Maxmsf flattered me into posting here, so it's his fault! 
For a long time now, I have had an interest in sustainable living. I have had some pretty far fetched ideas over the years. The weirdest thing is seeing some of the strangest ones become mainstream. I used to love the shock value of proclaiming my dream home to be a low income housing project made of straw. Now people just shrug and say "Oh, a mixed use straw bale building?"
It is nice that green building is becoming so socially acceptable. Being a Realtor has not. Twice this summer, our kids have drug us to the movie theater to see movies portray Realtors as bad wasteful characters.
The first one was Nancy Drew. I almost died laughing when the Realtor identified herself as Barbara. My mother/real estate partner is Barbara. The way the movie character says "Barbara Barbara of Barbara Realty" sounds strikingly similar to the way we say "www.barbaragrealtor.com".
The second one was Evan Almighty. This Realtor was excited to sell rediculously over sized houses on land that used to be pristine wilderness. The theme of the movie was green, and I thought fit perfectly with a point I want to make here.
Portrayal of Realtors as the bad guys is not entirely unfounded. These characters are funny because they hit a chord of truth. They are only interested in the hero of the story when they are buying or selling a house. If the hero is not buying or selling a house, the character is trying to talk them into buying or selling a house. The hero doing something financially unsound is cause for celebration with champagne for the Realtor.
Already I have been to meetings for Realtors counseling us to be pushy. On one level it makes sense because the industry is set up to only rewardc the Realtor for sales. I have been told many horror stories of Realtors investing a ton of money, time, and energy on someone who uses all their hard work only to turn around and give their friend's cousin the commission. Experienced angents learn not to invest their emotions in anyone until they are certain that person is committed to bring them money in the end.
Both Realtors portray the attitude of "consume, consume, consume" insteadd of "location, location, location". We laugh as the characters encourage the purchase of something the heroes do not need. Then they try to sell more of it. Run out of room? Tear down all the trees and make more so they can sell more!
There is definitely a housing shortage where I work and live here in the Silicon Valley. All the orchards and farmland have gone for great big boxes with no yards. Everyone loves to blame the builders for these monstrosities, but they would not build them if they were not constantly being bought. There is a demand for housing near all these jobs, and that demand needs to be met. Realtors have clients in need of a home, and those clients want a big home. Tear down and build big so we can sell them!
Meanwhile, the rental market here is rediculous. The cost of maintaining an apartment complex is more expensive than any rent income by tens of thousands of dollars each year. The only money to be made as a landlord is to purchase a complex, and sell it years later at such a higher cost that it makes up for all the losses while they owned it. So how do we as Realtors advise someone to make money in rental properties? Consume, consume, consume!
This can all be done sensibly though. The National Association of Realtors is the largest political action committee in the United States. The purpose of a PAC is to influence laws and lawmakers. Right now we influence real estate laws to be like that of a multi level marketing scheme. Simple changes in the structure we espouse would mean less money for the top of the pyramid, but a healthier relationship with our clients. Realtors should be independent contractors, or salaried employees of the broker. not an unbalanced combination of the two with legal ramifications for being too independent or too organized.
City ordinances disallow places to live to be combined with places to work. There is no such thing as an apartment above the bakery shop. The lady handing you a cruller in Silicon Valley had to commute from hundreds of miles away.
It is also illegal to rent out a room in your house. Granny units are highly regulated. An apartment above a garage is unheard of here. Would it not be nice if an elderly couple could charge rent that a school teacher could afford? This would prevent them from needing to commute to a job to supplement their pension, and keep our teachers from leaving to a place they can afford.
Most importantly, we need to demand smaller houses. I am not saying you need to give up the "American Dream", although for some people, a small ecological footprint is the dream. If the sace in our homes were used as efficiently as possible to maximize the use of the resources available, many homes could have the look and feel of the huge homes on the inside without the imposition of real estate on the outside. We do not need to reinvent the wheel here. Other countries have glamorized living small for centuries.
These are all sweeping general policy ideas that have very little to do with your personal efforts of making the home you have more green. I do not ask you to start any crusades for these causes unless your heart directs you to. I do ask that you keep these ideas in the back of your mind as you make purchasing decisions that influence public policy. When dreaming about your dream home, look for smaller inspirations. If housing policies are being examined in your area, speak up for allowing home businesses, granny units, and blended zoning.
When you run into a Realtor that fits those anti-green stereotypes, give them some understanding for their circumstances. Try to keep in mind that we are not all like that. Some of us are even actively trying to fight such behavior.
By rhuth at 2007-07-09
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