A rebate coming from the seller’s equity pretty much tells you what they are willing to negotiate further. Nothing. Hope you like the price and hope you do not have large defects found at inspection. Unfortunately, even if the seller is amenable further negotiations on money, a buyer underrepresented will have slim opportunity to take advantage of that fact.

What buyers truly need for the money they spend on a house is representation that provides a genuine value. It can save them money on the sale: Valuable. It can save them from unintended consequences later: Priceless.

See my related post on Seattle Real Estate Advocate — http://seattlerealestateadvocate.blogspot.com/

But I do dislike carpetbaggers and other outsiders attempting to gain an economic advantage in a field where they previously had no interest or connection, and attempting to make changes in an area where they have no direct experience or understanding.

I also dislike those who use lies and manipulate the truth for their own economic benefit.

When Joe Fox says that Buyers who find their own homes themselves should not have to pay a Buyer Agent fee, I agree.

However, when he says that over 60% of Buyers find their home themselves, that is a manipulation. Over 60% of Buyers could have indeed saw their homes first on the internet, but if they saw that home on my website through my IDX feed or on any other website owned by any of my competitors or even on BuySide’s own website using an IDX feed, they have used the tools that we, the real estate industry have developed and provided, to find homes.

The real estate industry has worked hard to provide the tools for buyers and sellers to easily find homes for sale online and also to provide home valuations and other important information.

If a Buyer uses these tools that we, collectively, have created and provided, and then comes back to us for a rebate because they found the home online “themselves”, that is dishonest and unjust.

Companies like Iggy’s House and BuySide Realty are getting licenses and joining MLS’s all around the country, using the system they so hate and the hammer of the DOJ to insure their inclusion, and then are turning the industries own business practices against the real estate brokers themselves.

As they note on Page 13 in their prospectus, participation in the MLS is voluntary. Any group of brokers could decline to participate at any time and perhaps start their own MLS with a different set of rules. It’s not a public utility nor a public service. It’s for the real estate industries benefit, to assist their members so they can do their job efficiently. If companies such as Iggy’s House and BuySide continue to abuse and misuse the system, as the prospectus notes, any group of brokers could just stop playing, take their marbles, and go home.

I have read many blogs from “realtors” slamming new models. If you guys spent as much time servicing your clients as you do your blogs maybe you wouldn’t be going extinct…..