I'm not sure where the rest of them went but the lion over the hill seems to be in our own backyard.

While we were getting warm and snuggly with RealSelect (to keep the REALTOR as the center of the transaction), they went out and contracted with the National Association of Homebuilders to build and oversee a web page which sends buyers DIRECTLY to the homebuilder. 15,000 of them in one month if the press clippings are correct. That's 15,000 buyers that did an end run around REALTORS thanks to our "partner."

Then, while groups like the Florida Living Network and HomeAdvisor offer FREE agent and brokerage pages, OUR partner RealSelect charges hundreds of dollars for them.

Most recently, RealSelect, now HomeStore.com has filed papers with the SEC for a $100,000,000 public offering. What does this mean to the average consumer. Well, if I had a home for sale and it was listed with one of the real estate companies that was allowed to buy in on the "Broker Gold" option I would have a pretty low opinion of the industry right now.

In return for agreeing to limit the marketing of their client's homes to the web pages of then RealSelect, this group of people, supposedly keeping their clients best interest in front of their own, was allowed, on 18 Feb 1999, to purchase $2,012,032 worth of common stock and $1,507,968 of Series F Preferred stock in addition to warrants to purchase common stock "as consideration for data content agreements."

Would the average home seller really want the advertising of his home limited in this way just so a few people could "cash in" on the exclusive agreement with HomeStore.com?

The way I see it, if the people knew what was going on with the marketing of their home their opinion of the real estate industry would drop yet a few more notches.

"Lion over the hill?" Perhaps we need to look in our own backyard first. --

Samuel L. Hartzog
President, Pensacola Realty (Exclusive Buyer Broker)
District Representative, Florida Assoc. of REALTORS
Board of Directors, Pensacola Assoc. of REALTORS (1997-1999)
REALTOR Representative, Envision ESCAROSA
Builder/REALTOR Liason Team
Key Communicator, Escambia School District
MLS Chairman (1996-1999)
Grievance, By-Laws, Finance Committees

Published: June 7, 1999

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