FTC declares websites public property

[dably]

There are plenty of Realtors that are worth their weight in gold , heck, the average savings I've calculated to my buyers is around $10k per property compared to their last agent, due to the fact I know how to negotiate with banks.

If Realtors are useless, then 80% of buyers and sellers wouldn't use them.

And FYI , the last INDEPENDANT poll said that around 85% of people who have bought/sold homes themselves wish they would have used a Realtor due to all the legal issues involved with selling a house.

At a minimum , every person who buys or sells a home should have a lawyer involved. This added with the fact that there's about a 10% loss to sellers who sell without a realtor and a 5% loss to buyers who buy without one ,it's sort of a losing scenario.

I know how to get properties financed in my area, most of the time when I present a financing option/idea to a buyer, even with their hours of online research (And mind you, most buyers I deal with anymore spend about 50 hours online reading about real estate and the related stuff) they still haven't read online what I provide to em.

The national association of realtors has spent MILLIONS of dollars on developing the MLS , I'm sure you guys know that in the early 70s many MLS systems were utilizing electronic faxes to send B&W photos of homes to relocation companies across the US.

Doing a MLS system up untill very recently has been expensive and time consuming, anymore it seems to be a issue of having a good server and enough willing people to do it. I've seen PLENTY of local attempts to copy the local realtor-only MLS systems, and they've all failed misserably.

The problem is that the vast majority of Realtors aren't worth anything and the ones that are really valuable to their clients will continue just fine in a post monopoly market. Negotiating for REO properties is different than the typical transaction where the buyer finds the neighborhood and house they want online and the real estate agent is simply a glorified secretary.

The reason sellers that sell without a Realtor get less money is because of anti competitive practices like discriminating against discount brokers and preventing FSBO from being listed in MLS. While buyers agents should be appalled that their clients are getting less access to properties that may suit their needs it is not in the agents best interest to show properties that have lower commissions attached to them.

A real estate attorney (with fiduciary responsibility) would serve most buyers/sellers better than a typical Realtor.

 

[schockergd]

Most MLS systems anymore will allow FSBOs to list as long as they go with a discount/flat fee agency (Which charge them the same costs as it is for every agent to get into the MLS)

A real estate attourney doesn't always know common practices in the area they operate either.

 

[guerilla]

Thread title is extremely misleading.

I'm curious what you think the FTC telling a website what content it must publish is, if it isn't a takeover of websites in the public interest? That is exactly where the FTC derives its power to act. It claims to act in the public interest.

You should contact the FTC and tell them to regulate WF. Someone has posted a misleading thread title. Boohoo. Next thing you know, someone will post diseased tits with the boobs icon. Do it for the children Karl.

 

[kblessinggr]

I'm curious what you think the FTC telling a website what content it must publish is, if it isn't a takeover of websites in the public interest? That is exactly where the FTC derives its power to act. It claims to act in the public interest.

You should contact the FTC and tell them to regulate WF. Someone has posted a misleading thread title. Boohoo. Next thing you know, someone will post diseased tits with the boobs icon. Do it for the children Karl.

I'm just simply saying, the title of the thread isn't what the article is about, they didn't declare all websites public domain.

 

[johu]

I'm curious what you think the FTC telling a website what content it must publish is, if it isn't a takeover of websites in the public interest? That is exactly where the FTC derives its power to act. It claims to act in the public interest.

It's an issue of collusion under the Sherman anti-trust act. From the FTC's site in 2007 (initial charges):

The Realcomp Complaint

According to the October 2006 administrative complaint, Realcomp had engaged in anticompetitive conduct in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act. Specifically, the complaint alleged that Realcomp engaged in anticompetitive conduct by prohibiting information on Exclusive Agency (EA) Listings and other forms of nontraditional listings from being transmitted from the multiple listing service (MLS) it maintains to public real estate Web sites. The complaint further alleged that the conduct was collusive and exclusionary, because in agreeing to keep non-traditional listings off the MLS or from public Web sites, the brokers enacting the rules were, in effect, agreeing among themselves to limit the manner in which they compete with one another, and withholding valuable benefits of the MLS from real estate brokers who did not go along.

