The Game changes

Anyone who has shopped for a house knows about MLS. MLS stands for multiple listing service. They have a monopoly with Real Estate brokers. it serves as an index of all houses on the market. Like eBay, MLS is the market.

Until now.

There are tons of web sites that now offer a competition to MLS.

Zillow.com is the best site I've seen. I use it daily. Google is rolling out their Real Estate listing. They have the distribution channel to compete with MLS.

MLS should be freaking out....or adapting. Which one do you think they are doing?

Real Estate agents too have a new game to play. Now buyers search. Before Real Estate agents made their commission by finding the homes for the buyers. The sellers agent would sit back and wait for the sale. Not anymore. I have had 4 different real estate agents....and most recently I have bought a house without an agent.

Should an agent make 6% commission for taking an order? Absolutely not. I have had some poor agents. I now have a great agent....(I dont mean me!). I will give her 10% commissions, because I know she will get things done, can find me houses, and can negotiate for me. She is who will last. All other agents will be replaced by the internet.

Good customer service is priceless. But I am not going to pay a price for bad customer service. Most Real Estate agents are so spoiled by a great market that they lose site of customer service.

This is an interesting way to change the game. Unfortunately I didnt have a good segway for that article.