I love that old maxim, “The only thing constant is change”. It’s a funny quip, but also extremely true. So, why do so many of us resist change? The short answer is, we hate to admit we are ever out of control. But we are out of control far more than we are ever in it.
Recently, I heard a question posed by a young girl, “In the superhero universe, why are the people trying to create change called villains and the ones trying to stop the change called heroes?” That’s a very good question! Yet, most of us seldom try our hand at such divergent thinking. Humans have a tendency to accept what is before us as genuine.
Years ago, my wife and I were foster parents for the State. When a child came into our home, I told them they had three things that were in their control; A positive mental attitude, what little resources they had been given and their work ethic. We can all choose how to react to difficult situations and have a good attitude or a negative one. We may not have much, but we can budget the money, and time we do have. Not every kid will be a straight-A student, but most can decide between a D and a B grade in school if they work hard enough. There are other attributes, but most kids have these three.
The list of what is typically OUT of our control is much lengthier. Our future, current age, government regulations, traffic jams, natural disasters, layoffs, societal unrest and of course, pandemics are just a few of the stressors we face on an almost daily basis. Life keeps moving and with that movement, comes change. And change seems to be something the real estate industry wrestles with quite often.
As for Realtors® about every decade something comes along that makes us all gasp and exclaim “We will never practice real estate the same way again”. That’s right of course, and lately it has been the issue of reporting commission splits. Recently, I was asked to address a Realtor Association in Muscle Shoals, AL and challenged them to consider all the changes the industry has already been through.
1900’s: In 1906, San Franciso dealt with a violent earthquake, but it was the subsequent fires that destroyed most of the city. Unscrupulous investors took advantage of unsuspecting landowners until two attorneys, Coldwell and Banker, sought to negotiate on their behalf. What would eventually become the National Association of Realtors (NAR) was formed in 1908.
1910’s: The term “Realtor®” is marketed for branding purposes and to tout the newly adopted NAR Code of Ethics. Another marketing device of the “Open House” was created. But they were for twelve hours a day, every day until the home was sold.
1920’s: In the Roaring twenties, states began enacting licensing laws. One of the earliest in the South was Alabama in 1928.
1930’s: The roar ground to a halt with the Great Depression, home values dropped 35%.
1940’s: America entered World War II in 1941. In 1944, the G. I. Bill and V.A. home loans were created as an acknowledgement of those who fought in the war.
1950’s: Real estate professionals took to the airwaves and print with mass advertising. Word-of-mouth alone was no longer sufficient. Large-scale brokerages began to emerge.
1960’s: Multiple Listing Services (MLS) sold ad space in their books as professionals began to work together more. Though they knew the inventory of their competitors, agents became the “Guardians of the knowledge”.
1970’s: America saw high inflation and Civil unrest.
1980’s: The industry had to deal with high interest rates. Then, there was the Savings and Loan Scandal.
1990’s: The MLS goes Online forcing everyone to be on the internet whether they liked it or not. This decade also saw a push toward consumerism by way of Buyer Agency. Believe it or not, there was originally a lot of resistance to this.
2000’s: The Housing bubble and the subprime mortgage crisis.
2010’s: The TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure or TRID was made law which forced timeframes of disclosures and closings.
2020’s: This time, the twenties are not so roaring. The industry had to deal with a global pandemic and of course, changes in commission structure. And that’s just what we know so far.
2030’s: Famine, War, Pestilence and Death? Perhaps there won’t even be a real estate industry anymore, it’s hard to say. But one thing is certain… “We will never practice real estate the same way again”.
In these times, we must do for ourselves what our clients expect us to do for them; Remain flexible, take small steps to understanding, look for opportunities and of course, understand most things do change in time.
With the exception of the graphic, this article was written completely without the aid of artificial intelligence. Blaine Little is an author and CEO of Momentum Seminars Training & Coaching, helping companies remain profitable by investing in their people. Learn more at www.MomentumSeminars.com