The Republican primary in the state of Michigan was held this past January and the way that the two leading candidates approached this primary provides a fascinating primer on how real estate will fare in the next few years, depending on our reaction to the systemic changes that confront us.

In the 1995 movie, The American President, there is a scene where President Andrew Shepherd, played by Michael Douglas, is in a heated discussion with his domestic policy advisor, Lewis Rothschild, played by Michael J. Fox, about the President's falling poll numbers.

In this scene Rothschild pleads: "People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand."

To which President Shepherd responds: "People don't drink the sand because they're thirsty, Lewis. They drink the sand because they don't know the difference."

There is a program available which gives the "availability" of fee for services, but goes, I believe, a whole lot further. It's the ACRE® program for Accredited Consultant in Real Estate. Since the program is designed around a "consulting" model where the seller has options with what services they want and how they want to pay for them, and the agent has the opportunity to get compensated for time and expertise, whether a transaction ensues or not, it offers a real win/win. And there is no need to sell a prospect on anything. All it is meant to be is an option...an option that gives us "transparency" in how we are being paid and does not require that the seller take an "all or nothing" package.

Mollie, Merv and Paula will attend the Inman News "Real Estate Connect" conference in San Francisco July 30th through August 3rd.

The Inman conferences are the premier networking, information, and technology conferences for the real estate industry.

Executive-level real estate professionals, opinion leaders, technology giants, industry experts, and press gather each year at Connect Conferences to discuss a broad cross-section of traditional and cutting-edge topics critical to the real estate industry, opening the door to a wealth of opportunities for business development, information and idea exchange, discussion and debate.

First, let's start with the basic premise - I agree with them that there is a cost of obtaining business. Whether you do old-fashioned farming, mailings, phone calls, or put your resources into your client base and get your business from referrals, business has to come from somewhere and it has a monetary cost.

Zillow is now offering a "great deal" to agents: you can post your listings for FREE! What great exposure, and how kind of Zillow to offer such a wonderful service to agents without taking a dime-what a nice company!