Looking to see if there are any brokers who would want to be involved in and provide input for the development of a new professional membership organization for real estate.

This would involve being part of a secure online broker roundtable to brainstorm, present ideas and give feedback.

The new organization would be a 501(c)3 non-profit designed to improve the value proposition of professionals to consumers. It would be member owned and managed. A seperate for-profit venture subsidiary is possible.

If interested in participating please let me know. Tks.

Why a new membership organization? ... read on.

Industry Outlook

Many are chasing ad revenue as more and more home shoppers go online. Major web portals such as Yahoo, Google and AOL all now have their own real estate divisions.... not to mention Zillow. They want to capture the consumer "upstream" in a real estate transaction so that they can sell ads to companies that seek to influence buyer/seller decisions early.

Banks, mortgage companies, title companies, software companies, etc. are all going after the real estate industry because there is money to be made. Technology is allowing some of them to earn large fees from the ability to sell leads back to you. Many times this is done using property information you placed in local real estate publication. You've seen commissions erode with the national average rate dropping from 6% to 4.9%.

It may not seem like it now, but our industry has reached a critical juncture. These companies will continue to capitalize on our information and make inroads into the real estate business until consumers are given better choices.

Consider these transactions of note:

• CitiVenture Group Purchase of parent of The Real Estate Book for $380MM
• Scripps aquires uswitch.com for $366MM in cash
• Classified Ventures purchase of Homegain.com for $105MM in 2005
• Apollo Groups proposed purchase of Realogy Realogy.com
• Ebay's purchase of a 25% interest in Craigslist.com
• Ebay's purchase of Rent.com
• ServiceMaster agrees to $4.7 Billion Buyout
• Dominion Enterprises purchases Advanced Access
• Dominion Enterprises purchases eNeighborhoods
• Lucero Summit bought out by First American Title
• ActiveRain takes investment from HouseValues.com

Articles worth reading:

• The Conspiracy To Put You Out Of Business, Feb, 17 2007 (pdf)
• Comments from CEO of MOVE, Inc, May 19, 2006
• Why LendingTree is Becoming a Broker - Realty Times
• Nine Pillars of the Citadel - MLS Report
• Homes For Sale Now Listed on Zillow
• Paying Less For Real Estate Brokerage: What Can Make It Happen

no takers? that's surprising considering what's happening with media conglomerates and the like snapping up companies... and the DOJ issue.

I agree the lead companies just want money from the agents-brokers.

Personally I have too much on my plate at this time to consider such a venture and being a one man brokerage it's not really my focus as I don't want to add a bunch of agents.

good luck though it sounds like an interesting idea

broker -- I'm failing to understand what you are trying to do that is new/different.

Consider:

CRB (Certified Real Estate Brokerage Managers -- NAR affiliate) - provides education and meetings on topics like this.

Most franchises provide forums & tools to tackle topics like this. I just attended our national convention and we had 4 days of business development tools, training and discussion.

And, I am unsure of the percieved threat. Sure. Some significant companies are involved in real estate media and technology. But, those aren't the "lead generation" entities. Most of those are fairly small. Greedy. But small.

The interlopers have been there for nearly a decade. Most agents & brokers know they are virtually useless. The real problem is getting our agents to have the good sense to avoid them.

One thing I appreciate with my franchise is that they have negotiated deals with GOOGLE, YAHOO, ZILLOW, FRONTDOOR, TRULIA, etc. In each, we maintain control of our data.

Steve,

You need to take a harder look at what is going on.

The threat is very real and most consumers share a very dim view of this profession. The only reason that many of them use agents is because of the control they have over the MLS. If they could figure a way to market and sell their home with less hassle and at a lower cost... they'd do it. These are facts.

Of the 5 companies that you mentioned, 3 are public, one will go public and one might go public. It would take very little for them to flip a switch and become brokers and siphon away a great deal of money from traditional firms via referrals. I know of one company that is working toward this now. Look where the industry was 5 years ago and where it is today... then look 5 years ahead. With rapid dwindling equity there is going to be a call for change in how the industry operates at all levels.

The NAR is too big, too bloated and too screwed up to fix the mess that it has gotten us into. There is nothing that says there can not be an alternative organization to them... (not replace them but an alternative) which also represents the interests of ALL brokers and agents... not just "Realtors". And a new organization can learn from history and create great benefits for professionals.

