While the formation of a new grassroots homeowner's organization isn't exactly breaking news, the attitudes of "Joe Homeowner" are worth considering. He gets just enough right and wrong about the real estate industry to be dangerous.

"Dear Mr. Lane," Joe writes Jody Lane, founder of Realty Times. "As President and CEO of Realtytimes I thought you and your team might be interested in a grassroots organization that wants to send a message to the National Association of Realtors. We strongly believe that the NAR has been taking advantage of homeowners across the country with the commissions they charge. We would like you to publish the document that we have attached to help get the word out. Please feel free to copy or republish any part or all of this document.

"We would also be interested in hearing your opinion on the document. We understand that challenging the Agents commission is nothing new but if the people keep trying, something will get done sooner or later. Thank you, Joe Homeowner."

Realty Times responds:

Dear "Joe,"

We like to know who we're dealing with. If you really believe in what you're trying to accomplish, how about standing up with your real name for an interview?

Blanche Evans

Instead of answering the question, Joe chooses to flame Blanche.

"We are just a bunch of homeowners who realize that the Real Estate Industry needs to change its way. Other then that, we are your average Joe's."

"You can bet we are going to stand up. We are going to stand up against the NAR and any politician that wants to limit competition. Competition between members of the NAR is not competition. They have decided to stick with the glass floor of 6 percent."

"I didn't really expect you to agree with me as I have read many of your articles. I am impressed with the different awards that you have achieved. No doubt they were voted on by the Realtor's that you defend each week in your column. You seem to take offense to the position that Steven Brobeck of the CFA has taken supporting Non-traditional brokers and suggesting independent commissioners. I guess we can clearly see what side of the fence you are on. Its not with the homeowners."

"Sellers do not list with Agents because they want to. It is clearly because they have to. I have read a million times that people can buy and sell their homes on their own without an agent. However, since the playing ground is not level, it is a huge uphill battle. It is like trying to paint your house yourself but you can't buy paint or a brush unless you are a licensed painter."

"We fully support all of CFA actions. We are using every source available on the internet to get the people together. We have Blogs, Youtube and myspace. Did you ever have time to watch a Bug's life? There is one scene that reminds me of Realtors (Grasshoppers) and the small ants (Homeowners)."

"Ants don't serve grasshoppers! It's you who need us. We're a lot stronger than you say we are ... and you know it, don't you?" Hopper knows it. It's then the ants realize, because they outnumber the grasshoppers 100-to-1, they need not be oppressed by grasshoppers ever again."

"We are also pushing people to use services like Buyside.com and redfin.com There are also smaller offices like http://www.azparadiserealty.com/."

"I hope the FTC looks into publishers and editors who try to limit real competition. I bet you and Bernice Ross (Waging War on discounters) have lots in common."

"As the Song goes "We're not gonna take it, No, We're not going to take it, We're not going to take it anymore""

Regards, Joe

Blanche loses patience.

Dear Joe, what are you, five years old? "A Bug's Life?" Are you kidding? Let's grow up a little here so we can have an adult discussion, or I may have to go all Quentin Tarantino on you.

You've made some accusations against an industry that you clearly don't understand, although I can empathize with your frustration in paying for services that you feel you don't need or want.

Every time I want to buy a dress, I'm upset that Neiman Marcus won't let me shop the trucks on the loading dock. I don't need all that extra stuff -- the fancy store, the snooty salesperson (who makes about 9 percent in commission to sell you what you already know you want) and the expensive ads, models, and so on. That Christmas catalog must cost a fortune to produce and who needs matching His and Hers Roman Chariots anyway?

It infuriates me when I buy a car that the dealership makes $2,000 in incentives. On a $30,000 car! It's robbery, I tell you.

And those doctors. Don't even get me started. It's a good thing that HMO's can form government-blessed companies to negotiate downward pay for doctors. Our wonderful government believes that doctors don't deserve the same courtesy. Did you know that it's anti-trust for doctors to form organizations to negotiate with HMOs? It almost doesn't matter to me that healthcare is unaffordable. I think those wonderful HMO executives deserve the mansions they live in more than the doctors who perform the life-saving services -- don't you?

Let's get real. The reason you're able to gripe about real estate services and their costs is because you live in a free, capitalistic society. You can form all the homeowner groups you want to, but until you have a better way to buy and sell a home than the free market set up by the real estate industry, then you have two options. List with a real estate professional, or sell your home yourself.

Realtors work on commission, which means that they collect their fees on the back end of the transaction when it closes. If you want to use real estate services, but pay less, there are many options to do so. You can list or buy through a "discount" firm. The only difference between a discount firm and a traditional real estate agent is that the negotiation has already been done so that the discount agency can advertise their fee up front. Traditional agents don't advertise their fees for the simple reason that they are negotiable.

There's a lot more to being an agent than driving someone around in a car. It's a high risk profession. What you pay an agent for is risk-sharing, to make sure you don't end up in court as a seller, or wanting to go to court as a buyer.

Let me ask you -- when you buy a home, do you think it's reasonable to assume that you'll sell it eventually? It's equity you need to build in your home in order to make a profit off of it, and you get plenty of government support to do so -- capital gains tax breaks, mortgage interest rate deduction, PMI deduction, federally-insured loans, just to name a few. With 85 percent of homes sold through Realtors, those commissions have been part of the market value for years. Your home isn't worth less because you used a Realtor. It's worth more because the Realtor's fees were part of the final sales price that goes into establishing new public "records."

And who do you think puts all those homes on the Web, the Listings Fairy? It's Realtors who make their homes available for the public to look at. Try perusing Realtor.com where there are more listings assembled for your viewing pleasure than anywhere else on the Web. Free. Shop for homes in your jammies. It's great.

Just like retailers and car dealers, real estate brokers have a right to make a profit especially when they carry most of the risk. They pay the overhead, build the brand that brings in the business, and if something goes wrong, they're the ones standing before the judge. When you sign a contract with an agent, you're transacting with the broker's agent.

Home prices have gone up 50 percent in the last five years, well beyond the normal rate of appreciation. That's why homes are expensive, not because agents charge commissions. If you want to complain about high salaries, sell your stocks with poor returns and high CEO pay and send a message to Wall Street.

The next time you want to buy or sell a home, demand to know what exactly you're paying for. Agents should be accountable for their services, but it's also true that when they agree to a commission price, they don't really know what kinds of problems, challenges or good things will happen. It's a crap shoot -- some transactions are nightmares and some go as smoothly as silk. If your transaction is a nightmare, would it be fair for your agent to come to you and ask you for more money? That's why they charge a flexible commision rate, which is not necessarily 6 percent, by the way. They charge what the broker feels he/she needs in order to make a profit on your particular home, and that my friend, is the American Way.