Seminar musings delayed

Started writing this before Yeti's problems and some other stuff assumed high priority. Still some good thoughts, so I'll finish now.

Wasn't ready for the Photography Seminar (that was more about psychology than cameras), but I never get ready. It is easier to go with the flow when you're sorta prepared, but not married to the content. I did a PowerPoint thing that served as a matrix and will provide a starting point if I do something like this again. I had about 2 hours of stuff to get through in an hour, but did pretty well. I always learn more in the process of preparing for a seminar than the attendees learn by being there, but that's OK. They still get bleeding edge stuff they wouldn't get elsewhere (see earlier post re Back to the Future seminar in 2007(?)).

I'm still learning after all these years in a business not driven by theory or creative insight or anything more intellectual than incessant repetition. There's plenty of room for theory in real estate, but when the only metric of success out there is gross closed commissions, the status goes to those agents and firms with the biggest GCCs. There's no compelling incentive to break out across new horizons of quality service. The consumers use real estate services so seldom that most never actually figure out what quality service might represent.

Anyone ever ponder what would happen if real estate agents disappeared from the face of the earth? Buyers and Sellers would still do transactions--and they might do them better and more cost effectively. Other countries have very different real estate business traditions--and in those countries that are greatly different from the US, there are typically no powerful trade associations. It is miraculous how people manage to find homes and build subdivisions without a huge real estate industry to help them!

Do the trade association actually improve the process or do they impede progress by creating a least common denominator, one size fits all standard of practice that raises the bar a little., but discourages the exuberant leaps skyward that signal those game changing epiphanies that make human existence fulfilling. In recent years  the trade organization have entered the business end of real estate in a major way. They sell products to the captive member audience who also received educational opportunities that--you guessed it--suggests that those trade association products are the best, if not the only way to run a real estate brokerage properly.

The trade associations are defining the cutting edge and also selling the whetstones to keep it sharp. It's a capitalist tradition!

Anyone ask the buyers and sellers if they are happy with the process, the forms, the quality of service etc.
No need--there's little else to choose from. You get what the trade organizations decide you get. Want more? Good luck!

NOTES from AFTER THE SEMINAR
It went well--PowerPoint was good and time wasn't a huge factor--ran a little over and didn't get much time to play with enhancing photos, but that gets pretty dull unless your really motivated and already familiar with the software. A couple of area need more work, but I've got ideas already on how to improve integration. The other benefit of PowerPoint is there something permanent created--I can expand, or divide it into several shorter segments, etc. Otherwise the notes get lost in the computer files and development ends.

Hope to do more seminars next year--this is the only seminar this year, aside from the Energy Rating event. The state association decided to take over the education business and local content is rare or nonexistent anymore.The title companies can't do much of anything after latest regs kicked in, so its a desert wasteland out there. The state association offerings do have value, but they are loaded with legal, risk management stuff, that ignores how the real world works and considered the principals a threat, rather than the stakeholders that support the whole real estate industry.

The little details and techniques that characterize excellent agents are lacking from these generic offerings and with a minimum of office culture in the current business model there's no place for new agents to pick up that sort of knowledge.

The real estate office was a much different place 25 years ago. Technology hasn't been kind to the Buyers and Sellers in terms of real estate service levels. The irony is that they WANT MORE technology, not less, but consumers don't always know what they NEED, particularly when the industry admires many things with greater intensity than service levels (as in GCC).

Look at automobiles as a comparison. There are inexpensive cars that perform well. There are more expensive cars that perform somewhat better. Then there are very expensive cars that boast even more performance, cutting edge engineering and outstanding styling/design down to the last detail. Some consumers are willing to pay the extra to get the very best. Watches are similar. I use a discontinued sports watch I got at a discount sporting goods store--keeps good time and cost $20. A friend has a Rolex, a Breitling etc. etc. They keep excellent time and look fabulous. There are fine watches for those who value the ambiance, aesthetics and performance of quality.

In real estate, there's really not much difference in service levels. What if you wanted the VERY best representation in selling a fine home? We're talking attention to every detail from diverse analytics to compelling ad copy to exquisite photography, dynamic videographyGCC world runs quite nicely just the way it is--sides and commissions measure success. List the house, lower the price and it will eventually sell and then go do that again and again. If you do it often enough celebrity status is possible. The superstars have the same tools as everyone else and know how to use them relentlessly--like a skilled production painter spraying a stucco wall and moving on to the next job. Technology plays a role in this pattern--offering a least common denominator platform, but at what cost to the consumer? How many Buyers miss buying the RIGHT HOUSE. How many Sellers miss the RIGHT BUYER. We don't really know! Where are the true artists of real estate sales? Most of the singular artists are in other professions where creativity and innovation are rewarded and appreciated. Real estate mostly appreciates gross closed commissions.

Will those trends change in the future? If they do, it won't be due to the encouragement and nurturing of the trade associations.