Consumer correspondent Janice Lieberman did little to enlighten consumers and a lot to inflame Realtors with her suggestions on the "Finding A Realtor" segment featured on The Today Show yesterday.

Lieberman was interviewed by the good-natured Al Roker who opened the segment by asking Lieberman what the difference is between a Realtor and a real estate agent. She flippantly replies, "Nothing." Both she and Roker laugh loudly. Then she says, "You say to-may-toe and I say to-mah-toe."

The response is neither helpful nor enlightening to consumers, but worse, it was insulting to the million-plus members of the National Association of Realtors who go to a great deal of time, trouble and expense trying to differentiate themselves from other licencees and to defend the NAR's servicemark - REALTOR(r).

TV segments such as these are meant for incisive questions to be met with quick, snappy answers, which Mr. Roker and Ms. Lieberman clearly can double-team well to do. But neither consumers nor the industry were served by her inability to answer the most basic question pertinent to the segment.

"Finding a Realtor" should have begun with identifying what a Realtor is and then she should have followed through with how to find one. Lieberman did neither.

While there are between 2.5 and three million active licensees across the U.S., only one million of those can call themselves Realtors. Realtors are active state licensees who have joined the National Association of Realtors, a nonprofit industry and homeowner advocacy organization that holds its membership to higher operating standards and ethical codes of conduct than those required by state licensing boards.

These ethical codes encompass not only the Realtors' duties to their consumers, but to the public at large and toward other practitioners.

This also means that Realtors have more accountability to the public than other licensees, as consumers not only have the option of reporting practitioners to the state licensing boards, they can also report them to the local and state associations for discipline.

Realtors undergo constant threats to the integrity of the REALTOR® brand. Only this year, the NAR successfully defended the Realtor/Realtors servicemarks against a petition to cancel them brought before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In other words, working Realtors do not want to see their brand become Kleenexed and Xeroxed into generic usage.

But that's exactly what has occurred with Ms. Lieberman. To her, a Realtor is the same as any real estate practitioner.

She’s on firmer ground when Roker asks her how to find a Realtor, even though she hasn't identified what a Realtor is.

She suggests working with someone who knows the area - who works in the consumers' price range and neighborhood. Roker suggests getting a referral from someone who knows the Realtor, a proven method. The NAR's own research suggests that 44 percent of buyers used a referral from a friend, neighbor or relative to find their Realtor, and 38 percent of sellers used personal referrals to find their agent.

If she had known more about Realtors VS other licensees, Lieberman could have answered Mr. Roker's question with the suggestion that Realtors are proud of their affiliation with the NAR and put the Realtor servicemark after their names, so they are easily identifiable. Realtors can also be found in places like Realtor.com or Realty Times, where the listings of Realtors are showcased exclusively and where market conditions are reported by Realtor experts.

Lieberman does offer some solid suggestions such as learning the Realtor' business plan for selling homes. She also mandates that Realtors are allies, and should not waste consumers' time with homes that aren't right for them.

But she veers off track again with the unsupported suggestion that consumers should choose their agents from bigger, rather than smaller agencies, because they "have more listings, and they've done their research."

The MLS system to which all Realtors subscribe is designed to offer all available Realtor member listings to all members. In fact, any agent may be in a better position to offer specialized services not offered by others, whether they are bigger or not, as networking and niches are important specialties of Realtors. In other words, agents from both small and large agencies can offer benefits.

Leiberman also advises consumers to let Realtors do the work because they are getting "fat" commissions, which suggests there is no lean. Does she mean to imply that agents simply take in money and that none goes out to business expenses, taxes, insurance including errors and omissions, advertising costs, lost opportunity costs, membership fees and dues, continuing education, and much, much more? "Fat" commission are often divided between as many as four parties - the listing broker and agent and the selling broker and agent, all of whom have separate business costs to pay for. And does any industry work without profit? Who's to say without viewing Realtors personal books who's really making a fat commission and who isn't? The NAR's own research suggests that most agents make modest livings.

The segment speaks for itself. Leiberman is yet another pundit who appears to speak with the authority of experience, especially when calling upon her own. She laughingly describes that her husband would call up their agent every morning and demand to know what she was doing for them.

Not many professionals would put up with that kind of treatment, but Leiberman's agent apparently did it with a smile. That makes her a better person - Realtor or not - than the Leibermans are apparently capable of appreciating.

Published: November 10, 2004

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.