Valasie August

Victor is correct. Every area we attempt to influence with regard to professionalism in the RE industry and the type of behavior we strive to promote cannot be achieved without the buy in of broker owners and supervising branch managers. At the first Hear it Direct conference recently consumers were given the opportunity to tell us what they want from their Realtor. But until those in charge of their companies determine that a consistent and reproducible minimum standards policy is worth enforcing the industry will not move towards that end except agent by agent. While I like even that slow change over NO change at all, it is simply not going to happen fast enough to keep our industry from being forced into a re-invention that is not the kind we are looking for nor one that is in the best interests of the public when it is all said and done. We can blame the individual sales associate for not being the type of professional that operates with standards that promote and protect their client's interests but that is like blaming the underage kids for drinking in our home when we supplied the alcohol AND the keys. And all because we wanted them to like us and maybe even be our friends. A little tough love is needed here! Valasie (Val) August Managing Broker Long and Foster Real Estate, Inc @valasie

The truth is so refreshing. Thanks Teresa for sharing your personal experience. I am all over multiple streams of income at any time but especially in the economic climate we find ourselves in at the moment. I remember my first year in RE and taking on a small second job that gave me the right amount of money to cover my car payment...it made all the difference in freeing me up to get my business going. And that was in 1979:) It has been a fabulous career for me and if I didn't have that other stream of income in the beginning I would not have been able to stay in RE. For the past 23 years I have been managing a general brokerage office and find myself often encouraging agents to think about multiple streams of income at different times of their careers for exactly the reasons you state above. Valasie (Val) August Managing Broker Long & Foster Realtors

I teach mandated CE in Virginia and a shocking number of the agents in my class don't fully understand their responsibilities regarding buyer agency let alone dual agency. And when I get to dual agency it is even more disturbing to hear what agents have been taught or have come to believe about this type of representation. If a buyer or seller was fully educated on dual agency, I don't believe they would ever choose to have a form of compromised representation. We have an obligation to place the consumer in the center of the transaction rather than ourselves and if we did so we would evaluate dual agency entirely differently as an industry. Valasie (Val) August Managing Broker Long and Foster Real Estate, Inc