Here is a link from an email I just received. The people writing at this website https://narscandal.com/ may or may not have something worthwhile to say. But there is pretty much nothing they will ever say that will get any applause from me. Why? Because they go WAY out of their way to hide who they are. Maybe it isn’t a “they” but only a “he” or a “she” – pretending to be a group of “concerned people”.
This isn’t a defense of NAR. It is saying loud and clear – don’t take potshots or engage in name calling if you want to keep yours hidden. Otherwise, you are just a covertly hostile weasel who can’t be trusted to tell the truth.
Nowhere on the site does it say who is writing any of it or who supports them. I have nothing but contempt for the sort of passive-aggressive person who puts up a site like this. You want to say something and be respected? Simple: don’t hide who you are or who you work for.
Greg Swann
March 20, 2010 at 8:40 pm
Damn straight. I had the same reaction.
Janice Bovee
March 20, 2010 at 9:54 pm
I’m with you Russell if you going to disagree and call someone out you need to stand up and identify yourself or else it’s BS.
Daniel Bates
March 20, 2010 at 9:54 pm
Looks like pretty good info to me. All large organizations need watching and I haven’t been a fan of the NAR since the day I joined. I typically hold back some of my opposition for the same reasons the webmaster(s) of this site are to, they don’t want to be banned from NAR. It’s the only organization where you’re basically forced to joined to participate in a trade and I still can’t figure out how that is legal. I’m opposed to about 95% of the political lobbying and poor budget decisions that they make, I hate to waste my money on them, but my brokers gotta pay either way. Aren’t local, state, and national dues a little redundant. I mean they all waste the money at one level or another.
Jay Thompson
March 20, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Agreed 100% Russell. Someone needs to man up and be willing to put a name to their claims.
Daniel said, “I typically hold back some of my opposition for the same reasons the webmaster(s) of this site are to, they don’t want to be banned from NAR”
Oh come on Daniel. Banned from the NAR for speaking your mind? Name *one* person that’s been “banned” for that. Just one.
This site’s webmasters and authors have hardly held back on their opinions.
Seen some of what I’ve written about the NAR? I wasn’t banned. Actually, I was invited to sit on a NAR committee, where I can offer my opinions and try to affect some change within the organization.
Duke Long
March 20, 2010 at 10:34 pm
Yawning….
Francces Flynn Thorsen
March 20, 2010 at 10:44 pm
I see big holes and question marks about many of the claims on this web site. I have a sense that lack of serious fact checking coupled with a highly personal agenda dictates the politics of this web site.
There is no scholarship and there is absolutely no journalistic integrity connected with any part of this web site. Imagine the irony of the site’s authors:
“Allow Us to be Your Guide
“We are also skilled at taking highly complex real estate technology topics and putting them into simple layman’s terms, so please allow us to be your guide on this journey into the future of real estate technology, as major decisions about our future are being made today and you need to be well informed in order to make the correct choices.”
Francces Flynn Thorsen
March 20, 2010 at 10:47 pm
Whoops, that comment got away from me before I was able to finish!
Imagine the irony of these social media guide wannabe’s … They don’t know what they are doing, exercise and model poor judgment … and they want to teach this to the rest of the real estate industry?
Give me a break!
I can hardly wait to see who finally emerges and fesses up to this mess.
Jim Duncan
March 20, 2010 at 10:55 pm
I feel actively disinterested by such a thing written by cowards who choose to hide their identities and try to charge for “hidden” insight.
Kristal Kraft
March 20, 2010 at 11:19 pm
And the scandal is?
Somebody better go tell Google that harvesting information is a bad thing.
This site is far from being a trusted authority on anything other than “what’s coming soon.”
Russell Shaw
March 21, 2010 at 12:11 am
To my knowledge no one has ever been “banned” from NAR for speaking up. Writers here and elsewhere routinely speak up about the NAR. They sign their names to what they write (or else get ignored).
I wasn’t defending the NAR. I was only pointing out that the people who put the site up are cowards and are therefore willing to lie. I don’t trust people like that.
Benjamin Bach
March 21, 2010 at 12:15 am
I agree Russell.
