REALTORS® Working to Keep Pace with Change
Tap the well of REALTOR® sentiment and what do you find?
A profession struggling to keep pace in a fast-changing environment at odds with the way things were.
When nearly 2,000 PAR members responded to an online member survey in September, they provided a snapshot of a profession in a state of flux, where concerns about maintaining the relevance of REALTORS® in an era of FSBOs, discounts, rebates and reduced commissions rate highest. Also weighing heavily on the minds of REALTORS® are electronic, Internet-based competitors like online home sales and transactional real estate sites.
It’s clear that today’s real estate market conditions, stoked by higher interest rates and a burgeoning buyers’ market, are perceived as a threat to PAR members. In fact, many survey respondents said that surviving the “down market” was their biggest personal challenge.
Said one respondent: “In the last couple of years … REALTORS® didn’t really need to sell themselves because of the market. It seemed that everyone’s business and career was booming. However, things have obviously changed and the market dictates that you better differentiate yourself from the other REALTORS® and have the selling skills needed to beat your competition.”
Other challenges identified by survey participants ranged from the need for all REALTORS® to maintain ethical behavior in an increasingly competitive environment, the need to improve the REALTOR® image and the importance of providing value to potential consumers.
“We need to continue to increase the level of expertise and professionalism of all REALTORS® so the public feels comfortable in paying a premium for our services,” wrote one.
“Join the 21st century - focus on client-driven standards/norms instead of industry-driven standards/norms,” advised another.
External threats like banks in real estate, a burdensome tax structure and difficult public policy issues like eminent domain also ranked high.
While the actual demographics (see sidebar) vary little from earlier surveys, “the results are doing exactly what we want them to do: help identify issues that are crucial to REALTOR®s and their stakeholders,” said Thea Hocker, PAR marketing and communications director.
The statistically valid results, which have a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points, are being used to develop communications strategies for both internal and external audiences. n
Who is the Typical
Pennsylvania REALTOR®?
On average, she’s more likely to be female than male, Caucasian and somewhere between the ages of 35 and 54.
She entered the real estate field between the ages of 25 and 44 and has been there for less than 10 years. She had a different career before becoming a REALTOR®.
She works full-time as an independent contractor in residential sales for a firm that has fewer than 100 agents.
She uses a cell phone and e-mail but has probably never listened to a podcast or RSS feed.
Chances are she’s married, has attended at least some college and lives in a suburban/rural area.
She owns her own home but no vacation home or investment properties. Her family income was greater than $50,000 but less than $150,000 last year.