Peter: I appreciate your feedback. I see no reason at all to preclude discussion; it is healthy and stimulating. Do I agree with your article ?; yes and no. Your premise that " lower fees do not guarantee broker success" is a fact. Your premise however misses the mark all together.The truth is that: "HIGH FEES DO NOT GUARANTEE BROKER SUCCESS" Broker success is a function of delivering real estate services at a level which provides consumer satisfaction at a profitable operating margin. Many brokers fail on each of the above two criteria, because they are poor business persons. Your Question: " why are more than 700,000 licensed Brokers and one million salespersons seeking market level fees ?" The explanation is quite simple; They Can. I take no exception to this premise. This fact however is irrelevant to the conclusion of your premise. In the conclusion of your thesis, you state that " trust and competence trump price" You suggest in this statement that " trust and Competence " are a function of how large a fee is charged for the delivery of real estate services. Yet you present no evidence,to support such a premise. To put your premise in the jargon of today's political scene: " you are offering the soft bigotry of lowered expectations" It is attitudes such as this, intentional or not; which need to be "held up to the light". I perceive a subtle " Snobbish" almost " biggoted" bias, which by inference; suggests that " trust and competence " are mutually exclusive from non-traditional real estate professionals. What say you Mr. Mller ?