NAEBA
| 
Our NAEBA Scrapbook
This is a short scrapbook about Merrill’s involvement with NAEBA, The National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents
Our company was incorporated as an exclusive buyers agency in 1991. NAEBA was formed in 1995 at a meeting in Memphis, to which all of the then-known practitioners of exclusive buyer representation were invited, Merrill among them.
At that meeting, he was elected as its first Treasurer, and served in that capacity for three years, also serving on the Board of Directors. He was then elected as NAEBA's fourth president, and served on the Board of Directors of NAEBA for its first 12 years.
Most of this little scrapbook contains images of his service as president. Merrill claims great satisfactions for his service within NAEBA.
The first 4 years were tumultuous as NAEBA felt its way to maturity, and included intensive debate about its mission, purpose and direction.
During this time, it developed the very significant "Standards for Practice," and developed a consumer referral program still in effect today at www.NAEBA.org.
Regarding NAEBA's Purpose and Direction:
Today, NAEBA has achieved a high level of maturity in that mission, purposes and methods have all been pretty much defined...and general membership is largely united in promoting those objectives, but it wasn't always so.
Merrill remembered the first 4 years of NAEBA's existence as contentious as the "Standards of Practice", requirements for membership and the organization's purpose were all being debated. During Merrill’s year, a great Board of Directors was active, and a process for getting these difficult decisions was set in place, after which the association finally had the opportunity to “get to work”. Merrill admits he learned a great deal from this experience, with big differences emerging between operating a small business and managing a new, nationwide association of idealists.
Before Merrill's installation as president, he found the following quotations, which became rallying points for the membership.
He felt they contributed greatly to understanding the processes going on, and the necessity to come together on major issues.
They are quoted here, important, he feels in all organizations, including even small business. .
Chesley: “More than one splendid idea has been launched to accomplish a great good only to wind up as an institution more interested in maintaining its routine or procedure rather than in spreading its splendid idea.”
Dale Dauten: “I't almost impossible for an organization grappling with acute internalization to accomplish its own mission.
African Proverb: “If you want go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
(Organizations can't move as fast as individuals.)
Regarding Merrill's Involvement as member, officer and especially as President:
As a rallying motto used by Merrill during his year as president, Merrill chose:
“A Revolution in the Way America Buys its Homes!”
That itself created what he felt was an opportunity for a bit of fun and dram, so when announced for his
installation speech at a meeting in San Diego, he entered the meeting in George Washington's dress uniform. A total surprise to everyone except the Association Manager, Kathleen Chiras, it created a big buzz at the meeting, (but the really hot wig had to be shed early in the evening.)
At that meeting and others, buttons that said, "Call me George!" or "Call Me Georgette" were passed out and used at all meetings throughout the year. (Just this summer, one member returned a couple of buttons to Merrill, suggesting they should become valuable mementos? Merrill wondered if fifteen cents is “valuable”?)
And at the conclusion of his year's term, in Orlando, he gave "Minuteman Awards" as keepsakes to all he considered deserving in reconciling major issues and defining NAEBA's mission....almost forty, as he remembers. Here, he's presenting it to Sue Weinstein, then of New York, who chaired the important Referral System Committee.
Merrill feels it was a watershed year...the huge majority of good members wanted contentious issues settled, and he claims the support and leadership of the best group of directors imaginable. 
Here, at the conclusion of his term, Merrill is having fun with Rich Machado, Massachusetts, the incoming president of NAEBA.
Despite the often-contentious circumstances, Merrill claims he really enjoyed the total experience.
Here are few notes on the subject:
And here's a quote from Merrill that was often used by other members...here from the current website of a friend from California: "We're a lucky bunch; we earn a decent living from a splendid idea...virtually a "Service Without Shadows", where we empower others to enjoy wiser homebuying. In a world where it's tough to be a pioneer, we're in a position to make a significant difference in the lives of those we serve, in the American institution of home ownership and in a major nation-wide profession. It's truly a high-road!"
