February 10, 2007

Real estate clerks suck. The NAR sucks. The MLS sucks. Google rocks. Zillow rocks. Fix this already!

Say it with me real estate clerks:

Dis
In
Ter
Me
Di
A
Tion

Disintermediation.

Disintermediation.

Home shoppers do their hunting online

Already, 80% of buyers used the Internet to help find a home, according to the National Association of Realtors. Day by day, new real estate tools are surfacing on the Web.
Technology is shifting knowledge and power to buyers and sellers.

In doing so, it's loosening Realtors' long-standing control of vital information and cutting into their sales commissions. For more than 100 years, Realtors have guarded the details of homes for sale via their multiple listing services. At least 900 regional MLS systems exist nationwide. Unless the MLS systems become more open, unified and technologically sophisticated, they risk being replaced by a Web search engine.

"The Internet is a significant threat to Realtors, who in previous decades have had iron-grip control over all necessary information for those seeking to buy or sell a home," says Stuart Gabriel of the University of Southern California's Lusk Center for Real Estate.

Signs of upheaval in the industry were evident by late 2005, when the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors. Justice wants the Realtors to stop letting brokers withhold for-sale listings from low-cost Internet rivals.

The Realtors' policy is on hold. But Brian McDonald, a deputy assistant attorney general for the antitrust division, says the policy's restrictions still exert "a chilling effect in the market" because some companies won't risk introducing new Internet business strategies if they could be undercut in the future.

The Justice Department, meantime, is moving forward with its antitrust case against the NAR. The Realtors are fighting back. They argue that the broker should control the information about the seller's home and decide how to share that information and with whom.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

When the dust settles from this housing bubble bursting and many good people find themselves in tough financial situations it’ll be clear that no one was more responsible then the NAR and the REIC industry.
Yes easy lending helped, yes we are all ultimatly responsible for our decisions, but who was the ‘push’r man’ that would do and say anything to keep prices over inflated for an easy fat commission.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps this bubble / bust had to take place to naturally break up the Realtor monopoly
Even though painful to some.
In the end, the business of buying and selling properties may be just like shopping for furniture, groceries, contractors, cars etc. and allow for healthy market competition.

Anonymous said...

I can't wait for the parasites of the NAR to be disintermediated.

Anonymous said...

Hey I got me a great idear.

I'm gonna take my home equity and run.

Son of a bitch I with I thought of this a year ago.

Anonymous said...

Well. In summary the technical shift is here.

Its easy, cheap and practical to list your home on line.

Everybody is posting pictures on line. An on line ad (verse print) costs about zero to maintain.

And you can look up comps and sales numbers as well.

Realtors are toast... just be a few years before they are all back to working at McDs...

stuckinthecity said...

The only thing the MLS is good for is the "Time on the Market" number. That is it.

Anonymous said...

I thought the evil Bush crooks were on the payroll of the REIC? Why would they file an anti-trust lawsuit against NAR? this doesn't make sense

Frank R said...

New "free falling" song about the Phoenix market, it's hilarious:

http://www.azcentral.com/phpAPP/multimedia/flash.php?path=rtmp://azcentral.com/ent/azr/0210cole_r','mediaplayer','toolbar=no,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,width=300,height=300'

Anonymous said...

as usual, any time i find obstructed access to the mls listings that include price and location, i find double the minimums and prices that seem not to go, at sale to the sellers, and prices to the buyers, and it feels like im being front ran again, id not deal with any of those people

Anonymous said...

I was just reading an article on the MLS & NAR in Reader's Digest. (last month's I think)

It was most unflattering to Realtors and the monopoly that they have on the MLS, as well as pointing out some political crap they've pulled and how they've blackballed sellers and discount brokers.

I have a feeling that having an article in Reader's Digest is about the print equivalent of being on Oprah. There are a LOT of people who won't watch MSNBC or other financial MSM, that will be talking with their friends and family about the RD article.

It sucks that as someone who wants to buy some houses and invest for good old fashion cash flow in a few months that I'll need to get license and join the NAR & local board to get my "key to the executive washroom."

It might be exclusive in the MLS, but I'll be the company still stinks.

BTW: Is joining the NAR out of necessity the same as "sleeping with the enemy?!?!?!"

Anonymous said...