You should also know that many of the companies that serve the industry are themselves trying to think of ways to eliminate agents from the picture... or cut into their commissions. This is an absolute fact - and the terms that they use for agents can't be shared in public. Suffice it to say they have a very low view of agents.

So the roundtable is for those who want to explore an alternative that is 100% net positive for agents and brokers and which gives them a greater voice in what happens to their own future... rather then having it being dicated by large established companies that currently control the system.

if the fsbo would reduce the price of their home to a saleable price for pricing it realistically and then taking off say around 6% or so they would sell. fact is that they dont get the exposure and most are overpriced. a lot of the fsbo's truly believe that the agent would have them give their home away and refuse to pay a commission. the fact that someone tells them that their home is not worth what they know it is worth makes them dislike agents. i cant tell you the last time that i gave a seller a recommendation for a list price that was higher than what they thought it was worth. that is a pretty big reason why some dont like us. another reason could be because a seller has cashed out on the equity of their home and watches the agent walk with more money than they walk away from the table, while not realizing that they had more money but spent it already. there are a number of reasons why people dont like us and i think the main one is the difference of opinion on the worth of their home and not taking into consideration the reality that the agent does not set the price the market does. if i told you that your home was worth 25k less than you thought, i am sure that you would not like me very much. the funny thing is that you hear all of this bad mouthing from sellers. buyers dont badmouth agents as much due to the fact that they dont feel like they are loosing money by working with an agent.

it comes down to dollars and cents(common sense)

people are always trying to cut people out of deals in every business and do things on their own to save a buck. if it were that easy, people would already be doing it. selling houses is a full time job and to find others trying to REINVENT THE GAME is normal. iggyhouse, save 6, help-u-sell, assist2sell are all trying to change the way that things are done. they have a place in the market but as a whole they wont change the way things work.

nar has been around and grown over a long time. for a company to come in and change things overnight would take nothing short of a miracle. i dont think that wasting my time with making a new wheel when there is one rolling already is a smart move for my business

nothing is going to get changed overnight... can't happen... and that is not what I am suggesting. I don't think it's just pricing differences that make consumers hate agents so... there is more to it.

"i dont think that wasting my time with making a new wheel when there is one rolling already is a smart move for my business"

what if that wheel gets a flat? and there's no spare....

"what if that wheel gets a flat? and there's no spare...."

i will agree with you that it is dangerous to have no spare.

the fact that it would take the co-operation of so many people to "overtake" the nar is the roadblock that would make the whole idea a waste of time. getting 10 people to agree on something is hard to do let alone we have 59000+ agents in my state and i could not see enough of them "moving" to make a difference.

the negative i see is that there would have to be a new mls because the mls that i belong to has the requirement that one must be a realtor to be a member. so now you are talking a new mls plus getting enough subscriptions to make it work and if people are on one and not the other it hurts the consumer as far as exposure of their home and it hurts the agent who might have to pay for multiple mls

You are misunderstanding the concept. Not looking to overtake the NAR. The NAR is of considerable value to the industry... to a great extent.

What I am envisioning is another membership organization that is owned and run by it's members. If it comes up with solutions to address the challenges facing the industry that the NAR can't do because of the NAR's size and politics... then so be it. If it's members decide that it provides more value to them then the NAR... then so be it. This is the nature of change and competition.

Is there value in the eyes of the consumer to see that their agent belongs to more then one professional organization?

broker -- I think you are seriously overreaching.

Third-party intruders have been around for awhile. The only power they have is if we sign up for their silly services. If we don't, they die (and, they should).

The percieved threat from corporations involved in real estate has been argued since the days of Met Life (20+ years ago). I'm part of the Realogy family. I appreciate the massive strength the provide my brokerage. I can even send Richard Smith, the CEO, a message and get a response. Alex Perillo, the head of the Real Estate Franchise Group (CENTURY 21, COLDWELL BANKER, ERA, SOTHERBY'S and, soon, BETTER HOMES & GARDENS) is a great fellow. I spoke with him briefly at our national convention and will be with him in two weeks at the Cartus (relocation) conference. Tom Kunz, the President of Century 21 Real Estate LLC communicates with me personally two or three times a week. I'm glad to be able to tap the vast power, tools and sheer resources of the Realogy family.

The argument that the broker/agent model is collapsing is almost silly. The percent of FSBOs has declined the past few years by over a third. The rise of the Internet continues to reward those who embrace the web aggressively.

The problems with customers are failures/gaps in service. They've always been there --- always will be. The only key is whether or not they apply to your own service.

