All day yesterday I kept coming back to one sentence: “I am receiving rave reviews from members everywhere about our Public Awareness Campaign.”

Again and again I asked myself if I could be that out of touch with what the general public thinks. (We’ll set aside the views of most agents for a minute or two for reasons I’ll explain below.)

Do they really look at advertisements proclaiming “this is a great time to sell or buy,” smile from ear to ear and yell, “Hell yeah it is!” Does the notorious kid on a swing really sway someone’s buying decision? Do most people listen to the advertisements telling them they ought to use a REALTOR and nod in agreement?

UPDATED: In a later e-mail exchange with Dick Gaylord, NAR’s incoming president, he discussed his reasons why it’s a great time to buy. I don’t disagree with his reasoning and I’m intelligent enough to understand there’s an unstated “assuming your circumstances are such that purchasing makes sense” at the end of the great time to buy. But I think that the logical, unstated portion of the message often goes unnoticed completely. (END OF UPDATE)

Take the last question first. Being a REALTOR would mean more if it were optional. In some places it is. Not so in Phoenix, where it’s compulsory unless you want to try and make a living without MLS access. And I wish you look with that. Makes me think of The Incredibles: “When everyone’s super, no one will be.” Well, when everyone in a market is a REALTOR, that title loses all meaning.

This is a local phenomenon. Not all boards own the local MLS. In Seattle, for example, the brokerages own the MLS and it’s up to each agent to decide whether they want to be a REALTOR. It’s not a de facto requirement of doing business. Not so here in Phoenix.

As for the print ads, I spend much of my time seeing these roundly mocked by the public and fellow agents alike. Of course, the vast majority of this mocking takes place on the Internet. Could that be the explanation? Bubble blogs are text cases in schaudenfrude (some as quickly approaching a trip off the deep end in the interest of anarchy) and any opportunity to rip the profession seems to earn double points at Wendy’s.

But what about the blogs written by us real estate professionals? We make up a very, very small percentage of REALTORS. Most of us write because of our desire to educate and we see in many of our peers a greater understanding of the markets and the public. Most of us eschew (if not mock) traditional marketing in favor of the Internet, Real Estate 2.0, etc. But are we necessarily right?

There’s a growing chasm between those on the web and those who are not. Before it was more a distinction of those trying to capture web leads and those who felt the Internet was a fad. With the growth of blogging, however, the underlying conversation has led to those who believe in the conversation and those who just don’t get it and don’t feel the need to take the time to learn it.

Maybe those who just don’t get it are more likely to be in favor of NAR’s Public Awareness Campaign. I think this is because they haven’t taken the time to see of what the campaign really consists. Not four weeks ago I listened to my peers in my office (and in another) complain that the Arizona Association of REALTORS wasn’t doing enough to counter the negative publicity we receive as real estate professionals. For them, paying an extra $30 for what they believe to be a counter-attack likely is worthwhile.

For me, though, it’s not a question of countering the negativity. Everything I have seen over the past couple of years, particularly the laughable monthly pronouncements from chief economists Lereah and Yun, convinces me that the negativity is the counter-attack to the blatant spin and Pollyannaism coming from NAR headquarters.

UPDATE TWO: Given Mr. Gaylord’s graciousness today, I feel compelled to point out the obvious - that this is not an indictment of everyone at NAR, or even anyone in particular (well, except maybe of Lereah and Yun) but rather of the organization as an entity onto itself.  (END UPDATE TWO)

What I read online tells me this is the case. Maybe that’s too small a sample and I’m not getting a representative picture of the market. I can’t be certain but I remain confident.

Put another way, would the perception of our industry really be worse than that of your average used car salesman if the public awareness campaign was working? Or put a third way, does the euphoria that many buyers experience when they buy a house or even come to the realization that they’re in position to buy come to the surface because of a certain ad campaign or rather because they feel in their bones what it means to own their own home?

Either NAR or I is out of touch with the general public. I think I know the answer. Maybe I’m wrong. I’d rather not have to spend $30 to be proven right, though.

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