Marc Davidson, thank you for your response and well-thought out commentary.

David Losh: I’m one of WHOM? A technological dweeb? A tired out lounge singer? LOVED the comparison of real estate computer techies to Star Trekies… you may be right. I’d probably see them all at my weekly Dungeon and Dragons gaming night.

Hey! MD, your house is going to be sold by a person at a cocktail party who thinks it’s cool.
That person has spent $300K, or more, so far this year going to the trendy parties, driving a trendy car, eating in the trendy cafes, so they can meet the trendy people who will think your place is as cool as you do.
The internet may create a buzz, but closing the deal takes a pen and paper.
Stop whining and sign. If you want to sell it yourself then you take the liability.

Man, that guy was a smoothie.

Marlow!!! Wake up!!! Wake up!!! You’re becoming one of them!!! You are fighting the good fight, but these weasels are breeding in a box and eating each others young. Soon, very soon, thier niche will be full.
This is like the rocket to the moon where in 2001 we were all going to have robots doing all the work, and colonies on distant planets.
If I’m reading the MD rant correctly he was talking about a software convention in Las Vegas. Software, Star Trek, Software, Star Trek conventions in Las Vegas. In ten years these guys will be dressing up for the 2016 Real Estate software convention.
It’ll be a get together talking about the glory days. There will probably be a secret handshake and talk of the piles of money they made off the unsuspecting public. Maybe the government will step in with an investigation of all the people swindled by internet Real Estate transactions so these guys can talk about that.

The fact is I sold a house this week, one hundred and fifty thousand below asking price to some one I met at an open house on Sunday.

For your benefit and those who read these postings, I want to share this to better understand my perspective.

Two weeks prior to Connect I fielded 12 proposals from agents looking to list my home. The average commission was $63,000. The best marketing plan of the 12 did not include a virtual tour, did not include posting on major portals like Craigslist, Oodle, Trulia etc., which none of the agents here heard of. None included the use of Google Base or mapping to show how my home sits inside an exclusive cul-de-sac that overlooks the beautiful town below. None included the use of Postlets.com or submitalisting.com so my home could be marketed internationally across the web. None had Blog sites. None had My Space sites.

Requests on my part to consider these things drew blanks stares. In fact, none of the proposals included the use of anything different than methods used 8 years ago when I bought the home when the commission was 1/4th it is today.

So post Connect, I thought about the $300,000 I spent remodeling my home over the years, the natural appreciation that occurred here in California and how as a result, 12 people are being given the opportunity to earn 4x what they made 8 years ago and none felt it important enough to rise to the occasion and increase their ladder of benefits.

As anyone who knows me will testify, I do not disregard agents. I believe in tradition – the tradition of putting the customer first and giving them the best possible set of services available. My mother was a real estate broker in NYC in the 60’s and 70’s. Her legacy to me plays in my head every day. “In life” she said, “don’t just do a good job. Do a great one”.

That’s the sentiment I had when I wrote the Elvis piece. There are too many agents that are simply along for the ride of a lifetime – earning fat commissions selling homes because the Market has been great. Not because they are. That is what I believe needs to go to Vegas. The Fat Elvis. The Elvis that sold out, did crappy movies and stopped being influential.

Real estate is about the cult of personality. It is about who you know. I totally agree with you. The 12 agents I called, alas, I knew them all. But it wasn’t enough. That’s my point. Consumers demand better and more progressive services. Perhaps not yet in your town but imagine if you delivered it anyway. That’s the point of my article. The ones who are riding the wave, the consumer will pass them by as I have here. I won’t go FSBO but I am holding out for a pro worthy of my $63,000.

All the technology vendors can do today is what we do best. We’re analysts. We study trends. Consumer trends. And then we build products based upon meeting their needs. That’s why we are so vocal about getting them into the hands that would most benefit by them – the traditional real estate agent. I welcome continued communication for the benefit of connecting great Realtors with great business opportunities.

MD

But thanks for your enthusiasm.