Speaking of Myrtle Beach Real Estate

An article appeared in USA Today on May 29 entitled "One Bright Sign Emerges in a Gloomy Housing Market".  The article was about the multi-year ordeal between the Department of Justice and the National Association of Realtors over Internet listing display rules.  The article suggested that the DOJ is coming to the rescue of the housing sector.

Richard Smith, CEO of Realogy Corporation, wrote a response letter which USA Today has not yet printed.  I want to publish that letter here in my blog in the event that you are not able to read it in the newspaper.  Mr. Smith makes some very important points that informed readers need to know:

Dear Editor,

To suggest in your May 29 editorial that the Justice Department has come to the rescue of the housing sector and is "the only promising development in an otherwise gloomy market for home sellers" is inaccurate and disingenuous. The multi-year ordeal between the DOJ and the National Association of Realtors over Internet listing display rules was like witnessing a battle over how best to deliver mail by horseback. Did someone forget it is 2008?

The industry and consumers have moved on. Real estate listings are ubiquitous on the Internet today (just type in "Real Estate for Sale" on Google and you will get 156 million hits). Also, to categorize the settlement as a win for discount brokers and sellers alike is also misguided. Discount or limited-service brokers have had access to multiple listing service (MLS) data for years. Their failure to achieve success, even during the boom years, has not been a lack of access to MLS data, but rather the lack of results. A failed business model by any definition is a failed business model. Crying foul to the federal government, or suggesting that states shouldn’t have the right to legislate minimum service standards for real estate practitioners doing business in their state, is no remedy to a flawed business model. 

Buying or selling property is a highly complex transaction with a long cycle time. Comparing the sale of a home to buying a share of stock or an airline ticket online is ridiculous at best. Those transactions take seconds to complete and the risk of making a bad decision is an inconvenience or a fraction of one’s net worth – not so with real estate. Home buyers and sellers would all be a lot better off if Congress and the administration focused on ways to stimulate the current housing and credit markets with meaningful and timely initiatives.

Richard A. Smith

President & CEO

Realogy Corporation

Parsippany, New Jersey