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Even though Inman News published these excerpts from letters to the editor as an "Opinion," those arguing that 'Discount brokerages cost consumers money' could have strengthen their case by substantiating them with research or credible third parties. Without denying the validity of individual experiences and perspectives, here's what the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice's says about the benefits of using discount real estate brokerages, both buyer and seller oriented business models, on the section of their web site dedicated to Competition in Real Estate: Discount Brokers Can Make Selling a Home Less Costly http://tinyurl.com/69wpjg Consumers Can Save Thousands of Dollars in Commissions http://tinyurl.com/64joh5 Rebates Make Buying a Home Less Expensive http://tinyurl.com/66nver Rebate calculator http://tinyurl.com/6fxgeo Here's an example of savings we've negotiated for our own buyer clients: http://tinyurl.com/4wlxeu Any fellow fee-for-service consults, rebate providers, discount listing services, and FSBO sites want to collaborate on a nationwide map of consumer savings? Mapping rebates alone could create a nationwide epidemic of "rebate envy." Can't substantiate that with research -- yet. It's just my opinion. Bill Wendel The Real Estate Cafe Serving a menu of money-saving services for "do-it-yourself" homebuyers & FSBOs since 1995 617-661-4046 realestatecafe@gmail.com http://realestatecafe.com

Stefan, Thanks for the follow-up. Others have used the $30 billion figure more recently, see: Real estate fees inflated by $30 billion Article criticizes industry's commission structure By Glenn Roberts Jr., Inman News, October 11, 2006. http://tinyurl.com/69b9bs With respect to divorcing the traditional two-sided real estate commission, here are some ideas starters on our wiki: http://tinyurl.com/2fw5uf Plus quick slide show from 2006 (needs update, too): http://tinyurl.com/6gqlbr Can't wait to experiment with vendors creating ways to aggregate and search buyer profiles, particularly anyone developing a business model which does not restrict access to MLS members. We've been doing some experimentation ourselves, advertising buyers on Zillow, posting buyer profiles on Twitter. Need a way to automatically update and search this raw list of buyer profiles (working draft includes many duplicates): http://tinyurl.com/5scwka Look forward to reading your report and glad to correspond with anyone privately re: divorcing commissions and / or database of buyers. Bill Wendel The Real Estate Cafe Serving a menu of money-saving services for "do-it-yourself" homebuyers & FSBOs since 1995 617-661-4046 realestatecafe@gmail.com http://realestatecafe.com

Thank you, Stefan. Your book, Real Estate confronts Reality, was prophetic in many respects. However, from the consumer's perspective, the money-saving potential of those trends -- an estimated $30 billion annually -- has yet to be realized. Here's an excerpt from a Special report by McKinsey & Company published by Inman News, January 23, 1998: Reinvent the closing--2nd of two parts $30 billion in economic value could be created Given the gap between current practices in real estate transactions and consumer needs, we believe this industry is ripe for a restructuring that could create better than $30 billion a year in economic value. This value is likely to be shared between industry participants and consumers, who should benefit from lower prices. http://tinyurl.com/bml8t What obstacles need to be overcome to deliver more of those savings? For example, is the industry ready to divorce the traditional two-sided commission, or establish a database of buyers that is just as easy for the public to search as the multiple listing service? Will innovators within the industry bring about those changes or players / forces outside the traditional industry? Did any members of this group attend the Strategic Planning Committee meeting at NAR in Orlando? As in the past, that was a closed meeting but insights from that committee would certainly inform this discussion. More importantly, a public discussion of those scenarios would enable vendors to develop tools more efficiently and effectively to achieve the twin goals of delivering savings for consumers and profits for businesses. Bill Wendel The Real Estate Cafe Serving a menu of money-saving services for "do-it-yourself" homebuyers & FSBOs since 1995 617-661-4046 realestatecafe@gmail.com http://realestatecafe.squarespace.com