Gaps in Consumer Knowledge This section of the report puts forth gaps in consumer knowledge that "may result in real estate brokerage markets functioning less efficiently." These include and are ... Read More

The Governor of Tennessee has signed a bill reinstating a ban on cash rebates in real estate transactions. This was at the urging of the Tennessee Association of Realtors®. ... Read More

The Internet's Effect on the Real Estate Industry The report states that the internet has placed more information into the hands of consumers and has "facilitated the growth of nontraditional business ... Read More

We don't want to become a job advertisement site, though our forum will work fine for that. However, this came from an interesting phone call, and it's not often, ... Read More

One of the criteria that agents use to select a broker is training. Granted, they're usually only thinking about marketing training, but the nuts & bolts stuff is also ... Read More

Increased Consumer Access to Information A good portion of this section describes the IDX (Internet Data Exchange) display of listings, as well as pointing out deficiencies in it: IDX has limited information ... Read More

Though reality TV is supposed to be "real", most of us realize that some creative latitude is OK to juice it up a bit. But A & E's Flip ... Read More

Nontraditional Business Models - FSBO Websites and Broker Referral Networks No surprises in the FSBO web site paragraphs. It's a basic description of services offered by FSBO sites and other ... Read More

One problem with the battling going on between alternative models and "full service" real estate brokerages is that "full service" isn't a defined basket of goods. In fairness, it's ... Read More

Nontraditional Business Models - Virtual Office Website Brokers Continuing the report with the description of nontraditional business models, the VOW, or Virtual Office Website, is discussed. The report states: ... Read More

Nontraditional Business Models - Fee-For-Service Brokers The explanation of "fee-for-service" is pretty straight forward here, with this quote summarizing it well: "Fee-for-service brokers offer home sellers the option to purchase ... Read More

Section C - Nontraditional Business Models: Full Service Discount Brokers In Section C, the DOJ/FTC report describes alternative nontraditional real estate brokerage business models. The first is the "Full ... Read More

The importance of the MLS Still in Section B of the DOJ/FTC report on competion in the real estate brokerage industry, the importance of the MLS is stated emphatically. The ... Read More

The MLS- First Hint of Controversy Section B of the background portion of the report deals with the explanation of the MLS and its purpose. Again, a credible ... Read More

It's about competition. The report begins with a section on background of the real estate brokerage industry. Section A provides an overview of the "typical" real estate transaction. ... Read More

The title of this post is also the title of a report issued in April 2007 by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. The 78 page ... Read More

Whether selling or buying, knowing how long home components last can help you to get a feel for upcoming repair and replacement expenses. To our rescue comes the National ... Read More

I'm not sure what to say about this new financial widget. It seems that there's a company that will hand over money for your equity with no interest and ... Read More

In trying to comment more on the 60 Minutes TV show, NAR and Redfin, it just couldn't be done in a blog post or two....or even a dozen I think. ... Read More

The CBS 60 Minutes show on Sunday evening has caused quite an uproar in our industry. NAR has issued a response with a breakdown of "misinformation" on the show. Of ... Read More

Bank of America has announced "No Fee Mortgage Plus" nationally. This mortgage program eliminates most of the customary fees, and can save thousands of dollars on a typical home ... Read More

There's a new link in the Essentials box on the left. There are four courses there now and many more to come. These are email delivery courses designed to efficiently ... Read More

There is a growing group of REALTORS® that do not believe NAR has done a good job with the licensing of the REALTOR® trademark and the evolution of Realtor.com®. ... Read More