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Hearing Before The House Financial Services
Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity
Entitled
“The Changing Real Estate Market”
Testimony of Pat Vredevoogd-Combs, ABR®, CRS®, GRI, PMN
2006 President-Elect
National Association of REALTORS®
July 25, 2006
Chairman Ney, Representative Waters, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to testify on the changing real estate market. My name is Pat Vredevoogd-Combs, and I am the broker-owner and partner of AJS Realty, a residential real estate company in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
As the 2006 President-Elect of the National Association of REALTORS®, I am here to testify on behalf of our more than 1.3 million REALTOR® members who are involved in residential and commercial real estate as brokers, sales people, property managers, appraisers, counselors and others engaged in all aspects of the real estate industry. Members belong to one or more of some 1,400 local associations/boards and 54 state and territory associations of REALTORS®. Additionally, they can join one of our many institutes, societies and councils to enhance their expertise and network with other professionals globally. Working for America’s property owners, NAR provides a forum for professional development, research and the exchange of information among its members, and to the public and government for the purpose of preserving the free enterprise system and the right to own real property.
Before diving into the substance of the issues that are the subject of today’s hearing, I would like to take this opportunity to respond to a number of concerns that policymakers, analysts and media observers have raised regarding the practices and policies of the National Association of REALTORS®.
- NAR does not limit competition by excluding from membership innovative real estate firms. The truth is quite the opposite; NAR welcomes all professionals engaged in various aspects of the real estate industry and our members represent almost every conceivable real estate business model.
- NAR is not a cartel and does not encourage imitative price-setting. NAR is zealous in avoiding any activity, and encouraging members to avoid activity, that could even appear to constitute agreements on prices. Moreover, it would simply be impossible to implement an agreement on prices among NAR’s 1.3 million vigorously competitive members. NAR does not conduct research on commission rates out of concerns that the research results could have the effect of setting a “going rate” or benchmark for REALTORS® to set their commissions. NAR also has longstanding anti-trust compliance policy stating that the price of services provided by REALTORS® is a decision that should be made independently by each firm. NAR emphasizes that members must take care to present pricing policies to prospective clients in a manner that is consistent with the fact that the fees or prices are independently established.
- NAR does not control or in any manner limit consumers’ access to real estate information on the Internet. In this respect also, the converse is true. NAR created and operates Realtor.com, the largest real estate internet site with over 2.2 million listings available for the public to search and view on a 24/7/365 basis. The reality is that REALTORS® have embraced the Internet because it has helped make the transaction more open and efficient. For example, according to NAR member surveys, the number of REALTORS® with Web sites has increased 129 percent over the past five years. Nearly 90 percent of REALTOR® firms have Web sites with searchable property listings and 71 percent of individual REALTORS® maintain a personal business Web site. REALTORS® are also the driving force behind technological advances in the industry spending more than $1 billion a year on technology.
Real Estate Brokerage
Competition in the Real Estate Industry
Technology
Conclusion
Attachment: Actions, Research Steps, Procedures, Processes and Review Stages in a Real Estate Transaction
NAR Press Release - July 25, 2006
NAR's Position on Real Estate Competition
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