"The revolution in the accumulation, interpretation and transmission of information has dramatically changed the nature of the real estate business. It has changed from a business where people skills were paramount and information was the sole property of the Realtor to a business in which information is democratized and knowledge creation, as a service to the consumer, drives success."

"Real Estate Confronts Profitability: It's Time For Brokers And Agents To Remargin Their Businesses," (RealSure.com, Free) by Stefan Swanepoel and John Tuccillo, RealSure.com.

When it comes to how consumers are represented when they buy or sell a home, technology and consumer demand have given real estate consumers more alternatives than ever.

However, because consumers need such representation so infrequently, it's not always easy to know which alternative is best for the job.

"Real Estate Confronts Profitability" the latest in a line of five "Confronts" white papers by RealSure.com, is a free publication designed to enlighten real estate companies about changes in the industry, but it also provides insight for consumers who need to know about those changes.

"The new models are in the emerging state because many of them have not quite developed across the country, but clearly the consumer has become frustrated with the old traditional model -- a non-negotiable, take-it-or-leave-it attitude," typically with a fixed commission for services, said Stefan Swanepoel, who along with John Tuccillo authored the report.

Swanepoel, a real estate industry visionary and real estate technology guru, is managing partner of RealSure Inc., a Laguna Niguel, CA-based research and business consulting firm for residential real estate, mortgage and title companies. RealSure Inc. also trains 200,000 real estate professionals each year.

Tuccillo is a real estate and housing finance economist who, for a decade, served as chief economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and now operates his own strategic business planning consulting firm.

Swanepoel concedes, thanks to technology and the media's attention to real estate issues, consumers are more educated about buying and selling homes than ever, but because they don't use that education more than a few times in a lifetime, they may not always be aware of their choices.

"I'm not implying consumers are stupid. Home buying is complex, it only occurs once or twice, so it's not the kind of thing a consumer has a lot of exposure to. They are already paranoid about the complex transaction, with multiple choices (in representation) it's going to be confusing," Swanepoel said.

"Where's the consumer going to get an unbiased qualified opinion. I think your (the media's) reach (on the subject) is not as powerful as it could be," he added.

Here's the white paper's look at consumers' alternatives and some examples.

Published: January 31, 2003

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A journalist for 35-years, Broderick Perkins parlayed an old-school daily newspaper career into a digital news service offering editorial content and consulting services. Perkins' San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group includes the flagship news site, DeadlineNews.Com, offering real estate, personal finance and consumer journalism, and a backshop, the Deadline Newsroom.