Cyberhomes & Keller Williams Partner On Listings

Keller Williams announced this week that they are providing listings from their new KWLS system to Cyberhomes, a valuation site operated by Fidelity National Financial. A snippet from their agent announcement:

“Keller Williams Realty is an agent-centric organization and FNRES’s Cyberhomes business model supports this focus, making it a good fit for us and our associates,” says Keller Williams Chief Technology Officer, David Therrien.

“We wouldn't be able to provide this to our associates if we hadn't launched the KWLS last year,” he adds. "We will continue to build partnerships that will help our associates reach more consumers without spending a dime of their money."

I am very impressed with KW's commitment to listing distribution and some of the new tools they are empowering agents with. For those not familiar with KWLS, RisMedia has a great interview with KW's CTO, David Therrien about the system and KW's goals.

Back in 2000/2001 I worked with a company that was a trail-blazer regarding the concept of data control and listing distribution, our tag line was "Take Control". That seems to be the central theme of KWLS. It's a smart play.

Iggy Gets Jiggy With The MLS

Buyside Realty announces a new business model today that is sure to have the RE.Net buzzing for some time to come. It will be interesting to hear what everyone has to say about it. Buyside's business model is based upon a buyer rebate that gives 75% of the commission they receive from the seller.

Today Buyside has announced an ABA, (affliated business arrangement) whereby any homeowner can list a home in the MLS free of charge. It's called IggysHouse.Com. Interesting branding, I couldn't find anything on their site that explained the moniker. Could be they just got tired of searching for decent real estate domains, there aren't too many left out there.

After visiting their site, I decided to jump over to BuySide Realty and was presented with an exit screen that presented me with an ABA disclosure statement. A quick visit to the "Learn" tab on Iggy's House explains, in part, what their business model is.

How do you offer this service for free when others charge hundreds or thousands of dollars?

In April 2006, our sister company, BuySide Realty, was launched. BuySide shares 75% of the commission it receives from the seller, and keeps 25% for the expert assistance it provides buyers from offer to close. On average, BuySide clients have received over $11,000 each. We realize that most sellers are in the market to buy a home as well. By giving people free tools to sell their home, we believe many will turn to BuySide Realty when they are ready to buy.

Iggyshouse is tagged as a beta site. It could be they just wanted it to join the ranks of every other web 2.0 start up. Maybe it gives them just enough wiggle room to toy with the business model. It should be interesting to see how the whole thing shakes out. Just about every start-up there is in this space had to gut their original concept. Many haven't survived. Those that have look nothing like the executive summaries that graced those energetic business plans in the early days. In any case, it should prove interesting.

Other Stories On This Topic
ClickZ
Denver Post
Yahoo Finance (Buyside's Press Release)

Anti Trust Issues Not Exclusive To U.S.

A discount broker in Canada has shut down operations pending resolution of Multiple Listing service issues. It seems that the Canadian Association of Realtors is considering imposition of new rules that would limit Realty Sellers Ltd. from operating it's discount business model. A visit to their site shows only their logo.

It's the classic argument that has been taking place in markets throughout the U.S. between full service and so called "discount" brokers. The only twist in this instance seems to be CREA's assertion that their is some sort of trademark violation taking place. Here's a pull quote from an article in the GlobeandMail.Com

"The issue came to a head earlier this year when CREA's board announced a series of changes that it said were designed to protect the MLS trademark. The proposals included requirements that agents inspect homes before listing them on the MLS and work with other agents throughout the sale process."

I'm not sure how the trademark violation issue comes into play if the discount broker is a board member, which in this case Realty Sellers, LTD is. I wonder how it would play down here if the MLS' started requiring agents to inspect properties before they take a listing agreement?

The Canadian equivalent to the FTC is called the Competition Bureau. According to the article they have expressed concerns over the new MLS rule proposals as well. I wonder if they will take a cue from the recent opinion released by the DOJ regarding similar issues here in the States?

In the Houston,TX area, "discount" brokers and full service brokers have coexisted in the MLS for some time now. From what I can see it hasn't had a impact on the ability for traditional brokers to flourish. Most of the major brokers in this area are posting record increases in business. I'm not sure what kind of market share discounters have in the area but I haven't heard of any of them complaining that they are being hampered by anti-competitive tactics.

Free enterprise is alive and well on the Gulf Coast.