The prospect of litigation attached to social media has prompted me to change my primary blog focus to social media risk management.

http://realestatesocialmediapolicies.com/blog/

Common daily infractions:

* Antitrust
* Fair Housing
* Agents urging consumers to break contract with brokerages
* Agents urging consumers to break contract as principals
* Agents giving real estate advice across state lines where laws are different.

The foreclosure front is also highly important to measure core competency and it’s just a matter of months before brokerages get clobbered by state attorney general offices, unhappy consumers, and banks. I collected thoughts in a blog post:

http://realestatesocialmediapolicies.com/2009/10/05/consumers-and-banks-to-realtors-how-can-i-sue-thee-let-me-count-the-ways/
.-= Frances Flynn Thorsen´s last blog ..Realtor Association Execs: Social Media Risk Management Webinar Replay =-.

Thanks so much for these prescient comments. I don’t disagree with anything you’ve written.

I am very curious to learn more about what you are thinking re legal challenges involving the social media space. If you would be kind enough to elaborate on that comment, I would be indebted to you.

Best,
Michael

Yes because he is correct and as an industry we need to do a better job with each other and for the public.

What can be done to improve the level of professionalism in real estate?

Require more, high quality education. With a focus on law, ethics, and best practices the State can set the expectation for consumer experience. Raise the bar for entry into the industry in Massachusetts Barbers are required to complete 1000 hours of training, Real Estate salespeople 30 hours. We expect Lawyers to attend an accredited Law School and pass the Bar, why not require a degree in Real Estate?

What kind of opportunities exist for the agents, brokers, companies and franchises that can demonstrate a legitimate “above the norm” level of professionalism?

Brokers, Agents and Franchises do lack opportunities, they lack enough reason and or will to change and improve. The driver will be new models and Franchises that want to grow and are willing to bring a new way of thinking to the industry. As long as there is success in business as usual don’t expect the big companies, brokers, or agents to change.

Do you think clients would be more likely to work with an agent, broker or company with a demonstrated level of professionalism “above the norm” for the industry?

Absolutely, provided they know and value the difference between an outstanding sales perfomance and an outstanding sales experience.

How would an agent, broker, company or franchise quantifiably demonstrate a level of professionalism “above the norm” for the industry?

By doing the right thing in every situation, thinking long term, and working together for the benefit of Everyone involved in the transaction Franchises, Brokers and Agents can save the industry from itself.

I do not believe organized real estate has the chops to effect meaningful change. I’ve concluded that change WILL come, but it will be forced upon the industry after significant lawsuits.

I am going to stick my neck out and make a prediction: 2010 and 2011 will see legal challenges in the real estate industry that will make the recent DOJ matter look like children’s play! I think those legal challenges will occur in the foreclosure arena and social media space. It is not going to be pretty, but healthy change will follow.

I’m going to have to respectfully disagree. In my base market, out of the top 10 agents, knowing what I know from working with them, if I were a consumer and needed to select an agent… I MIGHT choose 1 or 2 of them to represent me.

The RULE – not the EXCEPTION, but the RULE – among this “elite” group is that they are driven almost ENTIRELY by numbers and money, not, not, NOT by providing phenomenal service. I talk about identifying this kind of agent is another blog post I wrote at http://cli.gs/7JsMm.

My experience is that the best agents – in terms of professionalism and providing great service to their clients – rarely make it above the 90th percentile. Why? Because there is a physical limit to how many clients you can handle properly, and that limits the agent’s volume.

These are my opinions, obviously. And I greatly thank you for sharing yours here. I look forward to continuing this dialogue with you in the future…

Best,
Michael