What is PL?

Yes, I know that you know what post license really is, but I am not sure that it’s intent is working. My understanding is that the intent of post licensing is to instill knowledge into new agents, in what use to be the first two years of their first licensing cycle and as of July 1, 2008 will be the first year of the licensing cycle. My understanding was that it was suppose to be all the things that weren’t taught in pre-licensing. To submit for credit for PL classes, is a much more tedious and frustrating process than Continuing Education or Broker Education. The agent also needs to keep track of much more, and then different tracks (property management, residential, commercial) must be watched for.

The Structure

PL is not only more difficult to take for the new agent, it’s more complicated to submit for credit at DPOR. What I may be able to reasonable get approved for CE learners, may be more difficult for PL credits. For example, I submitted an 8 hour Technology class for Real Estate Related approval and received the 8 hour credits, but the same class submitted for PL only gets four hours, unless I figure out how to restructure the course to make it two distinct programs. If I am teaching a multiple discipline program such as ABR where one can get Fair Housing, Agency and Ethics; than one application goes to DPOR for CE credits and one number is issued for all three disciplines. However, with the same course for PL; each discipline has to be a separate application. Thus requiring twice (often more) the paperwork at the time of class, submissions, certifications and tracking. This also multiplies the opportunity for the school to miss a submission or misfile the credits. PL classes must be between 1-4 hours; or a minimum of 3 hours if mandatory topics etc…

Is the Mission Goal being accomplished?

I know that DPOR and leadership is trying to meet the demands of the membership to get agents better prepared early in their career, but many are struggling to get the 30 hours in a two year period - not for lack of trying’ but rather in difficulty in finding the required classes and finding them with sufficient hours approved. Most are simply renewing on-line or by correspondence because of lack availability of solid classroom education opportunities. Study, after study shows the retention rates for on-line or correspondence programs are considerably lower than classroom education.

I spend a considerable amount of time, as staff, trying to figure out how to get the most PL hours in each class submission. We also spend a large amount of time working daily with agents who are simply frustrated with PL issues. I find the new agents are much more concerned about their renewal credits and time lines that experienced agents In many, many occasions we find that agents must take 45 or so clock hours (often on the same topics) to get the 30 hours of credit time that they need.

What Say You?

At times I feel like the PL program was simply a way to circumvent apathetic Brokers who weren’t giving good oversite and education in their offices. I’m OK with that, as I don’t know how to do more to require Brokers to educate their agents. However, from standpoint, all agents regardless of experience should be taking at least 30 hours of training in a two year period seeing as how exponentially real estate is evolving. The additional 8 hours of Broker training was a good step in this direction.

How effective do you think the current program is, for actually better preparing the agent for their career, and if it isn’t working, what do you think could be done better?

The Mission

Awhile ago fellow VARBuzz and AgentGenius contributors Jim Duncan and Daniel (The Zebra) Rothamel wrote articles regarding Paying NAR Dues and NAR Engaging it’s Members.  They are great posts, with tons of interactions from members who support and unfortunately some of those who don’t support the Association.  The entire mission of the Association is to be a relevant factor of support and advocacy for the REALTOR member.  A great deal of work goes into carrying out the directives to fulfill these missions, from both REALTORS and staff.  Having now been both a practicing Realtor and most recently a staff member, I am seeing that a vast number of the tools, initiatives and resources created to enhance the agent’s success have been underutilized.   I feel that the Associations are answering your call, but you can’t hear us.

What Is The Barrier

As a staff member of FAAR, I’ve received countless calls and e-mails asking for a wide variety of assistance, and I always have resources from our local association, VAR or NAR to give to the member.  The members frequently ask why they didn’t know about these tools in the first place - good question.

Recently our Association had a meeting planned for Brokers, so that they could come provide open-forum feedback in preparation for our Strat Planning session.  Four days before the meeting and after a ton of notices, e-mails and marketing we had two members registered.  The workgroup decided to call the Brokers and in response we had almost 50 people attend the meeting.

What Works?

While pondering this post, I asked my friends on Twitter how they would like to be communicated with.  Almost all of them said e-mail.  However, one commented  that e-mails have become so ubiquitous that they are almost irrelevant.  There are so many people trying to e-mail you and get your attention that people are scanning them over without registering their importance.

