Superman’s Kryptonite
March 18, 2008
Yesterday I had the pleasure of interviewing Bryant Tutas. Bryant is a very successful and experienced real estate professional. He has loads of experience and is actually making money which is the only reason to be in this business.
We brought him on the show after he and Brett Wilson, one of our producers, had exchanged a number of blog comments on the social network for Realtors, ActiveRain. I also must add..he did not suck as he wrote on Active Rain. He did fine. He just did not have much material to work with.
I commend Bryant and applaud him for coming on even though many of the AR faithful see us as Realtor bashers. We spoke with Bryant and I told him we are not Realtor bashers..we are BAD Realtor bashers. I wanted to make sure we were clear on that fact.
Today on Active Rain, Bryant posted a summary of his time with us and in response to the self-proclaimed “Superman” of Realtors…I proffer the following reply:
As the average age of a Realtor is 50+…let me provide some lyrical support for you
I took a walk around the world to
Ease my troubled mind
I left my body laying somewhere
In the sands of time
I watched the world float to the dark
Side of the moon
I feel there is nothing I can do, yeah
I watched the world float to the
Dark side of the moon
After all I knew it had to be something
To do with you
I really don’t mind what happens now and then
As long as you’ll be my friend at the end
If I go crazy then will you still
Call me Superman
If I’m alive and well, will you be
There holding my hand
I’ll keep you by my side with
My superhuman might
Kryptonite
You called me strong, you called me weak
But your secrets I will keep
You took for granted all the times I
Never let you down
You stumbled in and bumped your head, if
Not for me then you would be dead
I picked you up and put you back
On solid ground
If I go crazy then will you still
Call me Superman
If I’m alive and well will you be
There holding my hand
I’ll keep you by my side with my
Superhuman might
Kryptonite
I play this song because I too believe that this business is about relationships and I wonder if this post may very well be kryptonite to the self-proclaimed Realtor Superman. As the words of this song state, it seems that I too have walked “around the world to
ease my troubled mind” only to be also lead to the dark side of the moon. I also wonder, as the lyrics say, if Bryant will be my friend in the end.
In our interview I sought clarity, I prayed for reason and I thirsted for knowledge as to just what a Realtor does to justify their commission. I received merely rhetoric in return for my desire to learn more. In the end, I now realize disappointingly, that my quest will more than likely never be satiated.
I have read Bryant’s post and the adulation of misguided sycophants and I choose not to engage, The fight is not worth fighting, the journey is not worth taking, and the time is not worth spending. I will accept that there is now another mystery in life that may never be answered.
I have learned that many..many..are satisfied in their guarded mystical existence. Bryant’s allegorical post is probably a true representation of Activerainland. A place where those who dare to tread may never return from. For it seems once there it becomes quite like Never Never Land.
Yet instead of never wanting to grow old (that ship sailed long, long ago for many of them), their fantasy is one where the consumer will never know what they actually do and that there must be some Tinkerbell to keep the radio hosts and naysayers away and that everything will be just fine.
You there…basking in the glow of Active Rain…don’t worry. All is going to be fine. Technology won’t advance, the MLS won’t fall, and the DOJ will lose to the NAR. And oh yeah…Lawrence Yun will be the next Mayor of Simpleton.
All of us outsiders will stay away and just continue to mire as mere outsiders. Don’t worry..it will be better in the morning.
Bryant had a couple of questions that I will take the time to answer however:
Bryant Question: How many people, that take your seminars and receive all the tools needed to purchase short sales, actually utilize the tools and knowledge you have given them?
Well, since we get an average of 2,000+ unique visitors to our site daily and many of our highest rated pages are the short sale tools we provide for free, and our Attorney has had to hire 3 additional attorneys and various lead staff and paralegals to handle the business..I would say quite a bit. Do I have an exact number…no…but 2,000 plus people per day must be doing something with the knowledge they have been given. I can tell you this..many of our attendees have taken our classes 3 and 4 times and we had to ramp up our staff to handle the volume so I would say the answer is quite a few. By the way…95% or more of our attendees are Realtors!
Bryant Question:What is the percentage of folks that attend a seminar that are now successfully purchasing and selling short sales?
You said “A” seminar. If you are talking about “our” seminar then this question is pretty much a moot question. I just told you above that 95% of our clients are realtors looking to list short sales, sell short sales and they are seeking ongoing training as to how to do so. The individuals who want to act as principals, which we encourage seem to be quite successful in buying the deals they decide to cherry pick..which we also encourage.
By the way..I have to correct you. We do not make our living doing seminars. Seminars are merely one aspect of our business. FYI we are a full service real estate company. We have bought and sold HUNDREDS of homes over the last couple of years. We buy and sell at auctions, we lend hard money, we sell advertising on our blog and on our show, we do special appearances that are fee based, we rehab homes and we have a number of agents that work out of our office as well. We are FAR more than radio hosts and seminar instructors.
When I read on your posts and others like that Harley lady it makes us all laugh. We know the real estate business inside and out and from all sides. I mentioned in a number of your posts that we work with many professional Realtors. The rhetoric that we read on AR about us “not knowing what it is you guys do” is an absolute joke.
I disagree with your assessment of Lindsay and your feeling that you could compete with her. I heard what you do for marketing and let’s just say this…it’s a good thing you are not in this market because your phone would stop ringing. You will not even believe the amount of promotion that will bestowed upon her..and others. Oh yeah..did I mention that we are getting inquiries from across the Country from young people who want to join our burgeoning brokerage which we are backing?
Lastly, you asked a question…If you owned a property in Poinciana Fl and wanted to list it tomorrow, would you hire me? If you mean if I was an inexperienced, less than knowledgeable Seller than maybe I would indeed fall for that which you were selling. If I was that naive and green then maybe like most Sellers, I would buy into the listing presentation or hollow promnises that most real estate agents make.
However if your question is directed at me personally..like me right now..I would most assuredly have to decline. Like I said we have agents on speed dial across the Country and here in our office. I have bought and sold up in your neck of the woods before and never needed an agent beyond the customary opening of the doors of the MLS. Here is what we have done and what I would do again if I had a property up there that I needed to sell.
1. I would have our agent put it on the MLS
2. I would Market it to my list of Buyers and associates
3. Email blast it to our Buyer subscribers
4. Include it in a comprehensive marketing campaign and promotion..maybe even giving away a car with it or one of the myriad of promotions we have used if it is in this type of market
5.Once the contract came in I would review it, make sure the terms, conditions and clauses are as I want them (they would have to use our contract or sign our addendum)
6. I would make sure that the deposit was verified (Our title people do all of our closings without exception)
7. I would make sure the title company has everything they need
8. I would assign the file to our transactional coordinator to work along side the title company
9. I would forget about it until I got an email notifying me of closing
10. I would see if we were flying up a mobile closer or doing a mail away
11. Make sure the wire hit my account when I get notification of closing
It really is this easy. Not sure what kind of closings you guys on AR purport to being in that requires so much counseling ..that requires so much attention..but we have bought tons of houses… some, I have never even seen! You ask me what we do..as you can see, quite clearly I can delineate it. That’s why I know Lindsay will be successful and why I KNOW that most agents are simply not worth the commission they receive.
While some are, and like I have always said…many do earn their keep..I am talking about the others..that big sample of agents that even you agreed are out there. So with that being said…thanks for coming over and have a safe trip back to that alien planet…Krypton that is.
Bet you were all riled up thinking I meant Active Rain.
Finally just so you know, I am being honest.
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