How do you gage peoples reactions to major issues ?

While I was pondering a good topic for our post today?.which I will now save for Sunday, I received an interesting email from a PHD candidate at the Stony Brooke University in New York.

How they came across my name and email is topic for another post on blogging and marketing fundamentals, but the gentleman asked for my assistance in posting a link to what I think is a pretty interesting survey.

Since I don?t usually post unsolicited Surveys, I took the survey myself. It took me about 12 minutes, but on average I am told it can take 15 to 20 minutes. I also went one further and wrote a comment in the survey asking if the survey was politically motivated or in support of one candidate vs another ?

I was pleasantly surprised to receive an almost immediate reply from Mr. Chris Weber who wrote:

“Hi Tom,

Thanks for taking the survey. I really appreciate it. I saw your note in the message section. As for your questions, no, the survey is not politically motivated. We are simply interested in gathering people’s emotional reactions to two political candidates. We don’t have a bias in favor of one candidate over another; and as I’m sure you noticed, the questions asked about Hillary Clinton are the exact same questions that are asked in reference to John McCain.

We originally wanted to use the two front-running candidates, but given the closeness on the Democratic side, we chose Hillary since we figured people would be more familiar with her. The purpose of the survey is mainly methodological. There’s a lot of controversy in political science about how to measure people’s emotions about political figures. The survey randomly assigns people to one of three conditions, which only differ in how emotion questions are asked. Our interest isn’t so much in specific emotions pertaining to these two candidates, but rather, how to best measure emotional reactions to any political candidate, Democrat, Republican, or Independent. Let me know if you have any other questions.”

MLS Data compliance and NAR vs. DOJ

Marc Davison of 1000 WATT Consulting wrote an article for Inman Real Estate News recently that was in part an answer to a discussion that had been started over at the 3 Oceans Real Estate Blog site, regarding the entry of a New Search firm in the real estate arena called DOT HOMES.

Both posts elaborated on the issue of compliance of IDX data within the search realm. I think this is a good topic to continue because in my humble opinion I think that Marc and Kevin both missed on discussing an important aspect in their respective discussions. While I commend both for bringing up the topic they do not fully detail the problem or the issue at hand here.

Yeah.. Marc does a good job of describing the facts ?that home sellers are not interested in this issue other than they want to sell their house and want the listing data displayed anywhere an every where that will give them a possibility of attracting a buyers attention.?

The problem I have with the context of the issue is that both guys refer to the data as the Brokers Data and that it is a broker issue. That is only partly correct. The larger issue over control of the data that both failed to mention, is the control of the listing data by the local MLS boards. (Multiple Listing Services)

Let me explain for the layman here; Brokers have to pay fees for the IDX (Internet Data Exchange) or RETS (Real Estate Transaction Standard)feeds and many of the MLS Boards have draconian limitations on how and where the data can be displayed. Part of the issue also runs into fairness, competitiveness and the rules of fair play, when they (MLS Boards) appear to have different rules for different brokers and vendors based on who is in this month with a particular MLS board.

Take for example the Utah MLS board. They won?t provide an IDX feed unless you pay thousands of dollars a month. Yep you go it right, THOUSANDs. Another one I have personally dealt with in the past was Lake Tahoe-Incline Village MLS who are so overly protective of their data streams, and these are only a few off the top of my head that I can readily recall of the many MLS’s across the U.S. Who are they protecting though? In the current housing market they are killing the careers of the very people they claim to protect.

MLS Compliance is a rule who?s time has come and gone and should be done away with to better the industry as a whole. In it?s current incarnation it is behind the times, out in left field. In fact you could even say that the current policy?s of the MLS boards are effectively holding your homes listing data for ransom, adding to the quagmire of all ready declining home sales.

I think the the MLS boards are going to have to adopt some type of open source protocol on a national platform, so the likes of DOT HOMES can readily disseminate the data to those consumers who are looking to buy.

I really am not one to advocate the Federal Governments intervention in business, but as the U.S. Justice Department continues it?s probe into NAR?s (National Association of Realtors) business practices it might behoove all of us if they take an even closer look at how the individual MLS? are run and controlled and whether or not NAR?s influence has anything to do with the issue.

NAR has been working to formulate the new rules into what is called the Internet Listing Display (ILD) which is suppose to replace the current IDX and RET?s policy?s. Most of this is as a direct result of the FED?s probe. To date the standard has not been completed and the FED?s initial probe completed in November 2007. A court date of July 7, 2008 has been set.

This is what NAR has posted on their site: NAR strongly disagrees with the government’s contentions and is vigorously defending both the MLS as a vehicle for broker-to-broker cooperation as well as the ability of a listing broker to control the use of that brokers listings on the Internet by competitors.

The problem as I see it is; that the MLS? boards have way too much control and are stifling competition by not allowing those with valid business reasons access to the data, with out putting often times unjust qualifications or access fees for the usage of the data.

Either way there needs to be change in the way business has been done in the past to accommodate future technology and the changing way in which consumers conduct research to purchase homes. My research on DOT HOMES also shows that they provide a direct link to the listing agent without having to drill through tons of minutiae. And that is a good thing !

Related Posts:

Will you find your home on Roost ?

Why we should embrace change

Who else wants a Free Mitigation Report ?

Save on your Florida Home Owners Insurance with this Free Mitigation Report.

Many home owners may have heard about the My Safe Florida Home imitative for Free Wind Inspections on their homes, but as I have recently discovered, just as many do not know that this service is available to them for Free.

