Can you tell consumers used to shopping for homes anonymously online that now they can only get free listings if they contact an agent or sign up for a paid subscription?

Yes, you can.

Consumers can be retrained -- if Realtors are willing to make the effort, but some members of the Real Estate Information Network (REIN MLS) in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia don't want to. Their MLS has stopped giving listings to aggregates and is supplying listings through proprietary websites to enable brokers and agents to capture consumers themselves. Listings are still free when a consumer engages a member, or they can sign up for a one-day or continuing subscription for a small fee. What consumers are no longer able to do is use the listings and remain anonymous.

"I'd say that real estate member agents of the REIN MLS system are opposed to this new program by about 8 to 1, and the real estate consumer is opposed to it 100 percent," says Realtor and buyer's broker Maggi Davis. "E-Pass is not helping the image of real estate agents here. People want to believe that real estate agents are money-grubbing bottom dwellers who don't do anything but walk around houses saying "here's the kitchen" and "here's the laundry room." I truly believe that adding a program like E-Pass into a real estate market that is still a strong "sellers market" is going to result in more sellers deciding to sell FSBO (don't they want their listing information widely distributed?) and buyers deciding to go buy those FSBO's! We have totally awesome FSBO websites here and they provide ALL the pertinent information on their FSBO listings!"

"My biggest criticism of E-Pass is that it flies in the face of the 'age of information,'" continues Davis. "Buyers and sellers have come to rely upon the Internet for education, information and empowerment about the market, the process, specific homes, etc. I think that is GOOD. For REIN to so tightly control listing information is not endearing us to the public, nor is it forcing many consumers to identify themselves sooner in the real estate process as it is intended to do. My website has about 100 unique visitors per day, about 15 of whom choose to voluntarily fill out a "guest book." Guess what? Only about two of these 600-700 visitors per week chooses to sign up for E-Pass! And the ones who do are not happy about it! That's not exactly progress in my book. That is alienating 600 people to get a credit card verification of identity for two."

Agrees Realtor and associate broker John Kates, "Let's see. I pay $40 a month to REIN for a REIN controlled IDX, so potential buyers can see homes for sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and other Hampton Roads cities. And I spend my own money to advertise that potential buyers can see homes on my website. And when the potential buyers get to my website, they are told, 'April Fools!,' you have to pay to see the info."

"No wonder Realtors are looked upon as greedy and shifty and a couple steps below used cars salespersons," he adds. "And what's really sad is we Realtors that are in the trenches every day are being blamed when it's the "Ivory Tower realtors" (lower case on purpose) making the decisions. We're taking the heat, they're (broker-owners of the MLS) taking the money."

Do these Realtors have a point, or are they stuck in a '90s paradigm that no longer works?

Explains Realtor and broker-owner "Randy," "First, viewing current listings and the E-pass system is only for home shoppers that have accessed an agent's or brokerage website that is operated through our local listing service. Needless to say when you take away something form people that they had for free, they get upset. We try to explain that the information they got before was very limited with no address just beds/baths, etc. They still can get some information without the E-pass but to get what they got for free before they have to spend the whopping sum of $4.95/month for unlimited access."

"The point we are trying to get across is that we as Realtors can provide much greater information to them at no cost other then to contact us and sign a brokerage relationship form showing that they understand agency which is not a commitment to a particular agent. Some agents may require an exclusive representation agreement and some may not. We can then sign them up for a complimentary E-Pass. We as agents can set them up to receive all the listings that meet their criteria via email with as much information as we want to give them. This is what we are attempting to do with the E-Pass. Get them on the road instead of just spinning their wheels. So far it's making the transition fairly well. It just takes us as agents to make the contact and explain the benefits we can provide with direct contact."

Carlos Rodriguez, the real estate network's director of business development, says feedback has been both negative and positive. He says REIN plans to quantify the results of E-Pass to show brokers and agents that consumers can indeed be retrained away from using listings to using Realtors to buy and sell homes.

"We are trying to continue to educate our membership," says Rodriguez. "Here's the message. The goal of E-Pass is to spur the consumer into contacting the agent regarding wanting information through a particular method, either through e-mail or E-Pass, which is validated against the credit card. How many people have lied about who they are online? So what the credit card does is validate the lead. This is not an e-commerce play -- it's a decision maker. Its a fork in the road where both roads lead to contact information on the prospective buyer and seller for our members."

Consumers can be retrained, insists Rodriguez. "The real issue is that information has been given away and that's allowed the consumer to peruse anonymously with the hope that they will contact you. That worked once upon a time, but no longer. There are web plays out there that are doing a great job capturing that consumer. Consumers search online for four to five weeks -- what are they doing? They are educating themselves, and they are saying 'I can do this myself, or they are getting captured on the front end of the process. They have shown us you can no longer be content with a passive model. You have to take a more active method."

What about complaints from consumers? "Consumers aren't going to like it because they love no obligation, but the information was put into play in the first place to connect consumers to agents. It's not an education tool, and it's not a gift to other companies; the educators are called Realtors. In the past, there was no one else doing this, so we all thought they are going to contact one of us because where else are they going to go? Well, they have other places to go. There are other companies that can leverage content to drive contact and they are doing so."

"The agents against this are afraid the consumer will go somewhere else, but there is no where else they can go," affirms Rodriguez. "The local FSBO site has less than 2/10 of one percent of the total listing inventory available compared to our inventory. The consumer wants this information, and the agents are concerned that it is a reputation issue and they've had a model of distributing as much information to as many people as possible and hoping that someone will contact them but the problem is you are advertising other people's listings and the MLS is not designed for that. You shall distribute a reasonable number of listings to prospective clients."

What about serving all business models? "The people who are about information are the ones objecting, the people who are about service are for all this. You are paying more to do the same business with an information model. You can no longer wait four weeks for a consumer to contact you. You need to connect with them one or two days into the search process, because there are models out there with more sophisticated back-end tools. But in this market if you aren't working with an agent who can deliver listings on an hourly basis, you're not benefiting from the services of an agent. The question is 'Does a consumer benefit from using the services of an agent? If is, it is necessary to connect those two folks so the consumer can benefit."

Rodriguez admits that E-Pass is "a work in progress."

"We are doing minor things to outline choices to consumers," he says.

He's encouraged that more agents are starting to see results. "I can tell you now total leads generated was up significantly with E-Pass than the month before. It has resulted in an increase. Consumers are realizing, 'I can get the E-Pass or contact the agent, but I can't get the information anymore for free.' We outline the choices as clearly as possible."

Rodriguez feels the E-Pass concept is on firm competitive ground. "Listing information is proprietary. It exists to help agents give service to existing clients. If you want more information, you can have it at no cost by working with an agent, and I can guarantee you that they won't charge you. Or you can get the information for a nominal cost."

He says, "People think we are still using 1997 information management, but everything has changed. Look around you, and you can see how it is changing. We have to change to meet demand and the existing environment. Our clients are the agents, not the consumers."

Published: August 3, 2005

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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.