{"id":980,"date":"2007-02-01T10:32:34","date_gmt":"2007-02-01T17:32:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=980"},"modified":"2007-04-20T17:25:08","modified_gmt":"2007-04-21T00:25:08","slug":"980","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/980\/980\/","title":{"rendered":"If there is no Realtor monopoly — then what explains the commission structure?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even though I asked people to humor me, I have been getting a lot of comments on the issue of monopoly.<\/p>\n

Brian Brady mentions: “I think you’re losing me a bit Michael. How are 3 million licensees in a nation of 300 million a monopoly?”<\/p>\n

The issue is how 3 million people are managing to keep the price stable. It’s hard enough for 3 people to collude, let alone three million, which makes this pricing phenomenon even more surprising. The issue here is with the National Association of Realtors and their practices. The Justice Department has stepped in because of this reason. Much like Microsoft and Windows, the NAR has employed many practices (some fair, others not so fair) to keep outside competition from competing for their services. The articles I linked to addressed this specifically.<\/p>\n

Norm Fisher writes: “Suggesting that Realtors have a monopoly on real estate is like saying that accountants have a monopoly on accounting, or car dealers have a monopoly on cars.”<\/p>\n

This is not quite the case. The market for selling personal vehicles is very active. There is no barrier to entry for me or anyone working against me when I try to sell my car to another person or even the dealer, who creates a very active market by buying these goods for no fee. Additionally, accounting fees are by no means fixed. I can go to H&R Block and get my taxes done for $19.95 or I can go to a private account and pay $200. The difference between all of these things is choice.<\/p>\n

Brian Brady mentions: “You can list your home and have it entered into the MLS for $299 nowadays. Redfin, Zip Realty, Help U sell, iPayOne, et al have been offering a consumer discount real estate brokerage for over 30 years.”<\/p>\n

Greg also mentions the variety of pricing. The issue is that the NAR is working to pass legislation preventing Realtors from working with these services. I agree there are more options, but the disagreement comes in the access that people who pursue these Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even though I asked people to humor me, I have been getting a lot of comments on the issue of monopoly. Brian Brady mentions: “I think you’re losing me a bit Michael. How are 3 million licensees in a nation of 300 million a monopoly?” The issue is how 3 million people are managing to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"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":[7,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-980","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-enduring-interest","7":"category-real-estate","9":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14182,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/14182\/hey-wisconsin-heres-a-better-idea-divest-your-state-of-its-education-monopoly\/","url_meta":{"origin":980,"position":0},"title":"Hey, Wisconsin: Here’s a better idea: Divest your state of its education monopoly!","author":"Greg Swann","date":"February 22, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm totally digging the contretemps in Wisconsin. My take is that a lot of formerly-innocent Americans are seeing the naked grasping of Rotarian Socialism in a new way. Even without 2008, I think most people got it that business and government lived hand-in-pocket with each other. But the holy aura\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disintermediation"","block_context":{"text":"Disintermediation","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/disintermediation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1341,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1341\/more-strip-monopoly-icahn-sells-nevada-casinos\/","url_meta":{"origin":980,"position":1},"title":"More Strip Monopoly: Icahn sells Nevada casinos","author":"Greg Swann","date":"April 23, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"More on the theme of Strip Monopoly: Billionaire Carl Icahn is selling all of his Nevada casino holdings to Goldman Sachs' Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds for $1.3 billion. This is interesting on a number of grounds, taken more or less least to greatest. Third, Icahn is going to net\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Investment"","block_context":{"text":"Investment","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/investment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1325,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1325\/whats-the-hottest-game-in-vegas-strip-monopoly\/","url_meta":{"origin":980,"position":2},"title":"What’s the hottest game in Vegas? Strip Monopoly!","author":"Greg Swann","date":"April 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Oh, keep your shirt on... Strip Monopoly refers to that famed Parker Brothers board game (now owned by the soulless Hasbro, alas) as played with the real-life real estate on Las Vegas Boulevard -- a\/k\/a \"The Strip.\" Earlier this week, Kirk Kerkorian's MGM Mirage acquired 33.4 acres of Strip-front real\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Investment"","block_context":{"text":"Investment","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/investment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17500,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/17500\/overnight-news-doj-sues-nar-nothing-that-matters-changes-redfin-rejoices\/","url_meta":{"origin":980,"position":3},"title":"Overnight News: DOJ sues NAR. Nothing that matters changes. Redfin rejoices.","author":"Greg Swann","date":"November 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw Housing Wire's story on the Department of Justice's anti-trust suit against the National Association of Realtors, and I thought: \"Yeehaw!\" But then I read Glenn Kelman's odd rejoicing, and I realized that the \"lawsuit\" is a done deal, and nothing that matters will have changed. Vide: From now\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Group Therapy"","block_context":{"text":"Group Therapy","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/group-therapy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ya think it's easy?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/BHBNewTopImage-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14915,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/14915\/what-could-be-worse-than-uncle-sam-as-the-nations-mortgage-monopolist-how-about-uncle-sam-the-monopoly-landlord\/","url_meta":{"origin":980,"position":4},"title":"What could be worse than Uncle Sam as the nation’s mortgage monopolist? How about Uncle Sam the monopoly landlord?","author":"Greg Swann","date":"August 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"From the Associated Press:The Obama administration may turn thousands of government-owned foreclosures into rental properties to help boost falling home prices. The Federal Housing Finance Agency said Wednesday it is seeking input from investors on how to rent roughly 250,000 homes owned by government-controlled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Mother"","block_context":{"text":"Big Mother","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/big-mother\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":978,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/978\/a-different-perspective-on-the-value-of-realtors\/","url_meta":{"origin":980,"position":5},"title":"A Different Perspective on the Value of Realtors","author":"Cooksquared","date":"February 1, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Has anyone ever wondered why the price of real estate agents has been 5-7% for what seems like an eternity? I know I run a serious risk of stepping on a lot of people's toes out there since this is a site run by realtors, but I really have been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980","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\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}