Here's how to cure the industry's image problem: a heavy dose of paternalism and sexism.
"Don't ask a real estate agent if you should buy a home. It's like driving into a muffler shop and asking if you need a muffler. The answer will always be yes." This is a widespread belief among consumers. And as long as this is a widely held perception among consumers, the notion that Realtors—especially buyer agents—are professionals who owe a fiduciary duty to the client is something that only industry insiders believe...If the buyer is emotionally invested in having a place of her own so that she can paint it whatever color she wants, so she can hang her own curtains, etc. the professional response should be to point out the financial cost of that flexibility...
Mr. Internet, Inman News, February 24, 2010
I've known for a long time that some very bright people can sound anything but when they pontificate on real estate.
Throw in that old chestnut and hidden banana peel, the rent-versus-buy debate, and you're almost guaranteed a public face plant.
I mention this because one day about a month ago I'm on Inman News reading my favorite social media guru, whom I'll call Mr. Internet, only to find that Mr. Internet has apparently tired of telling me why I don't need social media (the reason he's my favorite social media guru). No, like many breath-of-fresh-air real estate commentators, Mr. Internet isn't content to confine himself to a field he knows. (At least I think he knows social media but, now that I think of it, how would I know? All I know is that he tells me what I already think, and like most people, that's good enough for me.)
No, instead Mr. Internet has decided to fix the real estate industry's image problem. In his spare time. Without breaking a sweat. And next week he tackles peace in the Middle East. All from his BlackBerry.
Mr. Internet argues that:
To which I would respond thusly, first, that emotion is not only an acceptable but essential part of the home buying decision, because if you ain't feelin' it, you ain't buyin' it. And, by the way, can anyone tell me at what moment during the Age of Science emotion became a dirty word?
And, second, that if I told a client to desist from buying her own home until she was all grown up, I would fully expect her to profusely thank me and immediately locate another agent who doesn't think he knows how to run her life better than she does.
And, third, that people buy their own homes for reasons far more meaningful than "painting it whatever color", and that to imply otherwise is to show an abysmal lack of understanding of buyer psychology, the "will to ownership" if you will. Which in the case of Mr. Internet doesn't preclude him from giving advice to an industry that exists solely because it understands and productively channels the psychology of the consumers it serves, rather than trying to reprogram that psychology "for their own good". Which is why surveys show that clients usually have a good opinion of their agents, even as the public at large—including many who've never used an agent—regards the industry with suspicion.
And, finally, can anyone tell me at what moment during our Age of Political Correctness it became okay and not plain stupid to imply that women buy homes simply to paint them decorator colors and hang their own frilly curtains? And why if Mr. Internet somehow, in the heat of inspiration, missed this unfortunate implication, the cool-headed editors at Inman News did too?
So should we let anyone and everyone buy a home? I'll defer to the judgment of those who use objective criteria (at least in most years) to decide who should and shouldn't buy: lenders. I'd prefer not to leave the job to the real estate "experts" who insist that every qualified, motivated homebuyer should be saved from herself. And I'd prefer not to be part of that perverse yet pervasive morality whose code of ethics consists of saying "cool it" to every life-affirming aspiration. Because I'm pretty sure that home buying is all about the client, not the agent, although I've met a few drama queen agents (of both sexes) who think otherwise.
I miss the old Mr. Internet already. He had me convinced he knew what he was talking about.