{"id":2325,"date":"2007-12-05T13:49:27","date_gmt":"2007-12-05T20:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=2325"},"modified":"2007-12-05T15:13:36","modified_gmt":"2007-12-05T22:13:36","slug":"transparency-ethics-agent-review-sites-and-how-not-to-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2325\/transparency-ethics-agent-review-sites-and-how-not-to-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Transparency, Ethics, Agent Review Sites and How Not to Act"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Agent review sites” have been out there for awhile. You know the type — a directory \/ database of real estate agents where in theory clients of these agents submit “reviews” of their agent and experiences.<\/p>\n

Amazon does it with books. IMDB does it with movies. Sites like IncredibleAgents<\/a> and HomeThinking<\/a> attempt to do it with real estate agents. These types of sites aren’t exclusive to real estate agents — UReview.net<\/a> is for attorneys, RateMDs.com<\/a> does doctors, RateMyProfessors.com<\/a>…. well, you get the idea.<\/p>\n

I’m not here to argue the viability of the business model of these types of sites. Nor will I address whether they even serve a purpose. Some will say they do, others not. I haven’t really formed an opinion either way.<\/p>\n

But this morning, a post popped up in my feed reader. It was from the Incredible Agent blog and the title, “How not to get a review deleted off IncredibleAgents.com<\/a>“, piqued my curiosity.<\/p>\n

Apparently a not-so-flattering agent review was entered into their system. The agent on the wrong end of said review would seem to be rather, shall we say “displeased” at his name being attached to a scathing review<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So Mr. Agent fired off an email to the CEO, complete with lines like:<\/p>\n

Son, and I think I can call you that, since I am about twice your age, you are in trouble.
\nWhat you are about to get into is certainly not worth it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And my favorite:<\/p>\n

I know all about you and your family.
\nYou are in the process of making a serious mistake.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Where I come from, that last little nugget would be nothing but a threat. And a serious one at that. I could probably find a line in the Realtor Code of Ethics that spells out in detail that firing off a threat like this is wrong.<\/p>\n

But the unwritten Code of Common Sense, Decency, and Being a Good Human is clear enough for me.<\/p>\n

All this agent had to do was provide the facts that would dispute the reviewers claim (assuming such facts exist). The review site provides exactly that capability.<\/p>\n

There are several ethically centered questions Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Agent review sites” have been out there for awhile. You know the type — a directory \/ database of real estate agents where in theory clients of these agents submit “reviews” of their agent and experiences. Amazon does it with books. IMDB does it with movies. Sites like IncredibleAgents and HomeThinking attempt to do it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2325","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-marketing","7":"category-real-estate","9":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2179,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2179\/a-consumers-guide-to-the-divorced-real-estate-commission-why-buyers-and-sellers-each-paying-for-their-own-representation-is-the-most-significant-reform-that-can-be-made-today-in-residential-real-estat\/","url_meta":{"origin":2325,"position":0},"title":"A consumer’s guide to the divorced real estate commission: Why buyers and sellers each paying for their own representation is the most significant reform that can be made today in residential real estate","author":"Greg Swann","date":"November 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Part I: How we got into this mess in the first place Can we be straight with each other? I'm not a soft and subtle kind of guy, and my working assumption is that you are sick to death of being hustled -- handled -- lied to. We yammer all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":789,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/789\/maybe-we-need-more-salaried-agents\/","url_meta":{"origin":2325,"position":1},"title":"Maybe We Need More Salaried Agents","author":"Doug Quance","date":"December 21, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been running some stats on advertising, Google rankings and agent performance over the last couple of days. One of the top agents in Atlanta has not had a selling-side transaction all year. Very unusual for this agent. Another top agent - who ranks very high in Google and has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1592,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1592\/shackpricescom-a-tear-down-innovative-map-search-portal-reconstructed-as-estatelycom\/","url_meta":{"origin":2325,"position":2},"title":"ShackPrices.com a tear-down? Innovative map-search portal reconstructed as Estately.com","author":"Greg Swann","date":"June 28, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The most-innovative little map-search in Seattle, ShackPrices.com, today relaunches as Estately.com, a name perhaps more fitting for a town where you can still get a decent fixer for less than a million dollars. The site is also launching its monetization model with this release: A fee-based referral system for users\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":[]},{"id":3027,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3027\/gen-x-gen-y-and-the-end-of-the-traditional-real-estate-business-model\/","url_meta":{"origin":2325,"position":3},"title":"Gen X, Gen Y, And the End Of The Traditional Real Estate Business Model","author":"Barry Cunningham","date":"April 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 With the median age of real estate agents being 52 years of age (source NAR), new Realtors hoping to make their mark in the real estate business are casting aside conventional wisdom. New Real Estate Agents Seeking Gen X And Gen Y Buyers Break From The Mold New real\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disintermediation"","block_context":{"text":"Disintermediation","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/disintermediation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Real Estate Radio USA | Gen Y Homebuyers","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.realestateradiousa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/geny.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3075,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3075\/thinking-myself-out-of-business-a-lone-real-estate-agent-faces-the-future\/","url_meta":{"origin":2325,"position":4},"title":"Thinking myself out of business: a lone real estate agent faces the future","author":"Mike Farmer","date":"May 9, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0Agents get leads from different marketing strategies, both offline and online, but where will most of the leads come from in\u00a0five years? Looking ahead I'd have to say leads will come mainly from one source -- Google. Unless something changes, Google has the lion's share of searchers. As more and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2968,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2968\/its-1000am-do-you-know-where-your-realtor-is\/","url_meta":{"origin":2325,"position":5},"title":"It’s 10:00AM; Do You Know Where Your Realtor Is?","author":"Barry Cunningham","date":"April 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Do you know that the Realtor who you have your house listed with is actually still earning their living as a Realtor? That was the concern recently voiced and posed to us by a concerned agent in Poinciana, Florida. \"In Central Florida, for example, over 50% of real estate agents\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Real Estate News } Real Estate Radio USA","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.realestateradiousa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/missing.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325","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\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}