Here?s the story, I was in Home Depot recently here in New Port Richey, and noticed a table set up in the front with information about the Free Wind Inspection. Since we live in a new development and our home was one of the first to be built with the new 2007 standards I thought this was of little value to me and was about ready to just walk on by. However the gentlemen running the booth was very nice and we struck up conversation and the result was my education in exactly what this process is and how it can potentially save you money on your home owners insurance.

I am hoping that this gets wide spread dissemination here amongst Florida Real Estate bloggers and anyone that reads this site, as it is very apparent that there are many in the industry besides myself that have no idea about the process or who can use this ? Testament to that was a recent call that we received from an Insurance Broker. We were researching options for Home Owners Insurance for a client who is looking to purchase a home that was built in 1998. The Agent suggested that we hire a local inspector to perform the inspection and obtain a Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form (OIR-B1-1802) to present to the insurance company. The cost of this inspection is typically around $150.00 This was a few days after I had talked to the Inspector at Home Depot. I asked the agent if he was aware of the Free Wind Inspection that could be obtained via the My Florida Safe Home program. While he was aware of the program he did not know the specifics and was quite surprised when I informed him of the facts and that we could save the client a $150.00.

So even thought this program has been out a while , it is still relatively unknown by many in Florida. So if you know about this that?s great, however, I would encourage you to check out the site and the details to gain an updated perspective on who this applies to?

On the site there is also a list of State Approved Inspection firms based upon your locale in Florida. For example there are 4 Regions and associated contract firms with those regions. I have included a copy of the hand out I received from the Inspection firm called SkyTech (see below).

Should you have questions you can call them or call one of the numbers listed on the My Safe Florida Home Web site.

I hope this as helpful for you and your clients as it has been to us.

Why we should embrace change

I actually found this video while looking at the 1000 Watt Blog as I was waiting on hold for customer support for over an hour for something that has in my mind been broken. You may notice that I have not been posting on as regular a basis as I had anticipated for the New Year, This is due in large part to my hosting service company having major technical issues that they cannot seem to get resolved. Anyways less I digress here, the relation to Real Estate is really very apropos.

As Marc Davison comments on his Blog ? Why not fix what isn’t broken? Would that not be a great way to gain advantage over the masses embracing complacency? ?

Take a look at the Video below:

OK, I am experiencing technical difficulties at the moment that prevent me from directly posting the video (embedding) so I have to post the link instead. After you view the video please continue with the rest of the post

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAtkoje4-eM

Now that you have seen this?most people look at this and ?say ,wow what a neat idea!

A Real Estate Story of another cyclical time

Most every thing related to Real Estate sales is cyclical. Even if we had not had all the issues with the sub-prime market conditions…the bubble had to burst. The gains made by many here in Florida over the last year…at the height of the industry were rather ridiculous and I think this resetting will normalize things out.

During the Holiday’s I visited my ailing Father in California who at 90 still recalls his heyday in the market and also a large down turn. He was very big into Real Estate in the early to mid 60′s for about 6 years. He was active in the Oakland Bay Area Real Estate scene and even had his Brokers license. He recalls that about 3 years into his business that the market started a correction and prices and commissions went down along with many of the Realtor s.

The later 2 years, as a full time Realtor he took on odd jobs in the shipyards in San Francisco because he had a family of 6 to provide for. My mother was a stay at home mom with two toddlers and two other young boys just starting elementary school. My father was also a trained mechanic and a member of the merchant marines,so he would do his real estate during the day and at night would drive to SF and work as a first mate on several ships. When the market continued into it’s 2nd year of correction, he had to make a choice that I think was almost ordained for him. He did not make enough to pay the mortgage and keep 4 boys and their mother fed and clothed. At that time many women were not working, it was not the norm. He was offered a position to go back to sea. At that time my father was in his mid 40′s and he stayed on in the merchant marines until he retired in his mid 60′s as a chief engineer. He still dabbled in Real Estate through out his working time. When he retired he sold several duplex he owned and bought an apartment complex in Hayward, California that he managed for many years. He finally sold it about 6 years ago. Not something he wanted to do but age had caught up with him and my step-mother was afraid he would fall off a ladder trying to fix something. My dad did not like to hire sub contractors to do repairs. He did almost everything himself. I recall the week he sold the apartment…he was very sad and told me that he felt like he had lost a family member.

My wife is the Real Estate professional in the family. I am the Technical guru and having worked on the National Scene as a VP of IT for New Homes Realty, I know my way around the industry and have many contacts. If the market had not taken a down turn, who knows I might have even taken a license. For now I am happy to help my wife and her partner Marie get a leg up on their competition in the market and keep them at the cutting edge on the technology side.

This is a rather tough blog for me to write as my father is in the last stages of his life having been diagnosed with a terminal form of cancer a few moths ago. So the lengthy discussions I had with my father over the holiday?s will be the last. He wanted to impart on me how tough he knows conditions can get, but said that the market will correct itself. He has had long discussion with Theresa as they connected a lot on the Real Estate front. So I know things will get better.

My Dad?s parting comments on this conversation were ?be sure to take care of your customers?. Which is something that we see a lot of comments about. I read a great article over at Inman news today written by Marc Davidson of 1000 Watt Consulting, (which by the way is another great Blog to read up on) Where he discusses among other things that 2008 should be the year of CEM or Customer Experience Management. You can read his article from the links I left but a few bullet points I think are worth repeating here.

• 2008 should be the year of CEM
• 2008 needs to be the year of crystal vision.
• 2008 is the year to reduce expenses.
• 2008 must be the year we begin to conserve.

I am also resolving here to not use the term down market anymore as it appears by all measures that the market is returning to a normal cyclical correction.

Related Posts:

Is there an upside to real estate downturn ?

Are Florida Realtors up for the challenging time ahead ?

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