An email from the first president, Leo Berard, at the conclusion of Merrill’s presidency:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(Buyer Brokers of Cape Cod Berard Associates)
Sender: naeba
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Reply to:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
To:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Merrill: You were definitely "the man" for this past year. Your hands on leadership, vision, energy, and team building skills helped us successfully move forward. We are very appreciative and most thankful to you and your great BOD and Headquarters staff. Best regards, Leo Berard Thanks! "
From Doug Labor, NAEBA member in Colorado, member and associate on the Board of Directors:
"I have had the fortunate opportunity to work with Merrill when serving on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents. I very much enjoyed working with Merrill and his great balance of professionalism & business savvy combined with his uncanny humor. I always looked forward to serving with Merrill, and hope to soon do it again."
Other Comments Regarding the Experience:
During this peri
od, Merrill claims that all of the members engaged in a huge amount of sharing of ideas and information. All were eager to hear of the experiences of others, and these sessions, often a couple of days long, contributed greatly to the generally accepted standards and methods of practice, and even to our own success. It simply had not been practiced before as a specialty.
The practice of exclusive buyer representation was (and is) generally considered as requiring a totally different mindset and a totally different set of skills and marketing tools. Merrill states that all of the early members were greatly sustained by this blending and sharing of experiences, including our own practice.
And especially during that period, but continuing to this day, our national acquaintances and friends are numerous. Merrill states the friendships are deep, after having shared the launching of this major national movement.
Along the way, especially in the early years, the association was benefitted by the
support of many consumer advocacy groups, such as the Consumer Federation of America and Common Cause. Ralph Nader made an appearance in support during Merrill’s presidency. And there were many others.
He also claims NAEBA members to be a "special breed". He felt they were and are extremely principled...intending the highest possible road in serving clients...idealists in a real way. He's also noted that many come from outside the profession of real estate brokerage, not "growing up" in the business and its accepted business practices, but rather hoping to recreate their personal involvements at the highest plane, carrying the highest sense of ethics. Many of these "outsiders" come form the legal profession, where the Common Law of Agency still requires that legal firms, (not just individual lawyers,) serve only one side of any issue involving two parties….our principle.
And during this period, Merrill became acquainted with many national real estate writers and columnists, relationships existing until this day. While several still interview him, Ellen James Martin, the author of "Smart Moves" is especially currently active. In other places on this web site we also suggest "Googling" Ottwein and Ellen Martin" to pull up the resulting columns. (Unfortunately, no St. Louis paper carries her column, but they are printed in most US cities.
Merrill also believes that NAEBA has very much influenced the advancement of buyer representation nationally. Until its advent, most state laws required that fiduciary duties of agents all went to the seller. Agents relating to buyers were called "sub agents" and so still legally owed their fiduciary duties to the seller....a fact not widely known by buyers. In fact, most buyers felt that the agents that they used were serving their interests when in fact they were not. A watershed survey by the Federal Trade Commission in 1983, found that 83% of buyers indeed held that opinion, but still thought they were being represented.
When NAEBA came upon the scene, helping immensely to popularize Buyer Representation, buyers for the first time were offered a choice, and after this national "Duh!" moment, all buyers choose representation when given the informed choice.
The response of the real estate profession is recited elsewhere (Company Blogs....Dual Agency) but has generally been limited to the creation of “Designated Buyer Agents”, agents that almost always still carry listings, and that are still in agencies that carry listings. It’s a step in the right direction, and definitely opens the possibility of in-depth conversations on the subject with buyers.
And all states permit the practice of "Exclusive Buyer Representation", while not requiring it, and the profession has come to generally agree with NAEBA's definition. One state along the way however, Oklahoma, in 2000 or so, actually tried to outlaw it, but was thoroughly rebuffed by that state's Supreme Court, as blatantly anti-consumer, 'Why would a state outlaw a service at a higher level than the law minimally requires?", was their paraphrased opinion.
We and all other NAEBA members obviously believe in the “Exclusive” variety of buyer representation. NAEBA alone requires that not only the agent, but the agency itself takes no listings and never serves sellers. This site is filled with the reasoning.
Today NAEBA is thriving, with 5 times the membership of those early years, and well rooted nationwide. It still has a thriving referral program, and is credited with holding to the highest standards of buyer representation. It’s credited with triggering the change in legal and professional attitudes on the whole subject of buyer representation.
The general web site is NAEBA.org.