Internet Attack On the Brokerage Commission

Finding the house is probably 75 percent of the work. Why not give buyers 75 percent of the commission?

Today 77 percent of home buyers start their search on the Internet. Other sites provide comparison home value estimates and information about town and neighborhood facilities.

With their clients doing much of the grunt work, the new Internet "rebaters" are happy to take less for the services that the buyers still require – such as scheduling appointments with listing agents, preparing documents, guiding clients through closings and more. One of the main duties of a traditional buyer's agent is to drive clients around to listings.

For the brokers, it means a much more productive business model. One agent can do several transactions a week, while traditional agents do several transactions a year.

But traditional brokers hate these new business model. It threatens their livelihood. They'll be blackballed from the industry and other agents wouldn't show houses to our clients.