Entry by Jennifer Allan

To Attest or Not to Attest?

  8 Comments

I sent out this question to my Advisory Committee yesterday, but decided to post it here as well...

As we're developing the new ACRE website (estimated release, April 1), we're trying to identify and prioritize the features we'll include.

Today's "debate" is about whether or not to include a periodic "attestation" requirement that in order to appear on the ACRE Map and Search, you must confirm two things: 1. You are still actively practicing real estate and 2. you are offering some level of consulting services (or intend to shortly). 

If you do not attest to these two items at the intervals we come up with (every six months?), your profile will be removed from the map until you do. Not to punish you, of course, but to keep the ACRE map and search as "clean" and accurate as possible. I'm sure there are dozens of profiles showing up on the current map of ACREs who are no longer in real estate at all and many more who aren't offering any sort of consulting services. 

What do you think? 

1. Do you believe this is a valuable feature, both for ACREs and the public?

2. Would you be willing to attest to the two items every six months or so?

3. If you aren't currently offering any consulting services, would it annoy you to be removed from the Map and Search?

Thanks!

8 Comments

I feel that is absolutely necessary to maintain the integrity of ACRE as the business is grown.

What will be the parameters of "attestation" ?  Not MLS membership because many brokers like myself are commercial brokers and use Loopnet, etc.

Robert - we'll need to come up with something - I don't want to make it onerous on anyone (ourselves included!), but just something simple that assures us (and the rest of the crowd) that the ACREs on the map are indeed offering something above and beyond "traditional" real estate services. 

Open to suggestions on what that looks like!

Keeping the roster up to date and accurate is vital to it being taken seriously. Clicking on dead links or on a web site of someone who clearly does not offer the kind of services promoted by ACRE is good way to alienate customers from the whole concept. Based on what I have seen on the current roster and their web sites, a fairly small number actually practice what ACRE preaches.

I'm thinking so, too, John... 

If the Acres aren't Acres, it seems like a rhetorical question.  Best of breed and only if they are in the breed.  Of course IF you press too hard it may come to light that more people WISH they would do it, but few truly are.  Like Dennis Miller says, That's just my opinion I could be wrong. 

Yep - if we force the issue we may find only ten of us left! Well, I guess I wouldn't be in there either since I'm not consulting. But the new ACRE course should really help those who WISH they were but just haven't gotten around to it... that's the goal anyway.  

Issues as I see it:

a) what is "actively" practicing real estate?  We have agents in our MLS that are "active" as in they pay their dues, but haven't sold a property in years.

b) Is 'offering' consulting services enough or does it have to be actively getting clients? As I've mentioned before, I offer choices all the time.  I've yet to have a seller choice anything other than traditional commission.

Getting to a point where there is the critical mass of both practioners and consumers needed for this to be self sustaining will be extremely difficult, although the timing is much better now than it ever has been. Decisions made as to how you handle this issue will have a big impact on how credible the organization is for the long run.

This page contains a single entry by Jennifer Allan published on February 23, 2012 8:56 AM.

I am Your Customer was the previous entry in this blog.

Is "Consultative" the Same as "Consulting?" is the next entry in this blog.

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