<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>518795-00151</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Received Date:</b></TD> <TD>10/21/2005 7:49:35 PM</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Organization:</b></TD> <TD>Patrick A. Daniels Real Estate Broker</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Commenter:</b></TD> <TD>Daniels, Patrick</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>State:</b></TD> <TD>CA</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/> The residential real estate industry is easier than ever to get into, which is evident by the proliferation of agents over the last seven years. Virtually ANYONE can become a licensee, and anyone does: That's why the general public by and large dislikes real estate agents. Becoming a real estate agent is far too easy and too fast for what the service contemplates: The sale of what for many people is both their most important asset, and the one thing that physically binds their family together: a home. I was unprepared to serve the public until I got a degree in real estate finance and demonstrated my competency by passing a broker's examination twenty-six years ago. THEN I needed supervison for a couple of years until I both understood what I was doing, and realized the position of trust I was assuming with regard to the public. But these days, not only do Walmart cashiers, postal clerks, and MacDonalds food handlers drop their aprons, dawn blazers, and answer to the name Realtor after just a few weeks of free real-estate-license school, but so-called alternative business models pop up virtually overnight to siphon off what everyone believes is "easy money." ... And it is easy money because the alternative models--who operate without restraint--provide little service to the public; which further degrades the industry's reputation for professionalism. And if the alternative business models are web based, the state of California cannot even compell them to be licensed. Anyone who wants to can easily get in on the real estate boom. And they have. Heck, an elementry school teacher requires a degree and credentials before they can teach a numb-skull how to color. But anyone with training not much more complex than what it takes to qualify for a car salesperson's license can get a real estate license and undertake a multifacted transaction having serious finanical and legal implications. Noncompetitive? You gotta be kiddin' me! If anything, the requirements to become a real estate licensee should be elevated, and partial-service providers should be outlawed. </body> </HTML>