Everyone has an agenda. An ax to grind. A position. A bias. Everyone. Those who pretend they don’t, often have the strongest biases. Those who lie to themselves that they’re unbiased, often have the most devious biases. I’ve noticed a lot of hidden agendas surfacing lately. All agendas eventually do. People try to hide their biases, but they’re not fooling anyone… for long.
During my trip to DC this month, I was lucky enough to meet with the FTC and discuss proper disclosure practices in social media with several Fortune 1000 companies. Simply enough, if there’s a quid pro quo between two parties, it’s perfectly fine, as long as it is disclosed.
These rules don’t apply to a single entity’s quid pro quo with it’s own agenda. Not legally anyway. And maybe not even morally. But I’ve always believed in showing people where you sit before you tell them where you stand. If you have a bias, disclose it.
If you’re a real estate agent, and find an online discussion abut the housing market, disclose it. It makes your argument stronger, not weaker. It makes you genuine. It’s the first step to regaining our credibility as an industry. People that don’t agree with you will still respect you for being frank.
In conversations about real estate, I feel it’s important to disclose my bias. I work for NAR. That doesn’t mean I speak for NAR, or agree with everything NAR does. It means I have a bias, and I’m disclosing it. Now let’s talk about the issues.
I am disclosing my bias and would very much like to see other real estate agents engage as well!! This business is more than just selling houses, we must become students of our profession.