This would explain why only about 20% of our e-mails, sent to members, are actually read.  But it begs the question; why with so many agents asking for their Associations to provide services, are members not paying more attention to the primary resource for their business? 

Call To Action

Most all Associations use e-mail, post cards, brochures, fliers, etc…  Calling on the phone, for most Associations, isn’t an option because of the size of the organizations and lack of staff.  So, what do you feel is the best way for your Association to keep you up to date and show you the plethora of tools that we’ve developed to help you with your business?

I asked our membership staff to run a generational analysis of VAR members according to how long they’d been in the business. Interesting results:

In the business 5 years or fewer:

Pre-Boomer (Born 1946 or earlier) 6% / Boomer (1946-1964) 34% / Gen X (1965-1976) 43% / Gen Y (1976- ) 17%

In the business more than 5 years:

Pre-Boomer (Born 1946 or earlier) 25% / Boomer (1946-1964) 56% / Gen X (1965-1976) 17% / Gen Y (1976- ) 2%

In the business more than 10 years:

Pre-Boomer (Born 1946 or earlier) 35% / Boomer (1946-1964) 57% / Gen X (1965-1976) 8% / Gen Y (1976- ) 0%

It’s also notable that a whopping 75% of our approximately 36,000 members have been in the business 10 years or fewer, and thus had never before seen the kind of market conditions we’re now experiencing.

As VAR’s CEO, there are several conclusions I can draw from this data that can help direct how VAR communicates with and engages our members, as well as the kinds of training and support they might expect from us. More about that when I have a random minute to think out loud….

In our ongoing effort (okay, MY ongoing effort) to keep you well-read on what’s being written out there about the housing economy and your profession, here are a few must-reads:

> Incredible, but true: Daniel Kadlec actually writes something positive about the current housing market in last week’s issue of TIME . Any article about the current situation that’s entitled Ignore the headlines (as this one is) has got to be provocative, right?

> This, from the February 22 New York Times about some new proposals Congress is considering for “rescuing” homeowners who are upside down on their mortgages. What’s your take on this idea of a bailout (for lack of a better term)?

> Interesting piece here (from seekingalpha.com) that takes a contrarian view of what’s happening (and is ahead) in the mortgage markets. Be sure and read the comments, too, many of which take a contrarian view of the author’s contrarian view.

> Speaks for itself: Top 5 Things I Love About The Current Real Estate Market

> The Next Slum? In this month’s Atlantic Monthly, Christopher B. Leinberger says the subprime crisis is just the tip of the iceberg. Fundamental changes in American life may turn today’s McMansions into tomorrow’s tenements.

> How to find your lost iPhone. I read about this at sellsiusrealestateblog. If you lose your iPhone, this service will locate it for you on a Google map. Not that I can imagine anyone so careless as to misplace anything as lovely as an iPhone….

> From today’s NYT (Feb 23): A ‘Moral Hazard’ for a Housing Bailout: Sorting the Victims From Those Who Volunteered

Lastly, if you have a life outside work, pick up a copy of THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy. Has not a thing to do with real estate, but I just finished it, and it’s the best thing I’ve read in a long time. And don’t be dissuaded by the fact that it’s an Oprah Book Club pick; it won last year’s Pulitzer Prize.

– Scott Brunner, CAE

This, from Seth Godin’s blog:

The posture of a communicator

If you buy my product but don’t read the instructions, that’s not your fault, it’s mine.
If you read a blog post and misinterpret what I said, that’s my choice, not your error.
If you attend my presentation and you’re bored, that’s my failure.
If you are a student in my class and you don’t learn what I’m teaching, I’ve let you down.

It’s really easy to insist that people read the friggin manual. It’s really easy to blame the user/student/prospect/customer for not trying hard, for being too stupid to get it or for not caring enough to pay attention. Sometimes (often) that might even be a valid complaint. But it’s not helpful.

What’s helpful is to realize that you have a choice when you communicate. You can design your products to be easy to use. You can write so your audience hears you. You can present in a place and in a way that guarantees that the people you want to listen will hear you. Most of all, you get to choose who will understand (and who won’t).

It’s an important point: miscommunication or failure to engage is pretty much ALWAYS the fault of the communicator, not the recipient/listener. As we association leaders strategize about how we can better communicate with and engage our members, it’s something we must keep in mind. If REALTORS aren’t reading / buying / wanting / benefitting from it – presuming what we have to offer is truly valuable – it’s likely because we’re not packaging / positioning / communicating it correctly.

