Global warming.

The war against “terror”.

Oil prices.

Factors like these could slow down even the most robust economy, but the partnership that facilitates the vast majority of real estate transactions in this country may be the most overlooked factor of all. The signs that stay the longest on America’s landscapes have one thing in common… 85 percent of the time… they’re all listed by real estate agents. These signs give evidence of the need for a massive real estate reform… REFORM must be the new sign of the times.

The US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have filed a complaint against the National Association of Realtors (NAR) for policies that question the realtor’s ability to do their job effectively. Despite the possible link to our current real estate “situation,” this significant lawsuit has gone largely unnoticed by the American public and media.

The complaint lists eight pages of antitrust and antitrust violations by the NAR. This is a huge step forward for an administration that has otherwise been very “supportive” of massive corporations.

If the federal government really forces the NAR to reform, it may well morph into a New Association of Realtors. This restructured entity would have the power to offer real hope for the looming housing market crisis, but it is likely that by the time the NAR admits there is a problem, and here is the clincher, it will act to resolve it, much of it of the damage will have already been done. made to the market and to the association.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) wields tremendous power, and this can be felt in many ways that affect homeowners. Like all corporations, this “not-for-profit” corporation creates policies that may or may not be in the best interest of the American people they serve. The US Department of Justice’s complaint lays bare the facts that this corporation—which shares many qualities of a monopoly—does not look out for the best interests of American homeowners. The NAR acts to further its own selfish interests; namely, the interests of its most powerful and wealthy members: the traditional brokerage houses of real estate agents.

There are many problems with monopolies. One is the resulting product of low quality, high price, and homogeneity. Furthermore, the gigantic corporations behave without moral codes or humanitarian principles. Another feature is that a corporation’s natural profit greed is dramatized when there is no competition.

The culture of real estate agents runs so deep that the public responds by shrugging their shoulders and saying “it’s just another cost of doing business” and “what other choice do I have?”. The monopoly is so entrenched that if the NAR were suddenly forced to deal fairly within the free market it inhabits, its members could be crushed under the weight of unsound politics and unwarranted invincibility.

As homeowners in cities across the country wonder what they can do to sell their depreciated homes, NAR has stared down on its clients’ plight with its dogged defense of their claim to exclusive rights to their listings. customers…much at the expense of American homeowners and real estate.

Historically, home listing information has not been perceived as valuable in and of itself, but the Internet has changed EVERYTHING. Home information is critical to the success of receiving fair market value. The magic panacea of ​​selling real estate, Realtor.com is responsible for over 80% of real estate transactions in this country. Realtor.com is the only REAL structure that supports the association’s house of cards.

Due to alleged NAR antitrust policies, houses are listed on some realtor sites, but not available on other realtor sites. If the information of a house is not being distributed effectively to the entire audience of Realtors and their clients. In effect, real estate agents take the bait and cheat their clients. The reality is that some homes get wider distribution than others, and clients don’t really know how many realtors feel a vested interest in their listing.

It’s clear that traditional Realtors® are more concerned with the downward trend in their commissions than with the real estate success of their clients! They present themselves as belonging to a cohesive organization, when in reality there are multiple factions acting to withhold information from each other’s lists. Most concerning of all, all factions hold listings from other non-member listing search engines, further limiting the visibility of homes.

How can that benefit American homeowners?

In terms of human behavior, everything is quite understandable. As realtor-to-home ratios have shrunk over the past decade, competition among realtors has become so fierce that realtors began to view themselves as enemies rather than united forces. The rise of individual teams within the brokerage firms themselves has grown at the same time, but the more important cooperation between individuals, teams, and brokerage firms has collapsed and, ironically, the (relationship-based) network of realtors is frozen. in a fractured isolation in a juxtaposed closure. quarters.

The divisive effect of the market is exaggerated due to the ridiculously large number of real estate agents in this country. There are enough real estate agents to fill nearly three of Ohio’s largest cities… Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland. On average, the national ratio is one real estate agent for every 76 homes. (This is based on a US population of 300,000,000, 2.9 people in each household, and 1,341,714 real estate agents.) In some areas, that ratio could be dramatically higher, such as 1 in 30 households.

The hyper-competitive environment of the real estate market compounded the need for the NAR to enact and enforce anti-competitive policies. With the growing housing backlog, the effects of the policy are being felt not only by real estate agents themselves, but also by American homeowners. The irony is that NAR’s self-serving policies cause immeasurable damage to the market in which the association does business.

My young daughters know never to pee in their swimming pool. I tell them, “There’s nothing lower than a pee in the pool,” but I guess real estate agents never learned that lesson.

Let’s face it, when you take the REAL out of REALTORS, you’re left with terribly overpriced real estate sellers. One could argue that this monopoly benefits no one but the largest traditional brokerage owners and the highest producing real estate agents. Unfortunately, the Realtor brand is an archaic, self-inflationary business model whose usefulness is past its expiration date.

It’s time to break down the barriers for American property owners to free trade and let the people choose.

Is it just where our capitalist society has evolved? Why “must we all get along” when one side unfairly wields power over the other? Why has our government sat idly by (for years) while monopoly and inefficiencies continued?

Why do we watch in silence while those in power live by another set of rules?

We the people have the power to change this sweltering real estate climate!

We cannot teach freedom to the world, if we ourselves are not FREE!

We cannot teach justice to the world if we ourselves are not treated FAIRLY!

We must educate ourselves and know what our government (and special interests like the NAR that sponsors it) are doing.

If you feel NAR’s rules and policies are not in your best interest, please try and support those who look out for you and your interests.

Wake up America! Look around you and then stand up and be counted!

Write to your congressman and tell him that:

· Finish the job the Department of Justice started a year ago!

· Bring the National Association of Realtors® to the booth!

· Make sure your interests come first!

Let’s always remember that the last two syllables of American are I Can!