Housing.com News, Analysis & Opinion: Mortgage & Loan: Realtors Control Information Flow

Bernard is not only trackable, but she is a tracker. She says it helps her be a better real estate agent. Through a Web-based notification service, she can see what homes her clients are interested in and copies of e-mails sent to new clients who register on her Web site, KittyBernard.com."I can e-mail them and say, 'I see you've been on my Web site.'...She logs on to Top Producer, Web-based software for real estate agents that allows Bernard to retrieve notes on her clients wherever she has access to the Internet. She can look up clients' birthdays and home-buying anniversaries, lending a personal touch to her service.

I don't think real estate agents are any more inherently untrustworthy or trustworthy than any other occupation (though I'm sure many of my fellow bloggers might disagree :) ). But I'm sure it's extraordinarily tempting to do things like pocket listing when you have a closed, unmonitored system like the MLS with no oversight.

As long as the NAR controls the information flow, the balance will always be tilted against the homeowner. Information is power. Breaking up the MLS and offering open listing services will disperse a lot of real estate establishment power. That power will flow to FSBOs, discount brokers, Web sellers, etc., but it'll flow to buyers and sellers most of all.

And then, the next time Kitty Bernard e-mails you with a cheery note about your birthday, you can politely say, "Thank you! I just sold my house myself the other day, but I appreciate the note." :)

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Today's Washington Post has a front-page article about the extent to which Americans are observed and spied upon in the modern day. While this is chilling and thought-provoking in its own right, of particular interest is that the subject, Kitty Bernard, is a real estate agent--and that she indulges in some techno-spying of her own. Check it out: Bernard is not only trackable, but she is a tracker. She says it helps her be a better real estate agent. Through a Web-based notification service, she can see what homes her clients are interested in and copies of e-mails sent to new clients who register on her Web site, KittyBernard.com."I can e-mail them and say, 'I see you've been on my Web site.'...She logs on to Top Producer, Web-based software for real estate agents that allows Bernard to retrieve notes on her clients wherever she has access to the Internet. She can look up clients' birthdays and home-buying anniversaries, lending a personal touch to her service. I don't think real estate agents are any more inherently untrustworthy or trustworthy than any other occupation (though I'm sure many of my fellow bloggers might disagree :) ). But I'm sure it's extraordinarily tempting to do things like pocket listing when you have a closed, unmonitored system like the MLS with no oversight. As long as the NAR controls the information flow, the balance will always be tilted against the homeowner. Information is power. Breaking up the MLS and offering open listing services will disperse a lot of real estate establishment power. That power will flow to FSBOs, discount brokers, Web sellers, etc., but it'll flow to buyers and sellers most of all. And then, the next time Kitty Bernard e-mails you with a cheery note about your birthday, you can politely say, "Thank you! I just sold my house myself the other day, but I appreciate the note." :)