Matthew Ferrara is a real estate industry sage, often ahead of the rest of us in where things are going. His latest blog post is terrific!

If you want to know how the industry is going to change, how it must change, read this piece!

Clearly this is an industry that, overall, right now, is reacting rather than charting its own course. The consumer is dragging the real estate industry kicking and screaming where it needs to go.

We'll all be better for the change!

I've seen signs that there are some agents, brokers and even brokerages that get it. But it's a small number. There's a lot of pain and growth still ahead. I like to think it'll be an exciting time!

My first post now that I'm back from vacation and I thought I'd let someone else do most of the writing.

Besides, this story is just too good (and, unfortunately too typical) not so share with you!

Lenders still don't get it!

And, why do they keep proclaiming publicly what a good job they're now doing of helping consumers work these things out?!

Hogwash!

I had an interesting incident with another agent recently. I wrote about that in another post. When I wrote it I promised to reflect in a later post on some of the larger industry issues involved.

In many professions there's a tension between the desire to protect the public and the desire to protect the members of that profession. And so, while the Hippocratic oath has doctors promising to "First do no harm" there is also a very strong taboo against criticism of other doctors.

It's really no different in real estate. (Although the stakes are a lot lower!) Part of our code of ethics says that we'll speak no ill of another agent. And, most agents are careful to adhere to that. I have no problem with not indulging in idle gossip about my peers. And, it's certainly much too easy in a very competitive industry to decide it's your job to cast aspersions at those you deem less "professional" than yourself.

But you can carry this too far. It's a thin line you walk and I think we've leaned too far towards protecting our colleagues at the expense of protecting the public. When another agent thinks I have a greater responsibility to protect her and her business than to be honest with the consumer, I think it's a problem.

The thinking in the industry is that my responsibility is to clients who have hired me. The agency relationship with them obligates me to put their interests first. However, even to a customer (otherwise known as the general public) I still owe the duty of honesty.

You can ask whether "honesty" is defined by answering direct questions with honest information or whether it obligates volunteering information for which we weren't directly asked. I'm going to suggest that splitting such hairs is the kind of behavior that makes real estate agents rank very poorly in polls that gauge trust by profession.

As I said, the line is thin. But I think it's time to start leaning the other way!