<HTML> <HEAD> <title>WebForm1</title> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 7.1"> <meta name="CODE_LANGUAGE" content="Visual Basic .NET 7.1"> <meta name="vs_defaultClientScript" content="JavaScript"> <meta name="vs_targetSchema" content="http://schemas.microsoft.com/intellisense/ie5"> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content='text/html; charset=UTF-8'> </HEAD> <body > <TABLE id="Table1" cellSpacing="1" cellPadding="1" width="100%" border="0"> <TR> <TD><b>Comment Number:</b></TD> <TD>518795-00019</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Received Date:</b></TD> <TD>10/18/2005 3:28:11 PM</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Organization:</b></TD> <TD>Tennessee Valley Realty, Inc.</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Commenter:</b></TD> <TD>Jones, Claude</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>State:</b></TD> <TD>AL</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Agency:</b></TD> <TD>Federal Trade Commission</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Rule:</b></TD> <TD>Competition Policy and the Real Estate Industry</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Docket ID:</b></TD> <TD>To Be Added</TD> </TR> <TR> <td colspan='2'>No Attachments</td> </TR> </TABLE> <hr/> <b>Comments:</b><br/><br/> I have only been in Real Estate since January of 2003 in that short time have learned several things about my new profession. And I use that term loosely. I have learned that there are some very competent professionals in this profession. They try to do the best for their client and always follow the law and code of ethics. There are others that straddle the line of right and wrong daily. REALTORS are taught early on not to violate the code of ethics. We should not say anything bad about another REALTOR. File a grievance against another REALTOR and while no one openly says it but any listings that you have are somehow ignored when searching the MLS while working with a prospective buyer. Has this happened to me? No. Do I have evidence that this has happened? No. However, it has been implied to me that could happen if I reported someone. Same thing with discounting commissions. REALTORS can see what their commission percentage will be on a particular sale. Guess which ones get the most attention? The largest ones of course, where the REALTOR will make the most money. Is Real Estate competitive? You bet. The national average of sales per year per agent is around 7 and going down. Real Estate schools are spitting out graduates as fast as they can. In a market where 2734 listings were sold in the last 12 months, we have 293 agents. That is an average of 9.3 per agent per year. The average sales price is $120,450. At the normally charged broker fee of 6%, the average commission is $7,227 before the brokers split and if you are dealing with both the buyer and seller. Multiply that times the average number of transactions per year per agent of 9.3. That results is a gross annual commission of $67,211.10, before brokers split which is around 25%. Now that leaves only $53,768. If you only have one side of all transactions that number is cut to $26, 884.44. All of these numbers are of course before taxes and operating expenses. Can a person survive on that kind of money, not for long. That is why there is a very high exodus rate of agents. I don't know the exact number but I believe it is 90% of all agents get out of the business in the first five years. I used these numbers to amplify how competitive the Real Estate business is. The Real Estate business is changing. It hasn't changed much, if at all, since it's first days. The internet has had a lot to do with causing change. The industry needs to change dramtically in how agents are compensated for their services. In my opinion the overall organization of the business causes most of the problems. In the end the consumer ends up on the losing end and REALTORS get put in the class with unscrupulous used car salesmen. I am glad and proud that I am now a REALTOR. But there are many changes that need to be made that will make being a REALTOR truly a Profession. The NAR's new ILD is a positive change. We are compelled to share our listings with other brokers on our MLS why not those same listing over the internet? </body> </HTML>