Creating a real estate version of (Product)RED

As real estate wealth has soared by trillions of dollars annually, the internet has made it possible for agents to realize unprecedented levels of success.  So maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that a lead story last week discussing the book Billion Dollar Agent, asked whether that sales threshold has become the real estate industry's new standard for success. 

Against that rising tide, other real estate innovators have chosen to compete on another measure of their success:  consumer savings.  In fact, a half a dozen who (like The Real Estate Cafe) have surpassed one million dollars in consumer savings were featured at a press conference hosted by the Consumer Federation of America in December 2006.

Could the industry's next measure of success be business models that help homebuyers and sellers save money AND save lives?  What it would take for the real estate industry as a whole or individual innovators to create a real estate version of (Product)RED, the highly visible fund raising campaign for the Global AIDS Fund?  Whether operating independently or from within that campaign, wouldn't donations from moneysaving or traditional real estate business models help (Product)RED turbo-charge it's mission?

To help seed that discussion and build some momentum, The Real Estate Cafe would like to invite billion dollar agents, alternative business models, as well as real estate consumers to begin brainstorming about how they can respond to the AIDS pandemic.  One possible response -- an annual, friendly fund raising campaign for AIDS orphans called "Million Dollar March" -- is described in an earlier blog post, "Building a Real Estate Philanthropy Dream, ASAP."  My hope is that real estate industry and millions of consumers will be inspired by the vision and passion Oprah's recent television special,"Building a Dream," to create and pursue their own philanthropic dreams.  Your ideas and examples of initiatives already underway are invited.