Spring is Here in Texas

Spring means... time to get serious about selling your home!

If you analyze the MLS data for sales and listings you find that the months of April, May and June represent the peak season for both Sales and Listings. Activity starts to slow down during July, but only just a little. August sees a big drop off, primarily due to the fact that most people want to be moved before school starts, but also due to the 'dog days of summer' when the temperature hovers around the century mark.

If you know that you want to sell your home don't delay. Every week counts.

Technology in Real Estate

In September 1995 I started a company called FlashNet Communications based on the concept of placing the MLS listings on the Internet. I secured a contract with the Greater Tarrant County Board of Realtors, now know of as the MetroTex Association of Realtors, to place their MLS listings on the Internet. Each week I would go to their offices in Euless and collect a digital tape download of data from their VAX 11 mainframe system and carry it over to our offices and upload it onto our servers. This was even before REALTOR.com.

The Board of Realtors was very concerned about the loss of control over their information. They understood that their most important asset was not their data, but the control over their data. They were concerned about the loss of control over the data, but, they were also very excited by the prospect of expanding the reach of their marketing. The Internet represented a great opportunity, and a great threat.

As fate would have it, my company abandoned the real estate business in pursuit of more rapid growth. Real Estate Agents and Brokers were very difficult to 'sell' websites and connectivity to and the general public seemed to 'want' what we were selling, so, we decided to sell services to people who wanted them rather than to people who needed them. The company grew rapidly and we took it public and then sold it to another public company.

In the meantime the real estate industry grew into the Internet. REALTOR.com became the dominant real estate property information portal and local MLS system began to release their information to more and more websites. Now, the general public has become so accustomed to finding For Sale information on the Internet that the dynamics of the purchasing process have changed. Brokers and Agents that work with Buyers will tell you that most Buyers will provide a list of homes for the Agent to show to the Buyer. The Agent will also contribute to the list based on direct access to the MLS, but, Buyers are generally very well informed about properties that are currently on the market and the relative values of properties.

It used to be, back in the 1990s and before, that the Listing Agent had to work hard to sell a home. Seriously, they had a lot of value to add to the process. Because the MLS system relied upon published books that were distributed about once every two weeks, and because the time lag between inputting information into the MLS system and the books coming out was about 3 weeks, it was often the case that a home listed on the MLS would not appear in the books for 4 - 6 weeks. That is a long time. During that time the Seller relied upon the Listing Agent to get on the phone and call other Agents and spread the word that a new home was on the market. The individual 'network' of the Listing Agent was a major factor in the ability of the Seller to achieve a quick sale.

Today, with the automation of the process, with advanced interactive database technology, with the pervasive usage of the Internet, and with high Buyer utilization of the Internet to participate in the process it is no longer critical that you have a Listing Agent with a Great Network. Listing a home on the MLS is a commodity. It really does not matter who does the listing as long as it is done correctly. Further, the listing process actually takes about 20 minutes if you type slowly, 10-15 if you are a fast typist. The major portion of time is involved with collecting the information from the Seller.

NetOffer has automated the information collection and management process to the maximum extent possible through the development of the most advanced interactive database technology, specifically designed for the Flat Fee MLS Listing business. By automating the process of collecting and managing the flow of information between our Clients and the MLS system we are able to lower our costs and keep our fees at the absolute minimum.

I thought that the above discussion would help explain how we do what we do, and why it is no longer necessary to pay traditional fees for the benefit of using the MLS to help sell your home.

Call with any questions.
My number is 972-470-5888.

Inman News Blog

Inman News, one of the most respected online real estate magazines, is looking for comments from clients of flat fee brokers and discount real estate companies. I would like to encourage you to visit www.inman.com and go to their Blog section and comment on the services you have received from NetOffer. You could also just send an email to glenn@inman.com, one of the reporters for the magazine.

Minimum Service Laws in Texas

On September 1, 2005 Texas implemented new Minimum Service provisions for Texas Real Estate Agents and Brokers. This new law was enacted by the Texas State Legislature primarily because of the efforts of the Texas Association of Realtors and was based, in my opinion, on the general fear of the traditional real estate community that new models for providing services to consumers in Texas was erroding the traditional brokerage fee structure.

Lobbying efforts by the TAR during 2004 and the spring of 2005 were culminating in the Texas Real Estate Commission proposal to implement new regulatory restrictions on how brokers and agents would be permitted to interact with their clients and the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission filed briefs with the TREC alerting the TREC that enactment of such regulations would be considered by the DOJ and the FTC to be an infringement on competition and that the DOJ and the FTC would seriously consider filing legal actions against the TREC for enacting regulations that were anti-competitive and anti-consumer.