-anon
Joe Spake
March 21, 2010 at 12:53 am
I am in total agreement with your post, Russell. I have read 3 or 4 posts about this anonymous site. I wonder how many disgruntled Realtors have bitten on the subscription. I guess the potential audience of over 1 Million makes the creators feel the odds are in their favor for making some bucks.
Jacob Clayton
March 21, 2010 at 2:18 am
Interesting post, Russell. I hadn’t heard about that site and I totally agree with you. In general I think you get more respect when you just put what you believe in right out on the table and fight the good fight for it. What’s the point of hiding? If you can’t stand behind your own convictions how can you expect anyone else to stand with you?
And I think it’s probably very tough to get banned from NAR just for speaking your mind. They’re not that evil. I’ve spoken (sometimes quite loudly) my mind many times and I’ve found they have a pretty thick skin for disgruntled members. And some folks do actually listen, though they may not do much else. I joked that they would probably kick me out but of course they didn’t. Besides, they would want my money right?!
Jim Gatos
March 21, 2010 at 3:07 am
Totally agree too.. Your credibility is questionable or non existent if you hide .. The only case I can think of where a hidden identity had merit was “deep throat” during Watergate..
This isn’t Watergate.
Matthew Rathbun
March 21, 2010 at 7:35 am
I’m sooo behind…. The site was down before I could go read it. I couldn’t even find a cached version.
I liked Martin Luther’s approach… March up to Church doors and tack your “95 Thesis” right to the door with your name on it. Otherwise sit down and remain silent.
Who has the time to dedicate to building super-secret National Enquirer-ish webpage. Go sell something!
It does dawn on me that this may be one of those times when something that virtually no one would have cared about was given a huge visitor boost by AG and BHB writing about it. Just a thought… Any url or webname put on these two monster sites is going to get a huge Google boost. (I think)
Mike Woods
March 21, 2010 at 8:08 am
When I click the link I get this: Error establishing a database connection. Have they taken it down or is the link not working in the article above?
Joe Loomer
March 21, 2010 at 8:52 am
Same thing happened to me as Matt – and I agree anonymous bovine scatology is still B.S. unless you back it up and sign your name.
I do – however – want to see WHAT they wrote simply becuase of the phrase “RETS.” Our board is killing us here with having to pay for different RETS feeds to syndicate OUR own listings.
Navy Chief, Navy Pride
Francces Flynn Thorsen
March 21, 2010 at 9:28 am
The publishers claim there have been threats against them and they are protecting their families. They are weaving a web of intrigue with fanciful delusions of Woodward and Bernstein grandeur. They are even borrowing “Deep Throat” nomenclature. I have a very hard time taking any of this seriously:
“Due to the nature of the content we are presenting at NARscandal.com, there have been multiple threats against our personal safety. We take all threats seriously, and like many of you, we have loving families to support … So moving forward, we must proceed with caution each step along the way until each of these threats have been properly addressed and eliminated … Proper Authorities Notified … Of course, we have notified the proper authorities, so no worries. We will be moving forward with the NARscandal.com as planned … Moving Forward … When the situation arises and we can disclose our identities, we will. In the meantime, we thank you for your understanding and look forward to sharing our research with you.”
Laurie Manny
March 21, 2010 at 10:38 pm
Frances,
Somebody is going to have to explain to me how anonymous people have death threats against them. That means that somebody knows who they are and since nobody knows who THEY are then this is all a crock of crap designed to drive traffic and backlinks to the crock of crap site.
Benjamin Bach
March 21, 2010 at 9:35 am
“Who has the time to dedicate to building super-secret National Enquirer-ish webpage. Go sell something! ”
Bingo Matt!
Greg Cooper
March 21, 2010 at 10:02 am
I’m still puzzled as to what the point is. All that time and energy for anonymity? You want to have that discussion then have it. If anyone knows what the effects are of speaking one’s mind lately, well let’s just say I can identify with that. They just need to grow a pair and claim it…or make it go away.
BawldGuy
March 21, 2010 at 11:09 am
And their 15 minutes is now up.
