One of the great things about the members of the Inman Community is that they are very creative folks.  They are always offering great insight and input, and coming up with all sorts of creative ideas.  The latest of which has come from Stefan Swanepoel.  

Stefan has started a very interesting thread in the Real Estate Trends group that coincides with the XXIX Olympiad.  He has proposed a Real Estate Olympics in order to determine the "Real Estate Pacesetter 2008."  According to the post, here is how it works:  

"This week, till Friday 6PM Pacific, the Trends Community Blog will accept nominations of Companies that you consider to be one of the industry premier Pacesetters in our industry. Companies that are creating and leading our industry towards change.

Then over the coming weekend I will select among all the nominations the Top 8 finalists that will be posted next Monday the 18th. Next week all members of the Inman Trends Community will each have one vote to help determine which three companies are our medal winners for the title: Real Estate Pacesetter 2008."

So there you have it.  The first Real Estate Olympics are being held right here at Inman.com.  Now is your chance to nominate the companies that you think are leading the industry.  Head on over to the group in the Community section, and make your nominations.  There are already some coming in, so don't miss out.  Then, check back next week so you can vote.

Editor's note: Inman News will be discontinuing guest posts within the Inman News blog in 2008. This is the last guest post from the Sellsius bloggers. Thanks to all our guest contributors this year. Stay tuned for exciting changes to the Inman Blog next year!

53rd Street and Second Avenue - 12.17.07 10am

Do consumers pay attention to advertising anymore? Just use the word "suck" and they might. Trulia rolled out a second slogan for its New York City taxicab advertising campaign this week: "Because Paying Rent Sucks!" Most renters would likely agree with that statement. However, not everyone is ready to buy, and unfortunately, Trulia doesn't have rentals. So searching for a rental in New York City as a consumer still sucks! Unless of course you use Craigslist or Streeteasy.

Taxicab advertising is a moving billboard. The idea is to get as many people as possible to see the ad in different strategic locations throughout New York City. I found this taxi parked by Northern Boulevard in Queens and thought what a waste of an ad. Then I realized that there was some decent foot traffic in this location. So even when this taxi is off duty, Trulia is getting some additional bang for its buck as a stationary billboard in a local community. Genius!

Coincidentally, Trulia's timing could not have been better. The holiday season in New York City is traditionally a madhouse. Almost everyday is a gridlock alert day. This means that traffic virtually stands still. More people + standing traffic = a captive audience for their taxicab ad. I witnessed a young couple pointing to the ad and overheard them saying, "My landlord sucks!" Hey, at least they noticed the ad. I wish I had my digital camera out when that happened. Darnit!

Additionally, those pretty flowers you see on the roof and hood are not a part of the Trulia ad campaign. They are an urban art project called Garden in Transit that runs through the end of December. But they sure do grab people's attention and spark spontaneous sidewalk conversations. Being associated with this project, albeit indirectly, is an added bonus to their campaign.

I wonder if you can truly measure the ROI of this type of offline real estate advertising?

--Rudy Bachraty, Sellsius Blog

Doug Buenz, a real estate broker associate with Alain Pinel Realtors in Pleasanton, Calif., shares his insight and hindsight about the real estate market, then and now, at the Inman Wiki and in Inman News.

Some excerpts:

Then: Buyers wrote cute, heart-wrenching letters about how badly they want the house.
Now: Sellers write desperate, heart-wrenching letters to potential buyers hoping they buy the house.

Then: Listing agents put a "Coming Soon" sign rider on as soon as the sign went up.
Now: Listing agents put a "Price Reduced" sign rider on as soon as the sign goes up.

Then: Sellers informed buyers that they would look at all offers a week from Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Now: The lender informs the seller that their home will be sold a week from Tuesday at 4 p.m. on the courthouse steps.

Then: Smug Realtors would tell someone who works at Starbucks that they don't make enough money to qualify to buy a home.
Now: Desperate Realtors working at Starbucks learn that they don't make enough to refinance out of their option adjustable-rate mortgage.

I first remember reading Bob Bruss back in the 1980's. Those of us who were agents read his weekly Sunday column with both dread and anticipation. Would this be the week that he said something that helped us with our business or would we be fielding even more objections because he said something contrary to what we believed to be true? Bob never had trouble throwing a curve ball at those of us who were brokers. As I look back at his amazing body of work, however, there is no doubt that he wanted only the best for the real estate consumer. His columns were always about how buyers and sellers could make the best decisions possible when it came to real estate.

I had the privilege of meeting Bob in person at the Inman conferences. He was a true gentleman in every respect. Bob also was extremely generous in terms of helping other writers. He regularly reviewed new real estate books, always with an eye for how the book would help the industry or the consumer.

