1.  Dual Agency - The potential (and existence) of a conflict of interest is so overwhelming that there could never be a good argument for dual agency.  If it was appropriate, attorneys would do it.

2 .  Commission Structure - The unwillingness to separate the commission and allow the consumer to negotiate each side individually says to the consumer that we are perpetrating a scam and deteriorates our standing with them.

3.  NAR Website and Advertising Campaigns - Just try and find anything on this website.  It is beyond horrible.  And the advertising campaigns make us look like total idiots.  Our hard earned dues are continually flushed down a toilet by the management of the Association.  Check out Narwisdom.com for more blunders and gaffes.

4.  Ethics and Regulatory Enforcement - No one gets thrown out of the NAR for violating the Code of Ethics.  And very few if any real estate agents lose their licenses to practice.  The states and the associations make their money by having more members, therefore it is counterproductive to toss out any potential dues paying agents.

5.  Banks - Banks are the reason for almost all of the market problems.  Their lax monetary policies created a hyperinflated market that has caused all of the current foreclosure and short sale problems of today.  They don’t care about people, their policies and procedures are ridiculously antiquated, they answer to no one and they create this same indifference in the agents that are working with them.  The management teams at banks are the worst executives in America.

6.  Licensing Requirements - The barrier to entry is a pulse and a check.  No need to speak English or have any reading comprehension.

7.  Brokerage Business Model - Hire anybody with a license, charge them as much as you can and hope someone sells a home to their aunt, cousin, brother or sister.  Collect your cut.  Repeat.  No need for training or minimum sales requirements.  In fact, lets create a multi-level marketing company (pyramid scheme) where you don’t even need to sell homes.  Be sure to bring your cards to church this Sunday.

8.  MLS Companies - A worse run organization can only be found running Realtor.com.  Build higher walls around the data, fine agents for giving you the data, waste millions on unneccesary programs and sit in your ivory towers collecting my money.

9.  Ourselves - We need to stand up and demand that changes be made.  We need to stop accepting the status quo as the only way to do business.  In some areas, we need to rebel against that which is destroying this industry, be it our own association, our own brokers or our own complacency.

Did I miss anything?  Let me know.

Previously published here.

I am not saying that it wasn’t possible in the immediate past to be a part-time agent.  Two or three years ago, the inventory levels were low and homes stayed on the market such a short period of time, most agents didn’t have an opportunity to preview the marketplace and learn about the inventory.  It took two days to see everything that was for sale.  When I began selling homes in 2003, there were 35 homes for sale in my immediate farm area of Ashburn.  This morning there are 435.  Today, I spend about eight to 10 hours a week just following inventory and sales so that I can keep up with what is happening in the marketplace.

Short-sales, foreclosures, auctions, REO, asset managers, deed-in-lieu, third party approvals, special warranty deeds, etc, etc.  These are all topics of discussion and areas of confusion and concern for real estate professionals as well as the buying and selling public. These topics were non-issues just 18 months ago, but now I spend countless hours a week learning and researching how these things will affect my clients and myself.  I think I spend more time than most on trying to learn about these latest trends that are affecting the real estate industry and each day I learn something new that helps me better navigate my clients.

Add these two areas that take up a large chunk of time every week on top of marketing, lead conversion, referral networking, online advertising, appointments, showings, paperwork, continuing education, association participation and anything else I left out.  I just can’t see being a part-time agent without seriously diminishing my effectiveness and my professionalism.  That isn’t to say that someone couldn’t sell real estate part-time but I believe their other vocational endeavors would have to be an offshoot of the real estate industry.

Thin The Herd - $10/gallon gas would force a lot of the agents that are just getting by or part time agents that have a license but sell very little real estate to not renew their license. We have already seen the effects of real estate price corrections on the ranks of licensed agents and continued economic pressure would continue to “thin the herd”. And with dues a major source of revenue the associations would never reduce their ranks even if it means a better membership and an improved industry image.

Improve the Membership - Ineffective and lazy agents would leave the industry if gas was $10/gallon. The ineffective agents would have to because it would no longer make financial sense to drive clients around to houses for 8 hours a day without the hope of a sale. The lack of ability to properly prequalify, preview and close deals would cost them too much money and they would be forced out of the business. The lazy agents would refuse to drive the car and preview homes for their buyers in an effort to save money. This would eventually backfire as their lack of local industry knowledge would be realized by savvy buyers and they would be fired/abondoned by their clients.

Reward Technology Savvy Agents - $10/gallon gas would make technology savvy agents more effective, more productive and more relevant. As sellers realize the importance of high quality pictures and dissemination of their listing throughout the online world of real estate, they will turn to agents who are already doing this for their clients. As buyers stay home and preview and house hunt in an effort to save precious gasoline, they will overlook listings with poor online exposure. They will demand more information about a home online and eliminate homes from their search that have little or no information. We are already seeing this happen at $4/gallon but $10/gallon would really deepen the chasm between technology agents and non-tech agents.

Agents Forced to Think Local - Another positive result of $10/gallon gas would be a return to agents focusing on their local area instead of going wherever they can get a listing or wherever a buyer wants to buy. Agents taking listings two and three counties away will become a thing of the past when the agents realize all their profits will go right out the exhaust pipe of their cars. Agents will instead form referral networks in neighboring counties and jurisdictions outside of their area of expertise. This will also eliminate problems caused by listing agents unfamiliar with areas mispricing homes and creating badwill.

If there was a truly revolutionary broker in the real estate business, they would be anticipating the continued rise in gas prices and would create a brokerage that required their agents to use technology to its fullest extent, use only recycled products such as signs and paper and require all their agents to drive hybrid or electric cars. But are there any truly revolutionary brokers?