Pseudovariety -- "the illusion of diversity, concealing a lack of real choice" 

I first heard this term over at General Lordismo's Apocalypse and as always, I started thinking about how does this apply to real estate and marketing? Check out the General's post, and the original post regarding Pseudovariety at Kottke. It is interesting because they discuss the lack of choices the consumer has without really knowing that they have a lack of choices in soft drinks. Most people are not aware that 3 corporations control 89% of the soft drink market in the US. Are you aware that one corporation owns quite a few of the large real estate companies and relocation companies in the world?

Please consider this quote from the General's blog:

Pseudovariety can be very convincing, and the lack of knowledge of true variety alternative may mean that many of us continue to be intimately involved in the support of larger corporate entities.

If I am faced with the choice of where to go eat, I will always try to support a locally owned business, if the service, quality, price etc is going to be the equivalent of supporting some large corporation that honestly, only cares about their stock dividends and not about supporting their local community or their employees. I worked for corporations before entering the world of real estate, and I know first hand that the decisions that corporations will make put profits ahead of people, whether it is the employee, the customer or client. And I feel that in real estate it is the same way some times.

Do you feel that big business, or the nameless faceless corporations are part of the economic problems in America, such as downsizing and outsourcing jobs overseas? I do, and I think that the phrase Buy Local, Think Globally is very true and not a bad way to try to make decisions as a consumer. Often, you can easily find alternatives that don't support the huge mega corporations with very little effort. And if the choice is the equivalent, then why not support the Mom & Pop business? Why not support the local business? What if the locally owned company, because of lower overhead & efficient business practices, & because they do NOT have to pay corporate fees, can charge the consumer less?

Are consumers, in real estate, not realizing that they have choices beyond what they are familiar with? The sign in the yard has very little to do with the decision the buyer will make regarding buying your home. I can recall one Open House I was hosting and a guest asked why this home was priced so much lower than the almost identical home across the street. The guest asked:

Is a different sign in the yard worth an additional $20,000?

In today's real estate market, consumers are better informed and educated and will not let which company a home is listed with influence their decision. If the home has the floor plan, features, condition, price, location etc etc-that is what will sell the home. Not the sign in the yard. It is almost insulting to the buyer to think that the sign in the yard will influence their decision. The only way the sign in the yard could influence the buyer's decision is if the buyer is not aware of other homes because the buyers agent is only pushing the homes listed with that agent's company. Something to consider when an agent sends you some homes to look at. Are all the homes at that agent's company? If they are, then who's best interests is that agent looking out for?

Now some may argue that having more agents at a company is better. But I ask, better for who? The broker that is getting more money in desk fees from agents that never actually do anything? Equating having more agents to being a better real estate company is like thinking that because someone is tall they must be great at basketball. The truth is that for some companies, more agents is just a business model the owner or broker in charge has selected to to generate more money for the company! Because of desk fees and other charges that agents usually pay creates an income for the company. So it just might have nothing to do with providing better service for the person that wants to buy or sell real estate.

Considering that 93% of home buyers are searching on the internet, then finding a listing agent that understands how to use the Internet is probably more important than the sign in the yard. If you are the type of consumer that wants results, not just seeing ads for the corporation that your agent is associated with on prime time TV, then please contact me.

If you are the type of consumer that would rather support a locally owned and operated business instead of a large corporation, when all other factors are the same, then maybe you should contact me.

If listing with an agent that can charge a lower commission because he works for a company that offers him the ability to do so because of no ties to a large faceless corporation that cares nothing about you or your needs, then maybe you should contact me.

If working with an agent that cares about you, as a person, and your needs sounds good, then contact me. If working with an agent that sees you as a person, and not as a lead, then contact me.

Just think about it.....