What is the one thing that stops homeowners from selling their homes on their own without using an agent? Access to buyers!

Agents have had a monopoly on buyers for the past twenty years. They have exclusive access to their local multiple listing services (MLS), and this allows them to control access to the majority of home buyers.

MLS organizations are private and are not governed by state or federal laws. It is up to each MLS organization to set their own rules for membership, access, and sharing of information.
This means your local MLS organization could decide to let homeowners list their homes directly, bypassing an agent. And they could decide to let buyers have direct access to homeowners with listings.

Why has this not happened yet?

Firstly, before the advent of the Internet sophisticated software was needed to view listings. It was just not practical to put this software in the hands of a potential home buyer, and it made complete sense to give this access to the buyers by means of an agent.

Secondly, it is safe to assume that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has put specific restrictions on their MLS partners, preventing them from opening their systems to the public.

Since the Internet has already eliminated the first consideration (the issue of software), it is just a matter of time before the first MLS decides to go beyond the NAR guidelines. There is just too much opportunity for money to be made, and money always wins out.

Currently home sale commissions average about 6%. The biggest reason homeowners list their homes is to get them posted on the local MLS. What if they could do the same by paying just half a percent directly to the MLS? The MLS would be making far more money from this half a percent than they would from an agent’s membership fees.

Whether the MLS works with agents or directly with the public, they are essentially doing the same thing: providing a common platform for home sellers and home buyers to meet.

For the past twenty years, agents have controlled this platform. But monopolies always fall apart when a better way is introduced—and with the Internet so widely available, a better way has already been sitting here, just waiting for the public to realize it. Inevitably, this will happen soon.

Homeowners are faced with very hard economic times right now. The real estate boom has officially ended in all 50 states. Selling a home has become a very difficult task, and paying 6% hurts a homeowner a lot more now than it did just a few years ago.

Homeowners are just waiting for someone to give them the solution they are looking for. Once the first MLS decides to give direct access to the public, you can be sure this will spread across the entire USA and Canada. And when that happens, the life of a real estate agent is going to be turned completely upside down.

Ironically I came to this conclusion as I was finishing my real estate book, and that is why I stopped writing it. I realized I was writing a book for an industry that would likely completely change from the way we know it.

Let’s look at some of the new roles that are likely to be created when MLS organizations begin working directly with the public.

A new niche is going to appear for marketers who specialize in preparing the best presentations for properties for sale. These people will work directly with the MLS to sell their services to the public. They will likely charge fees rather than a percentage. They will also work with the homeowner to create professional flyers, upload the best photos and videos, as well as spruce up their MLS listing for public viewing.

The MLS organizations will likely hire people to arrange and show listings. These people will work on the cheap—think of this in terms of your pizza delivery person becoming a property presenter.

Other new niches will likely be created for people who specialize solely in managing contracts, including handling buy/sell exchanges, as well as for closing specialists.

You can see how these changes will replace the real estate agent with people who charge less but do a better job as a result of specialization in their specific niche.

This is sad because it means the end of the careers of many agents. But with that end, new careers will begin, and this will ultimately benefit the public. And this is going to happen soon—so get ready and take advantage if you can!

Jeremiah Thompson

Giving customers what they want may not always get you their business.

Consider an example. You need your car fixed, and you plan to call three different repair shops. The first one comes back with a quote of $800 and tells you that you will have your car back in three days. OK, that’s it – you no longer want to go to the other repair shops because you are happy with the first garage. They quoted you promptly and promised a reasonable timeframe for the repairs. You reward them by giving them the business.

This story is how business is going to be won in the coming years. It is no longer about doing the best job. There is too much competition to pride yourself in just being the best. You also need to learn the value of working faster for your customers.

Imagine you are a real estate agent in Aspen, Colorado. You are just one of a thousand agents there. As an agent, you know how important the online community is for acquiring buyer and seller leads. So you do everything right – you build the best website, figure out how to get it ranked all the way up in the number one spot for “aspen real estate.” Now you are getting flooded with emails, which you check once a day, every morning.

Meanwhile, another agent in Aspen is also doing pretty well with his website. His site is ranked in the fourth position; he is not getting quite as many emails as you are, but he is getting more closings. His secret? Fast response time! He uses a Blackberry to receive emails and responds to customers within 5 minutes on average! How much do you think that impresses the person looking to buy or sell a home?

The California Association of Realtors has determined that the number one competitive edge for an agent is fast response time.

Imagine how great it will be when all you have to do to get business is raise your hand and say “I can do that.” If you can do this BEFORE someone else does, then you will get rewarded with the business more than 80% of the time.

So to start gaining more business, decide what you can do to improve your response time. What can you do to show customers that you can give them the fastest response?

Then implement these ideas so your customers will immediately see the difference!
Jeremiah Thompson

Can Facebook Save the Real Estate Market?

Daniel McGinn