When Agents Don't Disclose

A lot of Realtor Associations are good ol' boy clubs, and I think Sarasota Association of Realtors sometimes falls in this category. 

In this type of atmosphere, the members, in my opinion, seek to go along to get along.  I don't subscribe to this philosophy, especially when less than scrupulous behavior is involved, whether legal or not.

Here's a case in point.  Today, a Broker/Owner, a member of the Trulia online Realtor community, posted a question:  "What is your favorite Sarasota webcam?".  You can see the thread on their website with this link: http://bit.ly/dIovB6.

I won't get into the ins and outs and whims of how Trulia polices their online community. What irked me was that the Broker owns the Sarasota webcam website, and used the forum to seek to increase traffic to the website, where he also has a large banner ad for his real estate website, at his collegues' expense.  So what, you may ask?

In our business, we are told to disclose, disclose, disclose.  While this Broker didn't do anything illegal pertaining to FL real estate law, it does make me wonder, if he won't disclose he owns that website to other Realtors in a bald-faced attempt to fool readers into visiting it, what else does this Broker not disclose? 

I also found it strange that other Realtors cheerfully responded without checking out the information.  If this was a real estate contract, does this illustrate their level of the understanding of due diligence?

Lesson to Trulia members and consumers:  read the content and judge the level of competency displayed there yourself. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Real Estate Advertising Online

The Facebook IPO got me thinking about their future, and how it will affect Google and online advertising as a whole. I don't get Facebook mania.  In my opinion, there's a lot better things to do in life.  GM recently cancelled plans to spend $10 million to advertise on Facebook because they got disappointing results.  I can't see Facebook users clicking on ads when they are chatting with friends or playing games. Does anyone feel like social marketing is being shoved down our throats?  Advertising on Facebook and Twitter has yet to produce impressive results for most companies.  However, social media does play a meaningful role, in my opinion, in driving traffic to a website. Here is a fascinating graphic comparison of advertising on Facebook versus Google, which you can read here:  http://bit.ly/JHJ5LR So why am I blogging about this? As much as many in the real estate industry in Sarasota want to deny it, the days of Open Houses, magazine ads,...
Read more

List Your Home for Sale | Sarasota FL | David Barr Realtor

Image
A survey by the National Asociation of Realtors shows that over 70% of home sellers talk to one agent when they list their home for sale. As a Sarasota FL area home owner, it's time to do more research when selecting the right Realtor to list your home for sale. We are seeing a huge number of homes go off the MLS once listed, and it's usually due to being overpriced.  Has your Sarasota home listing expired , after sitting on the market for weeks and months, with showings but no offers? Make one more call to me, and find out how my targeted approach will produce a buyer.  People searching online for a home (94% of home buyers) in your specific neighborhood or condo building is the best type of buyer.  Think about it:  buyers searching for "sarasota fl real estate" are not at the end of their discovery journey.  A buyer looking at targeted properties will prevent a horde of tire kickers in your home, and will reduce the time it takes to sell your home....
Read more

2nd Quarter Real Estate Sales Statistics | Sarasota FL | David Barr Broker Associate

Image
Sarasota real estate statistics for 2nd Quarter 2019 are available.  The market continues to experience positive growth. Two categories are worth further analysis.  First, median time to contract increased 26% over last year.  I believe this is due to home buyers from up north cushioning or extending the closing date on their Florida property, so their current residence can sell.  This in return is affecting median time to sale. The second is median percent of original list price received.  There's a lot to dissect here.  Over priced listings aren't selling, and aren't reflected in this stat.  We call these expired listings.  If the property is priced according to the market, it's remained a steady 5% off list price for quite some time.  Every property is different, but use this number as a guide for what to expect. Contact me for expert pricing and marketing for your Sarasota area home for sale.
Read more