– Scott Brunner, CAE

The Williamsburg Association of REALTORS plans their day of visits to their legislators in the General Assembly Building.

Last night I was exhausted but too excited to sleep, that’s what VAR Legislative & Education Conference does to you! My head was spinning with ideas shared, “friends” met for first time face to face, RPAC, so I was up late in the night writing….

Wow - I’m just wrapping up day two of four here in Richmond at our VAR Legislative & Education Conference.
Click here for Full Schedule of events.
I’m really too tired to be writing this blog but also too excited not to write it.

Day one was a long “1/2 day”.

My first session was on Policy Manuals taught by VAR Legal Guru: Lem Marshall. While geared mostly to the Broker Office poffice manuals, I took many notes about things that also would relate to our Local Association Manual.

Virginia Managers Council hosted Broker Roundtables - speed dating style. 4 tables each with a “date” or host with a pre-selected topic of discussion. Topics included “How to keep a positive attiutude in the office” (my personal office favorite method is to hold a purring cat), Operating a Virtual Office, Business Planning for Office & Agents & Managing the Brokerage Books. More details to come in a later post.

Day 2 has been a full day. This is the day that REALTORS storm the Hill. Morning Brief on important issues & Bills currently in the house & senate then the march or bus ride to the hill for “face time” with your representatives. While I attended the briefing, I decided to take the morning to meet with our local association executive & make plans for our roll out to membership of our new proposed Strategic Plan. Then to meet with Harrisonburg’s Association 2007 President. The exchange of information & spirit of cooperation is profound. Sallye - a licensed VAR Instructor offered to help with some education programs being developed.

RPAC Awards Luncheon and wrap up of the Day on the HIll. VAR’s is the second largest PAC in the state and a well respected for being the voice of property right issues. RPAC goal for this year is lofty & was kicked off with quite the performance by “THE RPAC DIVAS” - you really had to be there for that one!

IMAG - Information Management Advoacy Group. This is my first year on one of the AGs, I must say I am impressed with the depth of knowledge of both the volunteers & the staff liasons involved in IMAG. (I’m very proud to see 3 members of my VLA 2007 class members at the table.) Ben Martin, CAE Communications Director unleashed the social media bug on VAR last fall. VARbuzz.com, VAR Facebook Group, VAR Linkedin Group are all part of the official VAR social media plan. Jovan Hackley, the new Marketing Manager is sharp! look for the new “TOP 10″ postcard - (download the pdf here). Just wait until you see the new member plan he is working on! I’d be remiss not to mention Lisa Noon, VP Marketing & Communications & Scott Rogers, Chair of IMAG.

A side note: There are a large number of Virginian REALTORS that participate in social media conversations on a daily basis with a national “group” of REALTORS. We share market info, tech tools & advice, send & recieve referrals, talk about our day, share jokes and troubles - we consider ourselves friends BUT many have never met face to face. Today several of us met face to face for the first time. Pretty cool experience even if I am the old lady of the bunch! Make sure to read:
A Cynic Converted … “Hello. My name is Jeremy, and I was a cynic.”

As if that’s not enough next was a video blog interview with Ben Martin talking with Tony Arko, Technology Chair DAAR & myself about the use of the Ning platform of social media as a communication tool for our local REALTOR associations. We’ve been sharing information, tips, tools but had never met in person. Boy do I have some great ideas for our new Information Management Committe & their website project!

A quick visit to the I-81 Corridor meeting. The AEs had a few questions & input for IMAG new member project & that wrapped up the daylight hours of the day.

A fast run to drop off computer, then on to the Legisaltive Reception to rub elbows with our elected officials. AND rub elbows is the right term, the pre-registration numbers for this year indicate this will be a record breaking attendence.

Finally, dinner with 3 members of VLA 2007. Then back to the hotel to prepare for tomorrow.

First meeting tomorrow - 7:30 am. Night all! I can’t wait to meet Michael Wurzer, FlexMLS, who will speaking at the MLS Forum!

Note: this is cross posted on Musings from the Valley of Virginia

My name is Scott, and I’m a control freak. Or rather, I can occasionally be a control freak. Or rather, when I’m really passionate about something I can tend to overwhelm my fellow staffers with all my incredibly creative (??!) and insightful (???) ideas and guidance. Does that a control freak make? (The insecure side of me envisions VAR staff members nodding vigorously.)