As a result the TAR contacted a state legislator who was a prior member of the TAR and submitted a rider to a school finance bill that was passed at the last minute during a special session. This rider enacted the laws that were implemented on September 1, 2005.

The new laws states the following:

1. Agents/Brokers can not negotiation directly with the Principals of other Agents/Brokers., and,
   
2. Agents/Brokers must answer questions of their Principals realted to the purchase or sale of the property for which they have been engaged as an Agent/Broker, and,
   
3. Agents/Brokers must communicate offers between other Agents/Brokers and their Principal.

NetOffer has found that it is very easy to comply with both the spirit and the letter of the new law and we would like to explain how we do that.

NetOffer has never objected to other Agents/Brokers communicating with the Seller when we list a home, yet, we stand ready to assist with the communicating process to the extent that our client (the Seller) or the other Agent/Broker requires. Each of our Listing Packages includes a minimum amount of 'Pre-Paid' consultation time. The reason that we include prepaid consultation time is to allow for some minimum level of communications to assist with the sale without our client feeling the pressure of our billing clock ticking.

Many Agents/Brokers representing the Buyer are uncomfortable dealing directly with the Seller, especially now with the new law. The new law makes it illegal for an Agent/Broker to negotiate with the Seller if the Seller is represented by another Agent/Broker. When you list your home on the MLS with NetOffer we become your Broker and are your legal representative according to state law. The new law says that even if you, the Seller, gave written permission for them to negotiate directly with you they would be violating the law if they did so and they could lose their license for ignoring the law.

Some Agents/Brokers will continue to be willing to negotiate directly with the Seller but they do so at their own peril. NetOffer can not give instructions to the Buyer's Agent/Broker to negotiate with the Seller because that also is a violation of the law and would subject NetOffer to the loss of our license.

NetOffer will always be glad to transfer offers and counter-offers between Buyers Agents/Brokers and Sellers without charge. Communications over the phone or in writing will take time and that time will be charged to the 'prepaid' time of the Seller. If we use up the prepaid time we will notify the Seller and let the Seller know that additional charges for time could be incurred. If additional charges are incurred we charge based on a fee of $150/hour with one hour minimum increments of payment but we track actual time used in 15 minute increments. This means that after you use your prepaid time the next $150 will cover four conversations, or one hour of time, however the time is used.

We feel that this is the most fair way to provide professional services. It certainly makes a lot more sense for the Seller than paying 2% or 3% of the equity in their home for what is generally a few hours of time spent on the listing. Don't you agree?

Please let me know your thoughts by providing your comments to this posting.

Resistance to Change

NOTE: Even though NetOffer.com operates in Texas the comments in this article apply to all states.

It is human nature to resist change. Change is the 'boogyman' coming to your home. Change is scary. Change threatens the established order to which we have grown accustomed.

Yet change is also an opportunity. It is a chance to clean house and air out the carpets. It is a chance to find more efficient ways of doing things and to lower costs. Embracing change and finding better ways of doing things is a uniquely human attribute and throughout history our ancestors have struggled with how to incorporate new developments into the way that we do things.

When a professional services industry, such as the real estate industry, confronts dramatic structural change to the established way of doing things it is natural for the first response to be resistance. That resistance will take the form of social ostracism, boycotting, erecting regulatory barriers, and supporting legislative based restrictions. Each of these forms of resistance represent an escallation from the prior form and each represents a signal that the momentum to change is gaining ground and that the prior form of resistance is failing to prevent the change.

When the technology of the real estate brokerage industry became sufficiently mature to allow private individuals to utilize the Internet to search for properties and to search between agents and brokers trying to find a provider of listing services at a lower price that the industry norm the initial reaction of the traditional, entrenched industry was social ostracism and boycotting of listings. For quit some time this was a sufficiently powerful mechanism to prevent wholesale acceptance of flat fee listings as a way of competing for listings. Eventually, though, the growth of flat fee listing services became enough of a nuisance that industry began to use its lobbying power to get the various real estate commissions to enact new regulation making it more difficult for agents and brokers to provide flat fee listings. But, in most cases that form of defense proved to be short lived and new methods of pricing were developed that complied with the regulations and flat fee listing services continued to grow.

