FireDream

Internet Commerce Benefits Homebuyers

With today’s technologies, many of us have grown to rely on the internet to help us research or purchase everything from groceries to automobiles.  Most industries-including our own-have embraced this new frontier as a great opportunity to better market our products and services and see it as a venue by which we can actually offer lower prices to our customers.

Unfortunately, there are some folks who have struggled making the transition to doing business in this type of evnironment.  And in some sectors there was, by some accounts, discrimination against those who took advantage of the internet to promote their industry and offerings.

Late last month, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had reached a proposed settlement with the National Association of Realtors (NAR).  In 2005, the Anti-Trust Division of the DOJ filed suit against the NAR relating to their policies and rules towards brokers who utilized internet-based marketing tools to offer expanded services and lower costs to consumers.  The suit alleged that the NAR allowed traditional brokers to withhold their listings from internet-based realtors and that it also prevented brokers from educating clients through an internet site and then referring those clients, for a fee, to brokers who would work with them in person.

Under the terms of the settlement, brokers will be allowed to provide residential brokerage services via the internet, thus increasing competition between brokers and opening up both opportunities for education and for savings for potential homebuyers.  The settlement, according to Deputy Assistant Attorney General (Antitrust Division) Deborah Garza, “prevents traditional brokers from deliberately impeding competition.  When there is unfettered competition from brokers with innovative and efficient approaches to the residential real estate market, consumers are likely to receive better services and pay lower commission rates.”

The DOJ’s announcement will be welcomed by the many exceptional real estate brokers who are wisely utilizing the internet to offer more and better services to their customers.  The settlement breaks through the old school traditions of the real estate industry and better levels the playing field for those professionals who are innovative and insightful enough to see the benefits that the internet provides.

For a complete copy of the DOJ’s press release, please visit http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/May/08-at-467.html

This blog is for informational/entertainment purposes and is not meant to provide any financial or legal advice.