Apparently that agent is clueless as to how Handshake works.
As many appear to be. And it's not a hard concept to grasp.
I've been blocked by people for the following:
"Blocking agent does not participate in Handshake" -- this despite the fact that they had approved over 650 other agents and had several pages of Handshake listings on their sites.
"Not in selling area" -- this from an agent whose office is 15 minutes from my home -- by foot!
I used to send people an email when they blocked me, trying to explain how handshake works and why they might want to reconsider their block. I never got a single response (well, unless you count the two that put me on their drip emails). Now I just don't worry about the people that block me and I figure that's just one less agent to compete with for business.
On your Point 2 Office page click on the "Read More" and then scroll down to "Why Block" There is a thread there with more than 30 responses on this topic. Maybe that will help.
I block rentals i won’t bother with the ones blocking me i just believe that it’s good to spot knuckle heads in the beginning so I block all who blocked me immediately I state the same reasons they stated when blocking me so they should have the same rating they made me
I've noticed that some agents include in the description: their personal telephone numbers; others include their website address and one even put her picture. Of course above the description it says that if you include personal information you may be blocked but they do it anyhow. I've written to some collegues pointing this out and they have corrected it. I've also had others block me because I'm not in their selling area but they probably have no clue of what a referral fee is for. I guess we'll have to be patient and hope they will learn to expand their horizons.
I have blocked several agents due to the fact it is too many. Most of the agents did not have any lisitngs. I am not being mean, to me it takes alot of time to go through 600 or so handshakes.
When I have more time I will go through and look at each handshake, but right it was to many and kinda overwelming for me.
Blocking is counterproductive. The more Point2 sites with which you can handshake, the more exposure your listings will receive and the more cooperative listings you will be able to display. I automatically approve everyone and "screen" for quality of leads generated when the leads call me. Handshake is one of the most powerful and grossly misunderstood features of Point2 because it is wonderfully disruptive to the "old school" unsophisticated practice of containment. Again, it is an extremely powerful (and passive) lead- and $-generator! Point2 ROCKS!
It is amazing to me that so many block others. It is as if they think it will keep the listings private so they can earn both sides of a commission. These are the folks who very seldom make it. In real estate moving property as quickly as possible is the name of the game. Networking is Key to a great real estate career. Network , Network Network or fail. As a broker sharing information with everyone is the only way to grow your agents. If I know All the answers and don't share.....agents may fail and it is my fault. So the lesson should be handshake, get to know your fellow realtors , referrals, sales , network and succeed.
I block for several reasons, most obviously, agent contact info in the listing. Next, poor and incomplete listings, very few pictures. My page is called "featured listings" and I want to feature nice, rich listings with lots of pictures, that is what internet house hunters are looking for. It's all about how you want to be perceived by visitors to your website.
It is true that many in the point2 system don't understand the value of handshake, one of our agencies blocks everyone but other agents listings from their office. I guess they don't want to "advertise" that other agencies exist :)
I am not sure where everyone comes from, but in Ontario Canada our rules and regulations won't allow us to advertise other brokers listings without written permission from the Seller. Because the "Handshake" is a form of advertising and because most listings only provide for the Listing Broker to advertise a property for sale, we can only handshake those members from our own companies. If anyone does differently, they can find themselves in big trouble from RECO, our self-governing body.
Yes, board rules are the number one reason for my blocks I wish I could add more
If other listing agreements are similar to that of the Florida Association of Realtors, the listing agreement provides automatic tacit approval from the seller for cooperative marketing via idx or other media and requires the seller to actively refuse that marketing feature. Therefore, unless the seller has opted (in the listing agreement) to restrict marketing, the broker is authorized to market the property cooperatively.
Blocking is counterproductive, is often rooted in pompous self-righteousness, does not serve the seller's best interests, and is based on fear instead of upon courage and innovation.
We have been blocked by other agents for the reason that we have too many listings. We have alot of land listings, and some of them are smaller parcels. Agents have told us that they don't want their clients to have to scroll through all our smaller listings to get to the nicer homes. Apparently they only want high end clients.
That is their choice, it doesn't really matter to us. Sometimes our bread and butter are on the smaller listings. A client commented last week on how much work I was putting into their purchase of a piece of land with a commission probably less than my mortgage. I told them we service everyone the same from a ten thousand dollar property to a ten million dollar one!
We still show listings of people who block us. The more listings on our site, the better.
Or Barry, it could be based not on fear or pompus self rightousness but rather on law. I really wish this conversation could be split between those that are allowed by their governing laws and those that are not because I am starting to find the attitudes and comments offensive.
Last I checked we were free to make our own choices (so I have been told) I guess that does include the choice to be judgemental. We really should keep it professional and remember that every individual has the right to run their own business (and website) in the way they see fit within the law.
Never Assume.....It's good to see this discussion but it's also important to keep our minds and ears open on this topic. We are located in Baja California, Mexico and participate in very few handshakes. Our main reason for this is that because the laws are so different here in Mexico, not all realtors or brokers are selling land/homes that are legitimate legally. We do not sell property that is on leased land, it's just something we don't deal with...others do and that is fine, but we don't deal with anything having to do with leased land.
I agree there are numerous benefits for participating in handshakes, but let's also remember that are legitimate reasons to decline. We explain that to all who offer a handshake, they are welcome to show their clients any of our listings appearing on our website.
I'm sure it's also true that there are some out there who simply view the handshake as "competition". I don't think people need to justify their decision to participate or not. The only requirement here is accepting the pro's and con's of their decision.
Barry says, "Blocking is counterproductive, is often rooted in pompous self-righteousness, does not serve the seller's best interests, and is based on fear instead of upon courage and innovation."
HUH? We are putting our best foot forward and marketing ourselves and our listings through our websites and courage and innovation have nothing to do with marketing let alone pompous self-righteousness, what ever that means.
If we choose to not have shoddy listings presented on our websites in exchange for our sellers winding up on just a few less websites, have we really hurt them, the internet is vast and the few poorly presented websites that I choose to block are likely not widely visited because of their lack of meaningful content.
It's all about content.