The last stage of resistance has been to find ways to get the legislature to change the law to require certain minimum levels of service in an attempt to make it illegal to provide limited service listings to the public. This approach is gaining momentum in various state legislatures due to the fact that the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission can, and will, take action against regulatory bodies to prevent competition and support the traditional, entrenched, model of providing services. But even the legislative approach has, and will, fail.

Fundamentally, consumers want to obtain services at prices lower than the traditional model would impose. Consumers are willing to work with agents and brokers who provide alternatives at lower prices. Consumers are willing to accept contractual agreements that allow flat fee service providers to comply with the legal requirements while containing their exposure to open ended time committments.

As long as the consumer is demanding alternatives there will be providers who will find creative and legal ways to circumvent the intention of the legislative process and offer alternatives to the traditional full service full fee model of providing listing services to the consumer.

NetOffer provides flat fee mls listing services to the public through a unique combination of high technology and high personal interaction. We do so for fees that are significantly lower than what is charged by the traditional "full service - full fee" industry. Our clients universally applaud both our style of business and our level of service. Flat fee mls listings are likely to be come the norm for the industry as more and more people experience the service and share their positive experiences with their friends and acquaintances.

We welcome the chance to show you that there is an alternative and it can save you a lot of money and time. Call us at 972-470-5888 with any questions.

Lee Thurburn

Change is coming, but not a tsunami.

I am President of NetOffer.com, a corporate real estate broker offering flat fee mls listing services in Dallas, Fort Worth and the DFW Texas area. We also license technology to other flat fee real estate brokers. If you have questions after reading this article please visit our website and call me. I will be glad to talk with you.

There is a lot of talk about changes to the way that real estate agents and brokers charge for services. There is a lot of talk about the unfairness of charging Sellers 3% (more or less) to list their homes on the MLS. The fact is that listing a home on the MLS system takes about 20 minutes if you are poor typist. Preparing the listing documents takes about 10 minutes, less if you know what you are doing. Reviewing the documents takes a couple of minutes each when you do several hundred a year. Interviewing the Seller as part of the listing process takes between 10 and 30 minutes. The total time invested in the actual listing is less than an hour if you don't waste time.

Most of the time the Listing Agent/Broker must spend days and days and countless hours chasing potential listing clients. They compete with thousands of other agents and brokers for a limited number of clients wanting to sell their home. If you have to compete with the masses of people you must either charge a significant fee to compensate you for the time that you have to spend, or, you find a way to save time.

I started offering flat fee MLS listings in October 2004. During 2005 my company listed over 700 homes on the MLS in Texas, with over 600 of those in the DFW area. We did that because we offered listing services for fees as low as $99. Clients love our service and we make money.

How we make money is very simple. We have developed a technology and a system of working with that technology that makes the process of collecting and managing the flow of information between our clients and the MLS system the most efficient that is possible. Because of our system we operate at a much lower cost and with a higher level of service quality than anyone else in the market. This allows us to keep our costs down and thereby keep our fees low.

Our clients love the service and refer their friends. It works. Simple.

When more buyers and sellers experience this new way of doing business, and as they tell their friends and associates, this new way of doing business will catch on.

Got questions? Call me - Lee Thurburn - at 972-470-5888. I will answer your questions.
Want to get into the business? We license our technology. Even our competitors use our system.
Call any time.

Flat Fee Texas MLS Services

Texas Real Estate Listings

At NetOffer.com, we believe that educated homeowners should have a choice when it comes to selling their property. We have positioned ourselves at the forefront of an emerging trend in the real estate industry. Whereas several years ago, listing agents really had to hustle to market their houses; today, listing agents can fully automate their marketing, thanks to online MLS services and sites like Realtor.com.

It seems absurd that listing agents should get to take up to three percent of a sale merely for putting in a few hours work. Yet the real estate industry has gone to great lengths to propagate the myth that listing a home is an incredibly complicated activity which requires constant guidance. The truth is that, with a little education and research, you should be able to get your home on the market with ease.

A Better Way to List Texas Real Estate

Our company has been helping educated sellers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area save money and time. We do 90 to 95 percent of all the activities that traditional agents do. However, we don't waste time, and we're not going to overcharge you for services which you can easily do yourself. In fact, we even reserve our clients the right to sell their home themselves and save all commissions. What a deal!

Many people are becoming aware of flat fee MLS listing services like ours, and their awareness is changing the industry. Unlike the traditional real estate listing process, there's no "fat" in our process. Thus, we don't have to charge our clients extra to make up for bloated overhead. Explore our website today, and learn more about how our unique flat fee Texas MLS service can put you in the driver's seat in terms of listing your home.