As a leader, I’m learning that passion and creativity can be blessings and curses. They’re blessings when leaders channel them to spur individuals, teams and organizations to attempt new things, to be proactive and audacious and excellent in achieving their goals. But they can be curses when leaders – for all the best reasons, mind you – mistake their own ideas for the only ideas, and fail to trust in the inherent talent and creativity of the teams they’ve assembled to take a decent idea, make it better, and own and implement it without excessive oversight or…control.

The trick, of course, is that word trust. Trust means understanding you don’t have all the answers…and don’t have to. It means building the right team, equipping them with all the right tools and skills, and letting them go. Sometimes, it even means following them to places and outcomes you’d never have considered on your own (like this blog, for instance….).

Maybe that’s just common sense, but for an old control freak like me, it’s a lesson that’s been a long time coming. I bring it up now, as I watch your VAR staff execute preparations for our Legislative & Education Conference held this week in Richmond, because now that I see it, I’m starting to get it. I’ve never seen such a well-oiled machine as this group of folks (led expertly, on this conference project, by VAR’s cool and unflappable meeting planner Tracey Floridia, and supported by 25 other capable team members).

We started in the fall with a few ideas for this conference, a focus on content that contributed to strategic outcomes, and the sense (on my part at least) that we had exactly the right assets in place to prepare and execute this event with more polish and professionalism and style than ever before. We all contributed ideas, and then…I got out of the way. I hit the road. Traveling. All over the place, visiting members and local associations and attending NAR meetings, being about the business of Virginia REALTORS – and hoping that out-of-sight, out-of-mind would help temper my control-freakiness.

And you know what? To my amazement, it sort of did. Oh, my team was never really out-of-mind; they offered me abundant opportunities for input and feedback. But danged if they haven’t dazzled me with what they’ve accomplished…not only on this event, but myriad other projects in the works.

How easy it is for leaders like me to slip into the mindset that our performance will be evaluated based on how many good ideas we have, how many of our own ideas we implement. Or perhaps we lapse into thinking that the association will go into a holding pattern if we aren’t right there every minute shouting orders, contributing. But those aren’t good measures of effectiveness. They sound more like more insecurity than leadership. In contrast, real leadership mans establishing direction, building and equipping a team, removing obstacles from their paths, and letting them do what they’re good at, what you hired them to do in the first place.

Here at VAR, as leadership development goes, I’m still a work-in-progress. But this week in particular, I’m feeling mighty proud of this remarkable staff team and the work they’re doing on your behalf. And that feeling of pride trumps my insecurities any old day.

– Scott Brunner, CAE

I just finished a delightful/grueling couple of days in Lexington facilitating the Strategic Planning process for one of the smallest local associations of REALTORS® in Virginia (one with quite possibly the longest name….take a deep breath): the Lexington /Buena Vista /Rockbridge Association of REALTORS®. It’s an association of about 120 – an association that’s never had a strategic plan – and it was quite possibly one of the most personally rewarding (to me, I mean) sessions I’ve ever been a part of. In Lexington, and found a committee of 16 energetic, well informed REALTORS® of every demographic stripe who were passionate in their desire to chart a new course for their association. In two days, they managed to challenge my assumptions about what makes an association great (it’s NOT its size; bigger isn’t always better), about the nature of association cultures (insularity is always a risk, but there’s something to be said about the warmth and familiarity of a close-knit community), and about the power of new ideas to energize organization leaders (wait ’til you see their plan!). The proof will be in the implementation, of course, but I suspect Lexington REALTOR® leaders can serve as role models for other local associations of REALTORS® who want to improve the value proposition they offer members…and who are willing to commit themselves to a plan for doing so.

The LBVRAR membership will get a first peek at the proposed plan in a series of upcoming Town Hall meetings and can offer input; the final proposed plan will be voted on in April. For now, here’s a sneak peek at sme parts of the plan…the mission, envisioned future and broad goals their Strat Planning Committee will propose (wish I could take credit for it, but I can’t):

MISSION (Why we exist):
The LBVR promotes its members’ success by providing quality services and support that enable its members to serve our community with professionalism and integrity.

ENVISIONED FUTURE (What the future will look like with the implementation of this plan):
• Members are actively involved in and proud of their local association
• Members trust and support LBVR leadership.
• The public values and respects the services LBVR members provide.

