Nobu Hata
By Nobu Hata
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that we’re living and working in a tenuously linked society right now. Hyper-political-mumbo-jumbo is being thrown around to a jaded audience, and we are more polarized and fractured than ever before.
That same thing could be said for the real estate industry.
Data, IDX, syndication, broker-centric, agent-centric, consumer-centric, lead-generation, third parties, anti-property owner legislation, technological disruption, franchises versus indies versus MLSs versus associations… What does it all mean?
As an industry, we’re changing — we all know that. What’s not so obvious is that these little industry revolutions differ from market to market; and the pace in which these revolutions are happening, the pace in which they’re setting in, is getting faster and faster every day.
But what has been a mainstay in all of this during my time on the YPN Subcommittee, and now as your chairperson, is that regardless of market, MLS, broker and association, we operate for the REALTOR® brand. Y’all said it yourselves. There is not a selfish bone in any of you, and for that I am so proud!
The results of a poll answered by your networks’ chairpersons are telling: Professional development is one of the top priorities in many networks, along with their sponsoring associations. Continue reading »
Toby Boyce
By Toby Boyce
I’ve had the fortune of serving on committees for the Delaware County Board of REALTORS®, Ohio Association of REALTORS®, and National Association of REALTORS®. By far, whenever the topic comes up around agent and non-agent friends alike, the focus is shifted towards NAR and how “cool” that is.
Sure, I’m a big fan of the work NAR’s Professional Development Committee does, and it has a large impact on members, but how does that really help my buyers and sellers? OAR is in the same boat. Discussing issues as the vice-chair of the communications committee is great. Yet, how much does that really impact the people that I’m working with as buyers and sellers?
When it comes to my community, I get the most out of working as a member on the public relations committee for the DCBR. Why? Because this is where the decisions and time commitment I have made are make a real impact on those I serve. Such as the bowl-a-thon that has donated about $3,000 a year to a local hospice. The ideas and action we take at that local level make our communities better places to live and work.
So, the next time your local board needs volunteers. Remember those hours will have the greatest direct impact on your community.
Toby Boyce, MBA, is a real estate practitioner with Keller Williams Consultants Realty in Westerville, Ohio. Visit his Web site: www.delawareohrealestate.com.
Kelly Reark
By Kelly Reark
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with some other real estate agents within our local association’s Board of REALTORS®. I noted something while I was talking to each of them that I want to pass along to all of you.
There’s no question that this real estate market is challenging and unique. There are agents out there who have learned to make the most of our current conditions. Like myself, these agents have a sunny outlook on the market in general. We have been proactive in identifying where the conditions are ripe for both buyers and sellers. We acknowledge the negative side of our market conditions, and find the benefit to it instead of dwelling on the downside. We are realistic and optimistic, and share that with our customers and friends.
On the other hand, some agents have a dismal outlook and approach to their business. They broadcast negativity and therefore attract negativity. Their sales are suffering and they are unhappy. Their customers have a similar, unhappy outlook for our real estate market. They have not realized that to every situation there is a possibility for good.
In real estate and in life, when you hear someone dwelling in negativity, take a step back. Be the one to take the time to find some good in the situation instead of getting sucked in to the whirlwind of bad. When you practice positive thinking and positive action, you will experience far greater success.
Kelly Reark is a native Floridian and e-PRO® with Gasparilla Properties, Inc. in Boca Grande, Southwest Florida. Visit her blog: www.BocaGrandeRealEstateNews.com.
Dawn Miller
By Dawn Miller
I didn’t think I would be that excited to get “rid of the old and in with the new!” It’s a new year with a renewal of focus. How was your first month of 2010?
I am fortunate to be a REALTOR® in a real estate company that is consistently on the NAR’s top private brokerage firms, as seen in REALTOR® Magazine annual issue. The company is committed to its agents and to top-notch training.
Mike Staver visited our company at the beginning of the January and his seminar stuck with me!
I want to share some of my notes from the seminar. I have embraced this philosophy. I am more openly accepting new challenges and creating new opportunities for myself.
Let’s ATTACK this new year with the following focus:
A
Accept circumstances
Accept circumstances as they actually are. Don’t make things better than they are. In real estate business, this means generating more leads, making more appointments until I meet a seller or a buyer that has the right criteria in place to sell or buy successfully. Most importantly–have courage to face reality. Continue reading »
Nobu Hata
By Nobu Hata
Much has been made the last couple of weeks about two online “conversations” that permeated the real estate socialwebs. One, an “Open Letter to NAR President Vicki Cox Golder” regarding the disconnect between us REALTORS® and NAR Leadership. The other, the need for professional standards within our industry — the conversation raged among a handful of practitioners over the course of two weekends on Twitter, that continues today.
These issues are as old as the industry itself and the topical conversations are as inevitable as the sun rising, taxes and death. You can set a clock by it: pay NAR dues, see an ad you despise, whine (or blog) about it while letting loose a couple of “while I’m at it, let me tell you about something else I hate and what I’d do about it…,” get busy with the real estate thing, forget about it, rinse, and repeat in January the following year. I get it; writing/talking/venting about what irks you is almost like therapy, making that check you cut to NAR for their ad a bit easier to stomach. To tell you the truth, I was as jaded and cynical about these issues as well, but what could I do… right?
Thing is, these conversations, blogs – what have you – aren’t so one-sided anymore. Look no further than the reply to the aforementioned blog post by none other than NAR President Vicki Cox Golder herself. Me personally? I commented on the blog post trying to encourage involvement and thought nothing more of it. Later that week I served on a practitioner panel for REBAC requiring a visit to NAR headquarters. By the time I landed in Chicago I’d received the NAR perspective on both issues and a Presidential appointment to an NAR committee in hand. Apparently, Vicki Cox Golder is listening, reading, and absorbing what we have to say. What’s more: she wants us to get involved.
And getting involved we must. Let’s stop opining about the wrongs in our industry and start doing something to right it. There are 60+ forums/committees available to REALTORS® at the national level, countless more at the local level; which one are you on? All committee meetings and forums are open to the REALTOR® public during MidYear; which one will you stand and make yourself be heard at? (#RTB folks, Professional Standards Committee is meeting Thursday at MidYear, just saying.) On a national or local committee? Seek out like-minded thinkers, bring to the forefront the solutions we have, and discuss with the REALTOR®1.0 types. There’s power in numbers here, and besides, don’t you want to have meaningful debate among those outside your blogosphere?
Let’s stop the perpetual cycle of these conversations. Formulate a solution to the beef you have and Facebook Vicki on it… Facebook – Vicki. I’m still having a hard time saying that. Let’s stop talking “Us” versus “Them” and embrace “We.” No more armchair solutions. Do. Act. Try. NAR is a trade association, after all: by the members for the members, so do your part.
There is something different about this NAR president, and if she’s embracing her “On the Rise” concept for her year in office, the better. The industry is changing, bringing with it a lot of validity and credibility to what some of us are trying to say. Our voices are being heard. Let’s take advantage of that!
p.s. Vicki, if you’re reading this: I hate the new “Uncle Sam” ad. Most of us hate it. It’s failing to resonate with the majority of your members and the general public at large. Hit me up Facebook the next time you’re contemplating a TV ad, ok? Please?
Nobu Hata is a sales associate for Edina Realty in Minneapolis, and a founding member of the Minneapolis YPN group, the YoPros. Visit his Web site at www.nobuhata.com.
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