Leave it to Belton Jennings, CEO of the Orlando Regional Realtor Association (ORRA) to take this bull by the horns -- helping agents defend their value (translation: their commissions.)
With increasing competition from new and wide-ranging business models that are joining MLSs, traditional brokers are finding it more and more challenging to explain the differences between their business models. To consumers, the bottom line is commissions, not service.
Jennings' belief is that if consumers can understand what Realtors do for their keep, then they can make more informed decisions about whether to hire a full-service broker, discount broker, or whatever business model suits their needs.
The point is: a real estate transaction is too important to try to handle by yourself.
ORRA has designed and launched a campaign to that effect called, "Don't It Yourself," supported by a humorous website replete with awful do-it-yourself ideas that are sure to end in disaster -- from installing your own hair plugs to performing your own lasik surgery.
Supporting the website is a moving truck -- a 1970s Ford Ranchero piled ridiculously high with furniture and knick knacks that's designed to be it's own cautionary tale. It's available to ORRA members for meetings and events.
"Part of the campaign is to educate the audience with facts, and we realize getting their attention is the first step," says ORRA CEO Belton Jennings, APR, CAE, CIPS, RCE. "This isn't an anti-do-it-yourself campaign. It's just that some things are too important to do on your own."
The moral, of course, is that one should engage a professional Realtor when buying and selling a home.
As you merrily scroll along, you'll hit a true nugget of gold that is beyond the simplistic lesson of the website: a unique list called The Critical Role of the Realtor in the Real Estate Transacation that outlines an astonishing 180 jobs that a Realtor performs as a professional.
While the association cautions that this list is colloquial in nature, it's good enough to benefit any Realtor in the country who wants to use it. Just ask permission first.
Now why would an association take on the responsibility of explaining to the public what a Realtor's value is?
Explains ORRA spokesperson Kevin Fritz, "This list was actually done about two years ago. We came up with it when there was a larger contingent of industry professionals who were not happy about part-time and discount brokerages. It was discussed at a membership meeting and Belton took it upon himself to say 'I will write up (with the executive committee) a list of all the things you do as a full service transaction broker. That's how the list was prepared."
He continues, "There are about 184 steps in a transaction, there could be some less and some more, but these are every possible step a normal transaction could have. Since that time, we published it on the 'members only' part of our website so the members could access it, download it and print and use it in listing presentations to help them explain why they were charging the rates they do and why they aren't discounting the rate and what they do for the commission."
Has a list this comprehensive ever been brought to the public before? "We did it for the members," says Fritz, "and if we're going to do this, we are going to let consumers know what a Realtor's role is in a transaction.
What about members with other business models? "We show what full service does and in the document it clearly says depending on the transaction some steps may or may not be needed," says Fritz, "they reflect the attention to detail required in today's real estate transaction. It really doesn't say this is a promotion of full service real estate."
Now that's association dollars at work.
(Editor's note: "The Critical Role of the Realtor in the Real Estate Transaction" is copyrighted. To ask permission to use/modify the list for your own association, brokerage or personal use, please contact Kevin Fritz at ORRA, via 