GOALS & OBJECTIVES (Our plan of work):

1. COMMUNITY PRESENCE AND INFLUENCE / LBVR actively participates in the community in ways that benefit its members and their customers and clients.

2. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT / LBVR will provide educational and professional development opportunities for its members in order for them to demonstrate competence and integrity to their customers and clients.

3. BUSINESS TOOLS / LBVR will provide business tools and resources to optimize its members’ business effectiveness.

4. EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATION / LBVR maintains a viable organizational structure and systems that benefit its members and encourages member engagement.

Stay tuned. This is an association that’s going places….

I have two phrases to describe the first VAR Strategic Planning Committee meeting of 2008 - “very pleasantly surprised” and “ouch, my brain hurts”. You may be saying to yourself, “Why?” and “that’s an odd description?!” Let me explain…

The reason why I say “very pleasantly surprised” is because I saw what actually goes on “behind the curtain” and it’s more positive and engaging than I ever imagined. You see, I was once an un-engaged and apathetic member of VAR. In fact, I may have been on the fine line of being an “assasin”. To me, VAR and its’ dues were a necessary evil when it came to conducting business as a real estate agent in Virginia.

But that changed a few months ago once I became actively involved. As a “newbie” to being on a VAR committee, I am learning how much, not how little, VAR actually does for the benefit of all its’ members. It’s also becoming apparent to what lengths VAR goes to in order to “get it right” and help its members succeed as Realtors.

The last SPC meeting was a testament to that fact. The meeting was dedicated to ensuring that the Mission Statement, Vision Statement and Guiding Principles were in line with what the Association originally set out to do as well as the changing needs of its’ members and the ever-changing real estate industry. These three items are very important because they are used to determine what services VAR provides its’ member and how VAR conducts itself on a daily basis. At the core of all these discussions were the needs of VAR members. There was no room for personal agenda - only what is best for all REALTORS in Virginia. This is what lead me to use the phrase “very pleasantly surprised”.

As far as “ouch, my brain hurts”, that has to do with the very thought-provoking, long and hard discussions surrounding the Mission and Vision Statements. We approached it from a number of different angles and used various methods to come to a conclusion. I seriously began to get a headache from all the concentration and thinking I was doing. At one point, even the facilitator said that he was getting a head-ache. No worries though… The headache was not from the process being a pain in the ____. It was because we were all working so hard to make sure we got it right and that our members were best served.

In case you’re wondering, one of the main topics of discussion was just that - VAR members “wondering” what goes on behind what they perceive to be a “curtain.” This hit close to home for me because I used to often wonder the same thing. Well, VAR is fully aware of this and is working very hard to change that perception. VAR is striving to become more transparent and engaging with its’ members. One example of this is VAR buzz, this blog. A focus on transparency is one of the reasons why you are reading this post and why this blog was created.

I do have to say though that it’s not a one way street. If VAR had engaged me, but I chose not to get involved, then nothing would change for me. In fact, at that point, I could only blame myself and not VAR. That was the other topic of discussion that came out of the first one - When VAR engages its’ members, what can VAR do to help get them involved?

The answer for some is nothing. There are some members that will not care what goes on nor want to get involved no matter what VAR does. Then there are others that may only want to passively watch what goes on whether it be via this blog, the newsletter, the magazine, etc. For the latter group, this may be more involvment in VAR than before, which is still an improvement and credit should be given to both VAR and those members.

For the remaining group, this higher level of transparency and getting rid of the “curtain” perception will spark them to actively get involved. Whether it be through volunteer work, teaching a class, joining a committee or some other way, these newly-involved members (such as myself) will have active involvement in VAR and contribute to all of our fate as REALTORS in Virginia.

To sum it up, here’s my personal take on the first official Strategic Planning Committee meeting of 2008 and the main points I got out of it:

• There is no “Secret Society” or “secret handshake”
• There is no “Dr. Evil” heading the committee meetings
• VAR is aware that not all members are engaged and is working very hard to change that
• VAR is striving to be more transparent so that all members know what’s going on and what their dues are paying for
• The core focus of VAR and why it exists is its’ members and their success as REALTORS
• And last, but not least…if you want to really see what’s going on and contribute, don’t just talk about it - get involved!

Keep an eye out for the follow-up post to the second Strategic Planning Committee meeting in early March.