author":"Russell Shaw","date":"April 23, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Am I popular with young people? Hell, I've got my own page(s) on My Space. I just found out about these pages today - Greg sent me the links via email. Here is a link to the first page Greg sent me. After I wrote him back insisting I have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1324,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1324\/zillow-notes-fear-and-ludditism-advertsing-a-better-farming-strategy-and-more\/","url_meta":{"origin":1657,"position":4},"title":"Zillow.com notes: Fear and Ludditism, advertising, a better farming strategy and more","author":"Greg Swann","date":"April 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Zillow notes: Jay Thompson, The Phoenix Real Estate Guy asks \"Why do so many agents fear Zillow?\" He makes the same point in a BusinessWeek article on the Seattle-based Realty.bot. Brian Brady, America's Most Opinionated Mortgage Broker and a BloodhoundBlog contributor, covers some of the same ground: \"Is your Realtor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2809,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2809\/whats-the-future-of-residential-real-estate-signage-i-think-its-like-the-recent-history-of-printing-only-much-much-bigger\/","url_meta":{"origin":1657,"position":5},"title":"What’s the future of residential real estate signage? I think it’s like the recent history of digital printing — only much, much bigger","author":"Greg Swann","date":"March 20, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"\"The Barrys\" on Real Estate Radio USA have a burning yearning to know just what it is that listing Realtors do to earn their commissions. It's a question that plagues me, too. As much as I talk here about on-line marketing, we draw a lot more attention from sellers with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disintermediation"","block_context":{"text":"Disintermediation","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/disintermediation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}