{"id":613,"date":"2006-11-07T22:29:10","date_gmt":"2006-11-08T05:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=613"},"modified":"2006-11-07T22:43:43","modified_gmt":"2006-11-08T05:43:43","slug":"a-horrifying-thought-experiment-elaborating-on-a-brokerage-business-model-that-could-completely-disintermediate-buyers-agents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/613\/a-horrifying-thought-experiment-elaborating-on-a-brokerage-business-model-that-could-completely-disintermediate-buyers-agents\/","title":{"rendered":"A horrifying thought experiment: Elaborating on a brokerage business model that could completely disintermediate buyer&#8217;s agents . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=611\" target=\"_blank\">I wrote this this morning<\/a>, and it&#8217;s been bugging me all day:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Here&#8217;s a thought: The $99 divorce. It only works where the split is unclouded by children or property. But imagine a $999 FSBO package: The usual MLS-only marketing package with a buy-back guarantee for the buyer. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=368\" target=\"_blank\">Quoting me<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;From the buyer&#8217;s point of view, the buyer&#8217;s agent&#8217;s compensation can be thought of as a risk premium. An important benefit the agent brings to the transaction is a reduction in the risks the buyer takes on in purchasing a home. There is certainly a value to this, but that value cannot possibly be infinite &#8212; nor even terribly elastic.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>If, by using something akin to insurance, a Realty.bot can drive the risk of limited service buyer&#8217;s agency to something approaching zero &#8212; then what?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This is a business model. I&#8217;m not saying anyone will &#8212; or should &#8212; do it, but it is a workable answer to marketing objections.<\/p>\n<p>Consider: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nuwayrealty.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Nu-Way Realty<\/a> is a low-ball lister in the Phoenix market. They&#8217;re very big on promoting their listings &#8212; big newspaper ads and flyers distributed door-to-door. Taking account that MLS search is ubiquitous by now, they have that as promotion of their listings, too.<\/p>\n<p>Do you see why this matters? Buyer&#8217;s agents don&#8217;t control what houses their buyers know about. As long as buyers can log onto an IDX system, they can say, &#8220;What about this one?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A brokerage like Nu-Way could leverage all of this.<\/p>\n<p>First, let&#8217;s do a limited-service listing &#8212; but with stipulations. Part of the listing contract is a full inspection of the property, with the seller agreeing to correct any identified defects <i>prior<\/i> to the MLS listing.<\/p>\n<p>The listing brokerage now has a listed home in which it has a high degree of confidence. This is why it can offer a Money Back Guarantee &#8212; because it will never be in a position where it will have to honor it.<\/p>\n<p>The MLS listing carries a $1 co-broke, which is the ultimate joke on all the NAR posturing about price-fixing. Probably, most buyer&#8217;s agents won&#8217;t show these homes <i>voluntarily<\/i>, but there is nothing to prevent buyers from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/613\/a-horrifying-thought-experiment-elaborating-on-a-brokerage-business-model-that-could-completely-disintermediate-buyers-agents\/#more-613\" class=\"more-link\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I wrote this this morning, and it&#8217;s been bugging me all day: Here&#8217;s a thought: The $99 divorce. It only works where the split is unclouded by children or property. But imagine a $999 FSBO package: The usual MLS-only marketing package with a buy-back guarantee for the buyer. Quoting me: &#8220;From the buyer&#8217;s point of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-613","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-disintermediation","7":"category-marketing","8":"category-real-estate","10":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":611,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/611\/election-day-links-the-essence-of-liberty-now-is-out-running-those-who-would-enslave-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":613,"position":0},"title":"Election Day Links: The essence of liberty, now, is out-running those who would enslave us . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"November 7, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I know a lot of people who don't vote. Not because they're lazy, but because they're philosophically opposed to the whole business. For my own part, I vote for just about the same reason I go to Mass, and about as often. Since 1848 or so, the main objective of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogging&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":144,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/144\/the-buyer-can-and-should-negotiate-the-buyers-agents-compensation\/","url_meta":{"origin":613,"position":1},"title":"The buyer can &#8212; and should &#8212; negotiate the buyer&#8217;s agent&#8217;s compensation . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"July 28, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"My phone hasn't rung yet, but my ears are already burning. My column in today's Arizona Republic: Buyer should negotiate compensation for agent. (A more-permanent link.) This is Ardell's turf, of course, although my take on The Big Picture is somewhat different. In any case, I expect to have my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Marketing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6137,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/6137\/the-deathless-prose-of-the-bloodhounds-against-advice-of-broker\/","url_meta":{"origin":613,"position":2},"title":"The deathless prose of the Bloodhounds: Against advice of broker","author":"Greg Swann","date":"December 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a form I wrote for a house that Cathleen may or may not have in play. The details have been fictionalized, but the underlying situation -- a house trashed so badly that it becomes a menace to safety -- will probably only become more common. Caveat lector: I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Marketing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":519,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/519\/the-seller-really-pays-for-the-buyers-agent-definitely-not-when-the-buyer-pays-out-of-pocket-but-what-if-the-buyer-really-did-pay-for-the-buyers-agent-from-the-buyers-side-of-the-hud-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":613,"position":3},"title":"The seller really pays for the buyer&#8217;s agent? Definitely not when the buyer pays out of pocket. But what if the buyer really did pay for the buyer&#8217;s agent from the buyer&#8217;s side of the HUD-1?","author":"Greg Swann","date":"October 7, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"There's a lot of discussion of Buyer Broker compensation going on around the RE.net, and I want to draw attention to it while I can. I have some further thoughts of my own, but I'm not sure I'll be able to get to them today. It's Saturday, after all. One\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogging&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":368,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/368\/more-buyer-agency-email-the-quality-of-representation-is-not-strained-by-full-disclosure\/","url_meta":{"origin":613,"position":4},"title":"More buyer agency email: The quality of representation is not strained &#8212; by full disclosure . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"No hostile phone calls today, which is not usually the case. But here is another email from another testy real estate broker. For what it's worth, I think these brokers deserve credit for standing up for their opinions, rather than hiding behind anonymous phone calls. But: I think the argument\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Marketing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2181,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2181\/a-consumers-guide-to-the-divorced-real-estate-commission-will-the-negotiating-their-buyers-agents-compensation-make-buyers-more-practical\/","url_meta":{"origin":613,"position":5},"title":"A consumer&#8217;s guide to the divorced real estate commission: Will the necessity of negotiating their buyer&#8217;s agent&#8217;s compensation make buyers more practical?","author":"Greg Swann","date":"November 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Part II: How buyers can finally take a seat at the grown-up's table When a potential home-seller calls me to set up a listing appointment, very often the first question I will hear is, \"How much do you charge?\" A motivated seller is done with the house, and now all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Marketing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}