I remember when I first started writing for Inman News and receiving a note from Bob telling me I had written the best real estate column ever. The column was about the worst experience I ever had with an escrow that included two foreclosure proceedings, tax liens, a short sale, coupled with the Malibu fire and the 1994 Northridge Quake. We closed the transaction by working hand in hand with the lender, the tax assessor, as well as the seller and buyers. To me, that's perhaps the greatest legacy that Bob leaves behind--a vision of a business where we work together to do what is in the best interest of the people we serve.

Bob, you served us well. May those of us left behind be worthy to pick up the mantle and follow in your footsteps.

Posted by Bernice Ross, www.RealEstateCoach.com

I had a conversation today that made me rethink how homes get sold in slower markets.

We know there are areas where Realtors are scratching their heads, wondering how to get homes sold. And, we know from this week's round of statistics that more sellers are listing their homes, sales are slowing and prices are dropping even more slowly than number of sales is slowing down.

Is it a marketing issue? The buyers are there but need to be more highly motivated in order to jump off the fence? With all the online and offline opportunities to get your home noticed, is there nothing that will get your property noticed?

Bill Effros is a regular guy -- by his own admission -- but he is making the rounds talking about his solution to the problem. His book is called How to Sell Your House in 5 Days (3rd Edition).

Basically Bill suggests putting your own house up for auction doing a number of really smart things, including pricing the house at half of what you think it's worth. He claims that thousands of folks have successfully sold their homes, without paying commissions, in 5 days by following his methods. His publisher tells me the book has sold more than 125,000 copies in the past 17 years.

Perhaps it really is all about marketing, and having the cleverest idea on the block. I'm having Bill as a guest on my radio show this Sunday, from 11a to 1p. You can listen live on my website, ThinkGlink.com. We'll post the show a couple of days later on the site, or you can download it from iTunes.

Ilyce R. Glink, ThinkGlink.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Once upon a time, real estate was broker-centric. Sometime in the 1980s real estate began to become agent-centric as the recruiting battle for top agents became more intense. At NAR's Midyear conference today, a panel examined the need for our businesses to shift from agent-centric to consumer-centric. Move Inc.'s Allan Dalton kicked off the discussion by saying, "Not only have we as an industry not been consumer-centric, it's as if we have been mooning them."

When a client asks a question, we have been trained to answer with a question. They ask: "Does the property have a large backyard?" We respond: "Is having a large backyard important to you?" Brokerages lack research and development departments. Agents lack training on how to dig deeper in terms of satisfying their clients' needs. In an age where everything is speeding up, our responses tend to be superficial and lacking in depth.

Dalton argued that our entire value chain has come under attack. The "60 Minutes" piece was, in Dalton's opinion, an attack on the value of the individual agent.

Dalton also argued that making service your number one value was what your cleaners do -- not your doctor or attorney. People pay us for our expertise. If you're having brain surgery, you want the doctor with the most expertise, not the one who makes you feel good because of his bedside manner. 

As someone who has been in education over 30 years, I have never understood why when the market slows down, companies cut training. This is the very time when we should have our agents in training constantly. Not only do they need to manage the new technology tools, we have a whole new generation of agents who need to master the skills it takes to conduct business in a flat or declining market. Younger agents need to learn how to do business with Boomers who still control the largest amount of wealth in this country. Across the board, we need to learn with non-traditional buyers, many whose culture and language are completely foreign to us. 

Bottom line: maybe it's time for real estate to redefine what it means to CYA.

--Bernice Ross, RealEstateCoach.com, LuxuryClues.com

I had a conversation last week with a prominent brokerage leader and the term "referral-free environment" was used. I think he might be onto something here. What if there were no referral fees in real estate, zip, zero, none? No third-party sales of leads, no commission-taxed transactions, no relocation referral fees, and not even those infamous broker-to-broker referral fees.

Think of the possibilities the industry could explore if we referred business free of fees.  Consumers were directed to professionals in other markets based on the quality of service rendered and not the agreement to pay a referral fee. No need to pay 30 percent referral fees for a name and a number.

I don't think we're fooling anyone today. The consumer is getting smart about the difference between getting a fee for making the referral and being directed to a great local broker in the consumer's best interest. I believe that one of the main reasons the government intervened with RESPA (The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, which governs all real estate closings) was its observation surrounding the industry's ancient practice of incentive-based broker-to-broker referral fees. Maybe there would be less need for groups like RESPRO - suggesting and lobbying for RESPA reform - if as an industry we just agreed to direct business to the best source of service in a referral-free environment.

