Anyone who has ever watched a boxing match understands that the contestants pay dearly for a payday in blood, brain damage, AIDS transmitted by flying body fluids, and death.

Remember the day Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic torch for the opening of the 1996 Games? His hands were trembling and he had to have help. Fans the world over saw "The Greatest" at his weakest. That made the sheer bravery of his symbolic gesture even more gut wrenching to watch.

As a young fighter, Ali was too fast to allow opponents to land many punches, but as he aged and fought long past expected retirement, injuries took their toll, leaving him with nerve damage, exaggerated by the onset of Parkinson's disease.

Knowing what he had done to other fighters should have made it clear to Ali what the endgame was going to be. But he fought anyway, knowing any punch could land him in Jerry Quarry-land.

And the world loved him for it.

But not everyone cheers for valiant fighters.

The practice of real estate has become a bloodsport, but no one applauds the combatant with the least injuries. In fact, it's the "winners" who shed the most blood.

Another way to say it is that they compete on commissions and then share up to a third of their purses with their referral fee-based "fight promoters."

The fight promoters aren't Don King, but they're every bit as ruthless and smart. They're mostly venture capital-funded companies which have created business models based on turning broker and agent desperation into gold.

It works as long as brokers and agents are seduced by "new economy" double-talk like "success-based marketing" and "alternative lead generation."

The fight promoters get brokers and agents to join their network by promising qualified leads. These are leads that brokers/agents are desperate to get because they know more consumers are using the Internet, but they don't understand Internet marketing. The Internet is not simple like newspapers where the rules of engagement are clear to everyone. So they buy their newspaper ads and sign on with the Internet fight promoters because it's easy.

The fight promoters ask for the broker's listings and access to other broker's listings via Internet data exchange (IDX) and virtual office website (VOW) solutions. They use the listings to bring more traffic to their referral portals where they use sign-up forms to capture consumer information. If they get a lead, they give it to the broker (if he's the only one in the area, or he's agreed to pay additional money for exclusive status) or to multiple brokers who are then "compared" in a voluntary slave auction by the consumer using commissions, experience, and other criteria. The "winning" broker is the one who's most willing to lower his/her commission.

Winning is described by one of these companies as "success-based" marketing -- only the broker isn't being marketed, the broker network created by the fight promoter is. There is no advertising of the names of participating brokers and agents in the network.

It's made absolutely clear to consumers that the lower costs, rebates, gifts and other perks are supplied by the fight promoter. Without the power of the broker network, the consumer believes he/she would not be able to get such concessions otherwise. This belief tethers the consumer to the fight promoter so that the consumer never truly becomes a client of the broker or agent.

The broker/agent finds this out the hard way as the consumer tests the broker/agent's time, patience and resources with unreasonable demands and expectations of obtaining a bargain home. The more the consumer saves, the more blood is lost by the broker and agent, and the more contempt the consumer has for the broker/agent.

When the consumer closes, he/she tells friends and family about the rebates, commission savings, Home Depot gift certificates and other perks of having done business with the fight promoter. The point that the fight promoter is the hero is driven home by methods that insure the last name the consumer sees and remembers is the fight promoter's on a rebate check or some other perk.

Friends and family of the consumer may contact the broker/agent, which makes the broker/agent think the pain was worth it, but then they learn that their referred customers insist on doing business through the fight promoter. So the broker/agent finds himself referring business to the fight promoter and paying one-third of his/her commissions for the privilege.

The simplicity of this business plan is causing more venture capital-based companies to enter the real estate industry, making for some bizarre real estate license holders. Their collective advertising to get agents to compete on their commissions is sending a clear message to consumers, to the point that now most consumers want and expect discounts, rebates, etc.

And the once brilliant, self-sustaining real estate industry, made weak with loss of blood and befuddled with brain-damage begins to wonder where it all went wrong. How did third-parties gain such control of the real estate consumer? How much more do commissions have to drop before consumers are satisfied? How did we lose our industry?

One day it will dawn on them.

Boxing is a bloodsport. Anytime anyone climbs into a ring to compete against an opponent, spectators want to see blood, and they aren't going to be happy until someone is lying flat on the mat.

Published: December 4, 2003

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. 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. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.