Agreeing with Cendant and RE/MAX senior management, Bill Powers, COO of Realty Executives International says he would like to see a broker opt-out provision for virtual office Websites (VOWs) when the NAR directors vote for the proposal in May.

Powers, who served on the NAR executive committee which examined the issues surrounding VOWs when the committee voted last May to postpone the adoption of the VOW proposal as written by the appointed work group, says, "My personal take on the whole thing is that it is an extension of change, and brokers can't stand change. When Dale Rector started 100 percent commissions for agents, he had to have bodyguards everywhere he went. They weren't happy about it, but today, they are all offering a higher form of compensation to agents."

He says VOWs are fine as long as they are created with a "level playing field" in mind, and a "change is fine," but he says, "The issue that worries me is the inability to opt in or out, you have that in IDX (Internet data exchange - broker reciprocity for the advertising of listings on company and personal agent Websites), but for some reason, NAR is afraid of restraint of trade issues. I don't see the difference between IDX and VOWs, and I would rather see the ability to opt out or in.

"Whose data is it anyway?" asks Powers. "It isn't the MLS's; it is the brokers'. The broker should have the right to decide where their listings are advertised, and VOWs are advertising."

As Powers points out, "You get opt out in everything else, it's your listing. This is my data. As a member of the MLS, I am required to put it in the MLS within a certain number of days. We are all operating under the same rules, why isn't opt out in IDX restraint of trade? Now we have certain VOW providers threatening restraint of trade, but it is not their data. It's a restraint on their advertising, not on their trade. It's not their data. The only way they get the data, is the MLSs are going to be giving it to them."

"If I was listing, I would talk to sellers and say, 'We have all these abilities, but at the broker level I want to make the choice of where this listing is going to be advertised. Who is going to look at this data? Now, we get into safety, and agent safety is huge thing for me. We have to be careful about what goes on. Then there is the issue of scraping and mining the data. Nothing infuriates me more than stripping off names from listings.

Are Realty Executives brokers prepared to follow Cendant's NRT and franchise brands into removing their listings from local MLSs?

"It's all about the data," says Powers. "If we do this wrong, we need to make sure that we don't change so much that there is a smoking ruin. The issue is still the data. At some point, people like Cendant are going to say, 'I'm taking my football home if you don't protect my data,' and that would be horrible for the industry. We are the most competitive and cooperative out there. What other industry says, 'Let me give you all my data and let's cooperate.'

"I don't think they (Cendant) are going to do it, the outcry from their agents and brokers would be so loud, and the push-back would be enormous."

In fact, Powers says he would use a Cendant pull-out as a recruiting tool.

"One issue we have is we are definitely agent driven," explains Powers. "Every decision we make is how it impacts the agent. Most of my people who come from other brokers are upset at their broker. That's how we recruit. One of our biggest brokers, Fafie Moore in Las Vegas, says, 'Find their pain and then push on it.'

"We are independent and codependent. Corporate thinking - it just doesn't work down to the agent. If Cendant thinks we are going to see the MLS dissolve, I personally think there will be an agent push-back, because for those agents who won't have full access,or only to have cooperation in a private MLS, now you have limited exposure for sellers."

"The issue is we are such a different group of people," says Powers. "What other group would say, 'Let me go to work for you, don't pay me, I'll spend my own money on advertising, and when we get to closing, now beat me up on my commission.'

"Everyone is saying real estate is going down, but there is a difference here from travel agents. Houses are all different, and looking at it on the display screen doesn't give you an idea of whether the neighborhood is appreciating or depreciating, and helping the client make the right decision. Real estate is insulated more than new car sales. A Lexus is a Lexus - you know what you are getting. It's not the same with real estate. Every house is different."

The bottom line, says Powers, is "we don't want anybody to do what somebody else can't."

Published: April 1, 2003

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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.