As to NAR, I think you fail to understand what they are and what they do. It is a member organization. It does what our representatives vote to do. If there is a disagreement in direction, hammer on your national directors. Better yet, run yourself.

NAR is a powerful lobbying force. One of the single strongest. Even the might banks have not been able to run over us.

It is a credit to our profession. Is it perfect? No. But, no such organization will ever do what you want.

I still think the best organization for brokers that want to build their business is CRB. The classes are very good. The web site and forums are superb. It is a NAR affiliate and every broker should work towards membership.

Here is one:
http://www.nareb.com/

Staggart,

I don't think I'm over reaching. Who is arguing that the broker/agent model is collapsing? Not me. But don't think that there aren't people out there right now trying to make it so.

I am well aware of what the NAR does and does not do. Reread my comments please and you will see that I am not anti-NAR (to a point)

What about agents and brokers who don't want to be part of the NAR because of the high dues and buy-in fees... how do they get to participate in the CRB?

Why so much negativity for something concieved to benefit its members and the profession?

sounds like another fee that agents would have to pay.

broker -- The high cost is not NAR. It is your state and local association. Get on your board and make a difference.

I just went off my mls board. I made the motion to reduce monthly dues from $38 to $25 and we distributed back to our associations enough to cut the annual dues in each association $150 a year.

I believe one of the largest private equity investment firm owns Realogy which happens to own many of today's real estate companies. Realogy is a fine organization.

I fail to see the difference between a large equity firm owning a lot of existing companies and those taking stock in innovations.

A year ago The Tribune Co. acquired http://www.Forsalebyowner.com for an undisclosed figure. Considering the domain name alone was sold for $832,000 ( a year earlier ) the total price must have been considerably higher.

I think we can find fault inside any organization. The advantage with a free market is that over-time the good business models last.

Based on the responses it doesn't appear there is much support for such a group. Looking at the proposal, responses and the rebuttal to the responses I must say that I am less than convinced of the idea myself.

Here's my view:

The responses to this proposal have been made by many who are used to the way things operate and perceive everything as being fine right now. I've tried to layout what is happening and some understand and some don't... which is fine.

Not until it affects you or hits you square between the eyes does action take place - kind of like the subprime thing going on now. A good analogy for what is occuring in the industry (IMHO) would be a fishing trauler casting a wide net and slowly reeling in the catch... and once the fish get to the surface and hit the air they slowly die... doesn't matter if you are a whale or a guppie. That is what is happening to a great extent in this industry... and many don't see it. "Our system is unbreakable" they say... the "NAR" will protect us they say... "we own the listing data" they say... but here's the thing: It is not about what agents and brokers want - it's what consumers want.. and they could care less about agents and brokers feelings. The very companies that serve you want to put you out of business because they can still serve the consumer who ultimately is the end customer.

I think the time is right for something new... as some others do, and they have joined the roundtable. More are welcome to.
I think it is beneficial to the profession to have more then one entity representing it's interests... especially when the established trade group is under attack.

What's funny is that people who operate outside the industry see what's happening while those immeresed in it on a daily business don't.

One last point for consideration: if the MLS opens up to anyone... where will that leave your business. Don't argue that it can't happen... just consider where your business will be.

one of hte many reasons why forsalebyowner.com does not work is that there is not an agent there with a license on the line responsible for keeping thier properties updated. i have used sites like that for leads in the past and the number of homes listed with an agent or not for sale anymore and that does them no good. lets face it. they have made tehir money before the sale so they have no vested interest in actually selling the homes.

Broker, you've made some interesting points that remind me of a recent training I held. A lot of agents in the industry have years of experience to show but that is exactly the problem. TOO MUCH EXPERIENCE with inefficiency creates disonance. However, there is already plenty of new business models on the market. Each is backed by equity investors of its own. Additionally, each new business model defines innovation and change differently. The free market is testing them as we speak. Current marketplace, tight lending and slow sales will force the industry to change. Which "change" will the marketplace accept?

Estatereal, forsalebyowner.com does in fact hold a real estate license in California. That subsidiary refers customers to flat fee brokers throughout the U.S.

You are correct that virtually every fsbo site contains outdated listings. A lack of inventory couples with outdated listings produce confusion.

o.k. -- based on information gathered through the broker roundtable, the structure and format for a new organization has been translated into a test website for descriptive purposes.

Looking for a few agency owners to provide their feedback on what there is so far. I will send info via private message to those interested. tks.