During a recent discussion with a pre-licensing instructor about the purpose of their class & their role as an instructor, the answer of ” my only goal is for student to pass the state test” sums up a root problem of our industry.

This attitude is not only evident in the Real Estate world but also in the public schools with “teaching to the SOLs”. The measure of a schools & teachers performance has become “how many students pass the test”.

Teaching to pass a test does not encourage a true desire to learn or improve oneself.
Even beyond that it does not encourage one to THINK for oneself, IMHO that is the real issue.

Incidentally, I agree with you, her, and Lupe, too. Although, I have been accused a time or two of using dollar words unnecessarily. I do think there is a difference between “dumbing it down” and speaking someone’s language. I often have to be more aware of not just WHAT I am trying to say, but the WAY in which I am trying to say it. Of course, there is just as much danger in going too far the other direction. No one wants to be perceived as condescending or conceited.

With regard to the “lowest common denominator,” I am reminded of the old maxim– if you give what you’ve always given, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.

Thank the lord for people like you who are wiling to make a change.

Great point about consumers that want our advice and services, but don’t want to pay us for it. I’ve heard consumers mimic the Geico commercial when talking about buying or selling real estate. Well, then go get your license and do it yourself!

Coming from the corporate world, the lack of professionalism on many agents part amazed me when I started. It was very different for me, but I’ve learned to deal with some of the differences. Not that the corporate world is better or more professional, but different. Unfortunately, those of us that treat this as a business run into many consumers that can’t see this. Those of us who try to educate our clients about the market get “rejected” because the consumer read on the internet, or saw on TV, or etc. We’re too honest and they don’t want to hear it. It’s a shame.

As to using words that are too big, well, enough has been said about that already above.

Bil – of course I am a word fo the day fan! My problem is that I can recall the word, but never spell it. So, I Google it and hope that I’m close enough for it to come up

Ines, yeah, I’ve been irritable about life in general recently. I think “Honesty” isn’t necessarily the trait that is difficult “tactful delivery of Honesty” is. I get your meaning…

Annie – I think the reader was trying to “help”, but I fully disagree with their stance. The reader did a follow up on the post and was very funny in that they spelled EVERY word of their e-mail wrong. It’s all good and I am sure the reader is a good agent. It’s good to have a business plan and to tell the consumer what you and their expectations are/should be. I just hope that agents who are doing that, are following through in the eyes of the Seller. Too often the agent is working their butt off, but not communicating it with the Seller. I bet you do a great job with that.

Larry – I think you jokingly hit on one of my big issues. We (as an industry) are loosing the wisdom of people like Bill and replacing it with knowledge. I know at lot about policy and rules; but the approprate allocation of that knowledge is wisdom and with so many expereinced agents leaving he buisness; it’s taking it’s toll.

My wife and I homeschool our children and constantly are working on their knowledge and critical thinking skills. (no to think negatively) but to apply logic to their knowledge. To foresee consequence and make wise decisions. We’ve McDonalized everything in society to the point that we all want our business to be on the dollar menu and be delivered hot and tasty in 3 minutes. We neglect that this 3 minute dollar burger is killing us, not doing anything more then filling our immediate need.

At some point we all feel what Ines describes as the “rub”. In order to survive, we conduct our lives in a protective bubble. What we collectively are experiencing, is the “dumbing down” syndrome of society at large. As we find time we notice that it prickles and makes us want to scratch. It is when reality boldly smacks us as we recognize that our personal and professional lives are not exclusive of the affect. Don’t dismay. There are among us those seeking common spirits who too are feeling that “rub”. They like you, are attempting to improve reality on some yet undetermined level.

While you may be getting old, irascible, possibly curmugeonly and even irritable, think more of it as your “Golden Pond” years of reasoned wisdom.

Anne,

BIG WORDS are just a different brush stroke on the canvas you are painting.

As of late I have been turning down more listings than I take. It is probably more like 5:1. I REFUSE to take on listings that are not competitively priced and/or unique in an area that has many listings. The agents that will irresponsibly take any listing at any price to use as nothing other than an over sized business card (marketing tactic) drive me crazy. I am a Professional Realtor. I continually educate myself and others around me. I spend a good amount of time and energy in marketing and pushing listings I believe in. 99% of the time my commission is non-negotiable for the services that I render. I tell each and every client at the listing presentation that my commission is X% and it is non-negotiable and then I show them why. I never get any objections. The question I ask them is this, what are you willing to pay the buyers agent…..

The problem with our society is that it is an enabling one. We lower our expectations for just about everything so that everyone can participate. And apparently in the Realtor world everyone has. Maybe if we as a society worried less about hurting people’s feelings and more about what is right and wrong we would all be in a better place. Everyone is NOT created equal, especially Realtors…

Am I getting old and irascible or what? – I’m sorry, maybe I meant curmudgeonly, or perhaps just irritable ?

I do have a better suggestion then google – they can subscribe to Merriam Webster’s Word of the day at http://www.merriam-webster.com/word/subscribe.htm and have their vocabulary delivered directly to their inbox or go to http://www.hotforwords.com/ for the prettiest philologist on the web or subscribe to her youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/hotforwords Education doesn’t get any more painless then that

What I don’t understand are those people that don’t want for Realtors to make money, but they do want to use our services. The consumer has many choices and THAT’s a fact. I turned down 2 listings this past week because both sellers had unreasonable expectations……I even told them to call one of my competitors, they would be happy to take an overpriced listing to add to his “unsold” inventory.