Jim Gatos
March 21, 2010 at 12:40 pm
I try hard to ignore “anonymous” sources. Most anonymous sources reek of tabloid quality crap you can find on ANY supermarket checkout. There was a new agent that argued with me at the office a while ago about getting names and numbers when answering buyer inquires. She said (I’m not kidding) if a buyer doesn’t want to give out their name and number, it’s STILL okay to show them a house. I told her to “go ahead”, “put the theory to the test.” “Take a paper bag with you the next time that happens”, I told her, and ask the buyer to wear it over their head (with eye and mouth cutouts, of course), and they may as well call themselves “the unknown buyer”… So she went, showed a house to a buyer without asking for the name, and of course, the buyer never called her, nothing. It could have been a potential rapist, for all we know. So she wasted her time. Lately, I’ve even been reading of “hero worship” when it comes to anonymous actions. I disagree and think that in addition to being baseless, I for one would like to know WHO I am admiring. If I don’t know who it is, then I don’t “admire.” The person I admire doesn’t have to be perfect; (show me a perfect person, anyone?), but at least I’d like to know WHO they are.
Marilyn Wilson
March 21, 2010 at 3:17 pm
I think the best thing we can do is ignore them – anonymous sources that appear to be pretty misinformed after reading a few of the articles.
I do have to give them credit for being great social marketers – I received 5 phone calls from MLS execs before 10 am yesterday! Whoever they know how to reach an audience – doesn’t mean I’m going to listen anything they say however.
Jay Thompson
March 21, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Mike –
The site is down. They are claiming on Twiiter they are suffering from a DOS attack. I bet the next claim is the evil NAR is behind it all. Maybe it’s even George Bush’s fault.
They need to take off their tin foil hats and end the wild conspiracy theories before they look like complete fools.
Wait, it may be too late….
Jim Gatos
March 21, 2010 at 5:01 pm
They are back up now… Here we go again….
Harriman Real Estate
March 21, 2010 at 6:31 pm
Their domain registration info is private; however, they give a phone number of 360-449-5933, which a quick check online shows as being the cell phone number of one Talmar Ka in Vancouver, WA. Now, I’m not sure if this is actually someone in the company or just a techie in their hosting company, Pagely.com. A Google search for Talmar Ka brings up pretty much diddly.
Unfortunately, the aforementioned cell phone number also appears to belong to a Jemir Johnson:
Contact details
Contact person: Jemir Johnson
Company name: Creative Elamentz Studios
Company url: creativeelamentz.com/
Email: jjohnsatcreativeelamentz.com
Phone: 3604495933
Maybe they gave a fake phone number, too, although both the number and the company are based in Vancouver.
Fred Romano
March 21, 2010 at 6:33 pm
They have got to be jokin about charging for their content! LOL
Mike Bowler Sr.
March 21, 2010 at 7:31 pm
This has been an interesting read, comments and all. To bad they pulled their Blog it would have been good material for a “Desperate Bimbos” type show.
Jim Gatos
March 21, 2010 at 7:37 pm
Their blog is back up!
Ken Brand
March 21, 2010 at 8:25 pm
I could tell you who we are, but then I’d have to kill you? Give me a break, “threats on our lives?”
I say, along with the rest, “Stand Up, or, Shut UP!
Thomas A. B. Johnson
March 21, 2010 at 8:47 pm
A post and comments at Bloodhoundblog and here. They must be following the below mentioned
10 day Social Media Action Plan (free download)!
Jim Gatos
March 22, 2010 at 6:45 am
Maybe they saw THIS movie and that’s where they got the idea real estate agents are killers;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSjOijVKoRg
and, to add another thought. I am NOT an overly fond supporter of NAR; I think for all the good things they do they also botch a lot of stuff up. However, I am in total disgust of a group of folks who hide behind a website (mask, curtain, it’s all the same) and attack using their accusations and website. My eyes couldn’t even follow half their poop on their site.
My name is Jim Gatos of The Jim Gatos Group at Keller Williams Realty in Westborough, MA and I proud stand by what I just wrote.
Cathy Kurvers
March 22, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Not only do I agree with you, Russell, but I’m dumbfounded that they have the ___ to ask for money to read their stuff! And it ain’t cheap! Puhleez!
Linden Moe
August 11, 2010 at 2:29 pm
This argument is still prevelant in todays world. I do think that we still have to be concerned about these issues and putting our name to opposition.
Alwayg big shout out to russell for telling it like it is.