--Ken Jenny, TranCen

From Bernice Ross:

When the call came to my assistant about contacting a producer at 60 Minutes, I was somewhat nervous about returning it. Over the course of two months, I had several conversations with the producer about the story that will run on Sunday night. She was inquisitive and seemed open to hearing what I had to say about the full-service value proposition. I explained to her how a well trained Realtor will help sellers net the highest possible price for their property with the least amount of hassle. I shared with her the considerable amount of data that I have collected since writing "Waging War on Real Estate's Discounters" that demonstrates this point. I also spoke to her about how a weak negotiator can cost the seller more money, not only at the negotiation table, but throughout the entire transaction process...

As an industry, we have let the so-called new business models define our value as being only related to price (i.e. commissions) We haven't done a great job of persuading our agents to explain our value (services plus price.) We need to do a better job of showing our clients how a good agents protect their clients from litigation as well as helping them navigate a host of disclosures, title, mortgage, and property problems. As the market slows, our value is much easier to see as we help sellers cope with long market times, too few buyers, short sales, increased foreclosures, low appraisals, and a host of other issues requiring the agent to have a strong skill base.

I have an opportunity to speak for the major firms across the country and I consistently hear the same comment. "I wish we could get our agents to talk about all the great things we do for our clients." We are investing millions in terrific tools and when the agents sit in front of sellers, very few are able to articulate their value. An even smaller number articulate the value their company provides. I may get fried for saying this, but since it may be in story on Sunday here goes, "If full service brokers cannot articulate their value, they don't deserve a full commission." I strongly believe it's time for us to invest more in training agents how to demonstrate their value. Sellers will pay a full commission provided you can show them how it benefits their bottom line.

After several conversations, 60 Minutes told me that they wanted me to appear on camera because "You're a really great advocate for full service." I was feeling reluctant and suggested that they attend the Inman conference in New York, especially to hear the discussion between the CEO of Redfin and Allan Dalton. (BTW, if you weren't there, Dalton came out with pistols blazing. A number of people I interviewed after the session walked away with an unfavorable view of how he handled the situation. I loved how passionate he was in defense of full service. I suspect it will be on airwaves on Sunday where you can make your own decision.)

Bottom line, the on-camera gig didn't happen. I am extremely thankful that I'm not in the hot seat. Our readers do need to know that the folks at 60 Minutes did listen. Let's hope it shows up in the story.

--Bernice Ross, www.RealEstateCoach.com, www.LuxuryClues.com

If you're reading this, then you already know the answer.

I attended the Home and Backyard Show at the Ontario Convention Center this weekend and met with quite a few vendors. When I told them I was a real estate blogger interested in writing about them, most of them said, "A what?" Many had not heard of blogs, let alone read one. This was a reality check for me. Was I truly living inside the Matrix? Are there two worlds out there - online and offline? I had to step back and remember that most people are not as obsessed with doing business online as I am.

Many of the vendors I spoke with were small- to medium-sized family businesses. They relied on traditional methods of generating business, such as word of mouth and referrals. Advertising online, whether with a Web site or blog, was foreign to them. I went out of my way to explain why setting up an online presence could help them grow their business. Only a few of them were open to the opportunity.

A great example of someone who has an enormous amount of real world expertise and knowledge, but no internet presence, is Ronald Woodbeck, aka "The Granite Master," from HRC - Home Remodeling Concepts. If you have any questions about granite, this is the gentleman to call. I can't imagine the amount of business Ron would get if he created a simple blog and shared his expertise online. Oh Nelly!

How much longer can businesses that have no online presence continue to survive?

--Sellsius Real Estate

Progress in the MLS industry? I guess there has been some in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Maybe. Introducing politic-free Quattro MLS. It is hard to believe that there was a lack of politics in creating this new listing data sharing system. This may be one of those cases where two is better than seven (separate MLS databases that is). But the real question is why not one? Here, statewide and nationally. I'm disappointed.

The first thing that comes to mind and the first indicator of board politics as usual might be the inability for these groups to create Uno - one MLS for all of the areas combined by both Quattro and its rival NCREX. And as for this signaling great change and progress within the MLS industry - I guess. 

By my count there are still more than 875 separate MLSs out there. It's about the time when "siete should have been uno" and certainly some number less than what is represented by Quattro. But with the survival of "the same ownership and governance" of each affected MLS what would you expect other than business basically as usual in the good old MLS industry. 

Idea. Remove the politics of the board and the MLS and go direct to a broker-owned solution nationwide. Then we might be commenting on mucho change.

--Ken Jenny, TranCen