Whose job is it to set and uphold certain industry standards? Rob Hahn and Greg Robertson hash it out

“The No. 1 problem of the industry is that we have too many crappy agents,” Rob Hahn tells Vendor Alley’s Greg Robertson in the fourth episode of Listing Bits. “Bottom line, the problem is we have far too many people helping consumers buy and sell real estate who have no business helping people buy and sell real estate.”

So that’s the problem — what’s the solution? Robertson questions, who’s to say on paper, who’s going to be successful and who’s not? Who gets to be that panel?

Hahn lays out his take: Look to Realtors, and specifically, re-read the National Association of Realtors’ preamble to the Code of Ethics.

“Who gets to decide, to me, are Realtors. Not real estate agents, not licensees, not you and me but it’s Realtors,” Hahn says.

“[The preamble] an amazing piece of writing and if you read it, it makes it clear that to be a Realtor, to be a member of NAR, to say you subscribe to the Code of Ethics, it’s that higher calling.”

Hahn points to the preamble’s guidance to:

  • Go beyond ordinary commerce
  • Creating and maintaining communities
  • Civic duty
  • Zealously maintaining standards

Listen in to hear more on Robertson’s invisible hand counterpoint: “Why does NAR, the government, or anyone else need to step in and say — we need to regulate?” he says.