So basically, the Realtors allowed the listings on the MLS, but didn't release that information to public websites pulling that MLS information. More from the initial complaint

Realcomp has adopted policies that limit the publication and marketing of certain properties, based on the terms of the listing contract entered into between a real estate broker and the customer who wishes to sell a property. The policies limit the publication of information about such properties on popular internet real estate web sites, and make it more difficult for brokers to search for such listings on the Realcomp MLS. These policies discriminate against certain kinds of lawful contracts between listing real estate brokers and their customers, and lack any pro-competitive justification. These rules constitute an anticompetitive concerted refusal to deal except on specified terms with respect to key inputs for the provision of residential real estate brokerage services, and violate the antitrust laws.

In adopting the policies and engaging in the acts and practices described herein, Realcomp has combined or conspired with its members or others, or acted as a combination or conspiracy of its members or others, to restrain trade in the provision of residential real estate brokerage services within Southeastern Michigan and/or the Realcomp Service Area.

The policies, acts, practices, and combinations or conspiracies described herein constitute unfair methods of competition in or affecting interstate commerce in violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45.

Seems like a fairly standard unfair market competition/collusion case to me, and not an attempt to "socialize" anything.

 

[Sonny Forelli]

re: realtors

I happily bought my house via Redfin, and got a tax free check for ~$20k. I'll take that over someone with 'my interests' in mind who would've kindly taken that money.

 

[spinkick-pro]

MARKET TRANSPARENCY

Due to how prevalent real estate is online, it's turned everyone into their own 'I'm better than a Realtor' type.

What you need to understand is , I've worked with a few dozen people who have read all the articles, and did everything imaginable to try and be their own agent, and I've seen it cost them a great deal of money.

Let's take these scenario :

Buyer is buying a property in a rural area on 10/1/2009,and wants to use a USDA loan on the property , and utilize the first-time homebuyer tax credit as well as she wants to use her attorney to write all contracts. What's the problem with this?

Buyer has been looking for a property for a while, and finds one in a part of town they like, and decides to put an offer on it, how much do they offer for the property?

Furthermore , real estate is a VERY local phenomenon , which requires you do know a good deal of information about your local area. Who pays for title insurance ,appraisals, warranties, inspections, termite inspections , ect.

Are termite inspections required to buy a house 30 years old?
What kind of mortgages assignable by default?
Is the homeowner required to leave you a garage door opener when they sell the property?

In addition to this, most people have to end up dealing with local contractors/inspectors and the like, so how does one determine which one is the best? I've had people pay 3 times the average amount for a home inspector who didn't note major structural faults, all because they decided they'd use Google to find a inspector instead of reading over the list we had given them of some of the top rated inspectors in the area.

I am NOT saying that someone can't learn how real estate works and do it themselves, however, after spending time and calculating it out , I would say that a person would have to spend a minimum of 400 hours of education to learn enough to get on par with what a decent real estate agent is. In my area, the average sales commission is $4,000 ,which would mean you've made about $10 per hour of effort spent, if you go out and do it yourself, not including a attorney fee, which is about $1,000 in my area (Lowering you to about a $3000 savings, or $7.50/hr , which is 5 cents more per hour than wal-mart pays to start out with).

Yes this is exactly what a realtor should be doing. But are they all that really knowledgeable? They say every market is different. I believe the same goes for realtors. Some are knowledgeable, some are out selling snake oil.

Lets face it, after what has happened most find it hard to trust a realtor.

I believe what the FTC has done is a good thing. I think it has to do with market transparency. If this is truly a free market then transparency is a must. The MLS database is a good one, it is accurate. It is the home buyers right to be able to see ALL the homes available on the market.

I could see how a realtor knowing info that the buyer doesn't know, could be a disadvantage for the buyer. I've seen where realtors round up the sheeple onto to these foreclosure bus tours then show them homes. Some people like them and begin their bid. So now you have a bid war between buyers driving up the price. When in fact there could be another foreclosure down the street that wasn't showed for whatever reason that has no bids that the buyer didn't know about. You can manipulate the market price simply by withholding info.

Luckily realtors came along because they make AM and auto salesmen look like Mother Teresa. :2twocents:

 

[dead@27]

Cleft notes please, cleft notes!