<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>518795-00197</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Received Date:</b></TD> <TD>10/23/2005 4:50:26 PM</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Organization:</b></TD> <TD>Carol Shields, Realtor</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Commenter:</b></TD> <TD>Shields, Carol</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>State:</b></TD> <TD>IL</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 Real Estate business is probably THE MOST COMPETITIVE profession in the United States. I have had experience in other businesses prior to becoming a Realtor and I can guarentee you, none of them were as competitive as I found upon starting my career in Real Estate. This is a tough business - when a buyer or seller of real estate is pitting you against all your competition with every transaction you're involved in. Remember, this is our job. It is our source of income. If we don't complete the transaction, we don't get paid. And, the remarkable part of it all, is that we're able to be this competitive and still handle our clients and their transaction in a professional and ethical manner. Imagine if you will, any other job that every time you're called for the use of your services, you would be in competition with 5 or 6 representatives of other companies who are equally trained, equally responsible and equally as available as you are to handle the job. We don't have tenure, like teachers do. We don't have job guarantees after a certain number of years, like many large corporations offer. We don't have guaranteed cushy retirements waiting for us, like government workers do. Our only guarantee is to make sure that we're giving 110% every minute on our client's behalf. We fight every day to keep our jobs. And, we do it ethically. And, that makes me very proud to be a Realtor. </body> </HTML>