The National Association of Realtors is considering a rule that could severely limit the amount of information potential home buyers would be able to find on the Internet. This is such a bad idea that--as a potential home buyer--I want to complain about it myself.
At issue is how much access potential home buyers should have to the information contained in the Multiple Listing Service (aka MLS) databases of homes for sale. At one time, only real estate agents could access these databases. These days much of the information is available to all on the Internet. But some in the real estate industry want to change this--for the worse, at least as far as home buyers are concerned.
I UNDERSTAND that realtors must be wringing their hands in worry--"Look what happened to the travel agents!" But I also wonder why the real estate industry should be exempted from the democratization of information that has changed so many other industries, from healthcare to finance.
It's not like we won't still need people to help us with the intricacies of real estate transactions. That's precisely what we do need: deal makers. What we don't need is for real estate people to be gatekeepers of information.
Attention realtors: If your livelihood relies on your exclusive access to listing information, then you should be concerned about your future.
I'm thinking about this because I'm in the process of searching for a home. I've been using--you guessed it--the Internet to narrow down my choices. In the midst of this process, I came across a story in USA Today that described the realtors' Internet angst.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) says Multiple Listing Services are "broker-to-broker" tools that were never intended for use by customers. So the NAR is considering a rule that would allow brokers to withhold listings from Web sites that make the information available to folks like you and me.
THIS IS swimming against the tide--and NAR members (who call themselves "realtors" to separate themselves from mere "agents") should know it.
While I'm absolutely convinced that the Internet will continue to change the real estate industry, I'm equally certain that good agents have nothing to fear from it. Thanks to the Internet, buyers can do much of the legwork online, dramatically reducing the number of homes they must actually trample through before they find the right one.
Rather than limiting the information that's available online, the National Association of Realtors should be working to improve the quality of sites that provide access to Multiple Listing Service information.
One of the agents I've been working with (Barbara Abbott in Santa Rosa, in case you, like me, are looking for property north of San Francisco), uses the Internet extensively and says the Net has made home searches much more efficient.
Sonoma County, where Barbara works, has excellent Internet-based MLS access. I've been able to look at literally every home that's for sale in the neighborhoods and price range I care about. If you want to see this in action, visit HomeSeekers.com or GreatHomes.org, and you'll be able to see the same properties I've been looking at.
These listings generally have enough pictures and information for me to either add the house to my "must-see" list or discard it entirely. In probably 15 hours of driving around, I've been able to develop a real feel for the different neighborhoods I'm interested in and for the houses in them.
NOT ALL areas are so blessed, however. For other parts of the country, online MLS services aren't updated frequently enough, and the listings have neither the pictures nor the extensive details I've been enjoying.
It's not just Internet users who are hurt by this. Real estate agents in their offices rely on the same information--or suffer from its lack. How someone expects to sell a home without a picture and full description astounds me.
Furthermore, why would I want to reward a seller's agent who's too lazy to make his client's home easy for someone to consider buying? Those people deserve to go out of business, and their customers deserve better representation.
If I were a member of the National Association of Realtors, I'd be pushing for a different rule, one that would require all listings to be posted online, complete with multiple photos, a floor plan, and full descriptions.
If that happened, we might soon be able to shop for real estate entirely online, rather than in the newspapers and those free magazines that seem to be handed out everywhere. The subsequent savings on advertising could help reduce transaction costs.
BUT IF I CAN find houses on my own, what am I paying a real estate agent for? Experience.
I know nothing about the market, don't know pricing history, and can't tell a house that is likely to hold value in a down market from one that won't. I also know nothing about soil problems or about which builders have a track record of building quality into their homes. And I lack a practiced eye for finding all the potential problems that could turn a dream home into a nightmare.
That's what I'm looking for in a buyer's representative--and why I won't mind paying the commission. And I haven't even talked about all the pitfalls of the purchase itself, all the paperwork that needs to be filed, and all the potential for small savings that can turn into big money.
No, I don't think the Internet threatens the real estate business--it just threatens people who aren't very good at it. Everyone else will adjust to a marketplace in which real estate agents are hired for their expertise at handling transactions, rather than because they have the only lists of homes for sale.
This transition will happen with or without the National Association of Realtors. But it will be easier if realtors don't decide to swim against the tide of change. We'll find out how progressive the group is when the vote is taken next month at its national convention.
Presented for your information & protection by:
Jay West
From the U.S./Canada: 011 52 (624) 147-7479
While in Cabo: 044 (624) 147-7479
