Carbon Footprint - Reduce It -- Use Locally Owned Real Estate Resources

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Ever thought that using a 100% locally owned brokerage could help reduce your carbon footprint? 

Well...it can...think about it for a minute...

Note & Disclaimer: This post is not meant to bash regional, national or international real estate brokerages.  I have worked for all them in the past before I started my own, independent, 100% locally owned real estate brokerage serving the Greater Cleveland, Ohio real estate market.

Let's compare some differences between using a real estate company that conducts business either internationally, nationally or regionally.  Here are a few examples of how your hard-earned equity in your home, when you, as the seller, pay commission to both the listing broker and the buyer broker, your dollars will flow out of your local community (thereby increasing your carbon footprint) and help to increase your carbon footprint as well as help to benefit other communities financially, as the expense of your own:

• Corporate & Regional Headquarters.  A real estate company that is truly international (some of the big franchise companies fall into this category).  The corporate headquarters will be a brick and mortar operation with tons of staff members in the executive offices, accounting, payroll, legal, advertising, management, information technology, relocation, administrative, building and grounds maintenance, facilities, marketing, communications, and the like.  All of this requires the purchase of materials, paying of salaries, consumption of energy -- both for employees to commute to the headquarters as well as the building and itself.
• Salary and benefits.  A large real estate company that has tons of staff (see previous bullet) will pay salaries to these individuals.  Bonuses to the executives and management, benefits to the staff, workers compensation, etc.
• Energy Consumption.  Think of the amount of travel, coordination, communication, industry events, conferences, retreats, various vendor relationships, etc. that occurs.  Airlines, jet fuel, rental cars, gasoline, hotels, and the like.  Staff travel to and from work.  Is this inherently bad?  Absolutely not, that is simply commerce.  That said, many recognize today that there is a need to reduce our carbon footprint, and this sense of urgency will only heighten over time.  Doubt this statement?  Then view this video called Shift Happens and then answer the question.
• I could keep listing bullets here, but this isn't meant to be a think-tank white paper.

What are some of the benefits of using a 100% locally-owned real estate brokerage:

• Reduced Carbon Footprint.  It should be easy to see from the previous section in how reduced energy consumption will occur.
• More Dollars Stay Local in the Community.  If a significant part of seller's commission isn't leaving their local community to pay for everything described above, and these dollars stay local, doesn't that in turn make for financially stronger communities?  Think about it: Would you rather having more dollars flowing into your community or out of it?
• Local Communities -- Vibrant, Less Stress.  If more dollars stay locally, then chances are, more dollars will be spent locally.  Since we are a consumer-based economy (70% on average), having more dollars from local residents to spend locally would seem to be a very desirable goal.
• More Local Expertise.  If more business was done by local real estate brokerages, expertise would be retained locally.  With the Internet being a true leveling mechanism, it's easy to have a truly global presence using local expertise.
• More Dollars for Agents.  A locally-owned real estate brokerage can offer their agents a higher and much better commission split as the monstrous overhead doesn't exist.  Who benefits from this: consumers, as costs can be driven down if there is less overhead; agents, as there isn't as much overhead to support; owners, as they develop a larger, local presence.

Think about it some more.   Almost all agents are local anyway, right?  There are very few agents that have even a state-wide focus (some REOs, discount brokers, etc.) and I'm not knocking them, or anyone, including regional/national/international real estate brokerages.  But, as more of our global planet comes online, countries develop, and the population is expected to double over the next 50 years, the previous ways of doing business will have to change, unless we can all adapt to a depleted energy availability and 120 degree temperates at the rate of growth that is expected, even at conservative estimates.

With the advent of the Internet, I as a small brokerage, the exposure that my sellers homes can always rival my huge competitors, and oftentimes, out perform them in exposure and results.  Why?  Innovation and technology.  Most real estate brokerages aren't podcasting their seller's home to iTunes or hiring professional photographers, etc., to showcase their sellers homes.  It's the individual agent that brings the real value to the table - experience, knowledge, transactions, results, etc.

The same concept holds true to other areas of real estate: from mortgage and title/escrow companies, to everything else.  It even applies to farmers market, locally-produced food/produce vendors and the like.

This is not to say that locally-owned is inherently better by definition, it is not.  Like any informed consumer, must one search out great companies, individuals, businesses.  That said, there are locally-owned businesses that can easily, more cost-effectively and reliably fill the need, no matter what industry is needed.  I have sought out locally-owned businesses for a long-time now, and apart from the some of the tangible and obvious benefits, it's heartwarming to get to know someone who actually makes or produces something that then becomes a part of our lives.

While this is not to cast anyone or any corporate entity in a negative light, we as a society, need to continue to innovate, bring new ideas to market, and discard old ways that no longer make sense in today's society.

This may sound like the pot calling the kettle black as I am a small (by design), 100% locally owned real estate brokerage, but I even felt this way when I worked for large, regional, national and international real estate brokerages.

Our individual decisions, together, can have a powerful impact.  After all, change starts at the bottom, not the top.

Content copyrighted by Chris Olsen and protected by CopyScape.

Date: Monday, March, 23rd 2009 @ 06:43:10 PM
Views: 102

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