A more open system would be of real benefit to everyone...I do not foresee the end of real estate appraisers or sales people,particularly buyers agents.many people lack the time and the skillsets to evaluate and negotiate the purchase or sale of property.the internet will make a huge difference,however it has taken me a couple of years of study to come up with decent information sources,and appropriate fudge factors...most people can't or won't take the time or make the effort.

Anonymous said...

--"The role of the agent, which for years was mainly to bring together buyers and sellers, increasingly is "to help clients with all of the paperwork,""

Yeah, and once the paperwork is on the internet and as easy as buying a dell computer, the role of the agent will be to "mainly" go get me a goddamn coke for my fries -biach. And maybe I'll even give the a tip. They'll probably need it.

Anonymous said...

Why legally the Realtors could stop cheaper real estate outfits from selling real estate is beyond me .
The more information that the public has about a real estate market the better it is.

I use to see realtors take advantage of people by only showing them the comps that they wanted to show them . Because real estate is such a big purchase ,people need all the help they can get to make a correct decision .

During the great housing boom of (2000-2005), the realtors just went to far this time with the help of the sub-prime lenders .

Realtors should not be able to withhold market information and price fix commissions .

I'm still waiting for the lawsuits to come out that will nail the NAR on false advertising .

All this foul play that has been going on regarding the great housing boom will result in to much regulation in the future .

Anonymous said...

There are lots of different kinds of cars that meet different needs, provide different features, and have different prices. 70% of the car the buying decision is based on .....


,,,,



,,,,


color.

This is human nature.

Do you really think data, reason, criteria, needs will be outweigh Buffy the reator who can drive you there in her SUV and use the word 'darling' twice in a single sentence?

Anonymous said...

Just a matter of time till 95% of houses are sold by auction online. Invest in EBAY!

Anonymous said...

a buddy of mine made 300-400k/year over the last 5 as a realtor. he's still doing well.

but he hardly works. he manages his clients' emotions well and guides them through to closing. perhaps some people will always need their hand held as they walk through the biggest financial decision of their lives.

Paul E. Math said...

Some friends of mine are house-shopping and were telling me about it last night. Having had arguments about the real estate market in the past I no longer give my opinion - they are using a buyers agent. I asked them about having access to the MLS and conducting their own search. They said they do that but it's great to have a buyers agent the agent gets access to good homes that are priced right before they hit the MLS. The agent told them of a home like that which recently sold in under a week, before it even was published on the MLS.

A. That sounds like a convenient realtor lie.

B. Perhaps it's true and just one more example of how realtors scam and connive to weasel out a dishonest living.

Anonymous said...

used car salesmen

Anonymous said...

Anon said:
Used car salesman.
++++
Distinction between a used car salesman and a realtor
Is that a used car salesman is the ‘owner’ of the majority of the vehicles he’s attempting to sell this allows for true price negotiation, because only the ‘owner’ knows how much he paid / owes or is wiling to lose on a particular car.
When you negotiate price with a middleman ‘realtor’ do you think the realtor will go back to the owner and argue your case even if they are a ‘buyers agent’?
The only incentive a realtor has is the ’commission’
Therefore the higher the price the higher the realtor cut.

A seller can at times be willing to give up a property for what he owes the bank,
Many times the schedule / timing is more important than making a profit to a seller.
However, the Realtor would do its best to keep the price as high as possible in their own interest, making it a lose-lose deal.

Anonymous said...

FSBO.

Anonymous said...

Here's the link to the Reader's Digest Article about REALTORS...

It's in the monthly section called:

That's OUTRAGEOUS!!!
Title: Real Estate Ripoff

http://www.rd.com/content/openContent.do?contentId=32832

Enjoy (unless you are a REALTOR)

Anonymous said...

That article is exactly true. Realtors routinely boycott the discount realtors' listings. I have some buddies who are realtors and the talk about it all the time.

Also, very few realtors will suggest price-reductions because they frequently own homes in the neighborhood and don't want the bad comp!

Anonymous said...

I have been working on a new Real Estate portal for Southern California for the last year. We are launching in January. To help assist agents, I wanted our system (which at its core is about good media) to work with the local MLS systems.

But they don't do that kind of thing. Not only could we not share listings with them automatically, they wouldn't let us do the maunal input for our member agents who had logins and passwords. In fact, some of them have introduced little security dongles that agents need to even log in...its crazy. In light of all this, we are going to do everything we can to bypass and undermine them.

The fact that they are tied in with keyboxes and other attempts to dig in won't help. It's all over for them...it's just a matter of time. We can do it better, faster, and with a lot less hassle.