Inspired Real Estate For Today

Choice!  This word has irrevocably changed the real estate landscape in Grand Rapids, Michagan & every community in this country.  Never  in  history have there been so many options available to real estate consumers and agents who work with them.  This virtual potpourri of offerings has created a peculiar challenge...How does one properly discern important differences and accurately evaluate the value propositions offered by very different paradigms of service in a real estate transaction?

Today consumers in need of real estate services can list on the MLS only for a Flat Fee, hire a Discount Broker, Advertise their own listing on-line through Craigslist, Trulia or Zillow.com, Find a Home from any one of a Million Websites, go through the Traditional Brokerage Model, or simply decide to forgo any representation by planting a sign in their yard declaring their desire to be the Unrepresented Seller.

Yes, we've got Options galore.  However in spite of this, I find that although clients arrive at my office armed with listing and  mortgage detail sheets, many are only nominally prepared in advance of our meeting to understand important elements of the real estate process.   Many confess to being overwhelmed by the vast volumes of information they have spent weeks and months pouring over.

The current situation in the real estate industry reminds me of the innumerable options that present themselves whenever we decide to venture out for a meal.  The restaurant section in the Grand Rapids, Michigan phone book has one of the largest number of offerings... pages & pages of restaurant locations...choices galore.  While its' nice to have so many options, I can tell you this... if I received a call from a friend just as I was about to head out for a meal inviting me to her home for dinner, I'd change my dinner reservations at just about any restaurant in a heart beat!

Recently, my husband & I were talking about what makes home cooked food so special.  So much so, that many family style restaurants actually advertise that their food is "like home cooked."  Now, I'm talking about good home cooking...as I know some disasters in the kitchen can make even fast food seem like a great dining experience.   

We came to the conclusion that perhaps it's because the person cooking is doing so with clear & loving intention. A home cooked meal literally erupts with mouth watering flavor when the ingredients used in its' preparation are locally produced, fresh and lovingly prepared. When there is a desire to bring wholesome goodness, creativity, & proper nutrition to loved ones & friends...it's almost as though the food itself responds differently.  I suspect that some of the most imaginative chefs and cooks in well loved restaurants cook with this type of joie de vivre when they create menu items for their guests.

Successful Real Estate Transactions are also impacted by some of these same principles as they also incorporate local flavor & regional distinctions.  In recent years we have witnessed numerous attempts to make the real estate process a function of simply processing information & disseminating information. It is like taking the burst of flavor out of the transaction by trying to provide a one style fits all method of conducting business.   It is becoming increasingly apparent that far more than information peddling is involved to create a truly successful sale.  Simply rolling out an assembly line of pre-packaged entrees in the hope that the consumer's attention will be grabbed by some canned content written by Mr. Anonymous to Ms. Everyone is boring & easily recognized for what it is...Assembly Line Real Estate...No Real Skills Required!

Initiating a search on-line for the the term real estate for any major community or city in the country easily yields hundreds of thousands of selections.  The sponsored links (paid advertisements) are often owned by large affiliate real estate conglomerates who have the money & resources to buy position.  Fiercely desiring the first dibs to the consumer's eyeballs, these types of sites provide mega million bytes of information.  But is this really ALL that consumers want?  In the age of Abundance... Differentiation becomes the King!  The rise of Blogging is a direct response to the need by consumers & service providers to handle the underlying need for differentiation.  On-line consumers are indicating:  I don't just want to know what you know...I want to know why you think it's important & how your superior level of knowledge & training can be of benefit to me in my particular situation.

Recently, Active Rain, in recognition of this profound shift introduced a site called Localism.  The implications of this site are gargantuan.  Localism, now in Beta Testing is designed to provide consumers with information about their neighborhood and communities from the professionals who live and work there.  On Localism, we meet real people, documenting life as it happens in a particular community everyday.  Now, you can't beat that for a real estate version of home cooked goodness!

The truth is that when everyone has access to every listing, the value of information alone diminishes. Consumers are finding it more difficult to sift through this deluge of information to synthesize a more elusive, and far more valuable quality called Relevance.  Relevance is what provides meaning to my life & choices.  Relevance is what informs me about the viability of a particular home or neighborhood in relation to my life circumstance.  Relevance is what ensures that the transaction I am entering into does not disintegrate into a nightmare because I had just facts without the benefit of applied wisdom.

Wisdom is the ability to translate knowledge into meaning thereby creating Relevance.  Real  estate practitioners who understand that their role is to provide Meaning in the transaction will see their Value Soar.  Real estate agents who provide Meaning in a context that honors and responds to the expressed desires of their clients with sensitivity & integrity will be continue to be Relevant. Real estate agents who create Relevance within the context of the transaction will find their services to be irreplaceable. Like a home cooked goodness which beats a restaurant experience for daily service time after time, these agents will be sought after because what they provide is uncommon service in an increasingly cluttered field of Irrelevant links.  This is so unlike the assembly line offerings that bombard potential real estate consumers everyday, but fall short when it comes to Relevance, Relationship & First Hand Community Knowledge.

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