True Gotham

Remember the happy day when we learned that REBNY plans to make New York City listings publicly available online? We should have known it was never going to be that simple. Curbed has anonymous information that a mutiny of some independent and smaller REBNY members is brewing. Curbed was forwarded the following:

Petition
REBNY RLS PUBLIC WEB PORTAL

Whereas REBNY is organized to represent the best interests of its Member firms, and,

Whereas the proposed RLS Public Web Portal appears to serve only the interests of the largest Member firms, and

Whereas the decision to embark on this project was neither transparent nor democratic, therefore

We the undersigned REBNY Residential Broker Members hereby demand that the Board immediately cease plans to implement this Portal and instead seek further discussions with the members, after which the proposed plan would be approved or rejected by a majority vote of all Member firms.

My knee jerk reaction: I am so sick of these smaller firms bitching and moaning about the bigger fish. Smaller firms are SCARED!

Although the Real Estate Board of NY intends to make ALL member (including the small firms) listings available on one site, the smaller firms continue to resist. My speculation is that in many cases the smaller firms have little to offer clients other than “information," a reality that threatens to make them obsolete. They simply can’t compete with the marketing goliaths that have the largest part of the market locked up.

Now that the listings are becoming public, firms that aren't good at much besides sharing listings are losing their sacred stronghold on information.

I suggest that these firms find a way to exploit their small size and focus more on the advantages (not many but some) of working with a boutique firm and release their information hostage.

By the way, I frequently see some of these smaller firms exhibiting larger firms' properties on their web sites. To the opponents of public information… stop the bellyaching and start providing a significant service to earn your commission. Then, and only then, will you have nothing to worry about.

UPDATE: More on this topic.

Douglas, I think you are lumping an awful lot of people into the idea of "smaller firms". The ones with the practices you refer to are really the mid-sizeish rental firms that have branched out into sales. They are the ones who post open listings on NYTimes.com as well as--in some cases--posting other broker's listings so as to procure the largest number of phone calls.And yes, they are scared because as you rightly point out, they have little to offer and will encounter tremendous difficulty in finding buyers to work with once the portal is up. The truly small boutique brokerage houses (often with just a few brokers)tend to have a small amount of exclusives per year, and receive their buyers from referrals. This portal--in my view--will in no way endanger these firms. On the contrary, a more streamlined process is welcome.you have to admit that the startup cost situation faced by tiny brokeage houses is unfair, but personally I don't get so up in arms about these things. So--a long winded way of saying I agree with pretty much everything you said, I simply object to the catch-all phrase of "smaller firms"

Douglas, I think you are lumping an awful lot of people into the idea of "smaller firms". The ones with the practices you refer to are really the mid-sizeish rental firms that have branched out into sales. They are the ones who post open listings on NYTimes.com as well as--in some cases--posting other broker's listings so as to procure the largest number of phone calls.And yes, they are scared because as you rightly point out, they have little to offer and will encounter tremendous difficulty in finding buyers to work with once the portal is up. The truly small boutique brokerage houses (often with just a few brokers)tend to have a small amount of exclusives per year, and receive their buyers from referrals. This portal--in my view--will in no way endanger these firms. On the contrary, a more streamlined process is welcome.you have to admit that the startup cost situation faced by tiny brokeage houses is unfair, but personally I don't get so up in arms about these things. So--a long winded way of saying I agree with pretty much everything you said, I simply object to the catch-all phrase of "smaller firms"

I never intended to inply at all that EVERY small firm is "scared" or "sleazy." I also don't at all want to imply that many of the agents at larger firms don't also engage in unethical practices. That said, my experience has been that a larger number of agents with the "smaller" firms are incredibly difficult to deal with and it is almost always becuase the barrier to entry for these "smaller" firms is even lower than the larger ones. I also have given considerable thought to the amount that REBNY wants to charge small firms vs. large firms and I am in complete agreement that it isn't properly scaled.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

This posting is offensive on so many levels. To suggest that the independent brokers are "whining" is ridiculous. Real estate brokerage is how we make our living, not a trivial issue. It takes a lot of savvy to run your own company and in this evolving world of mega-corps it becomes even harder to remain independent and consumers in general have fewer and fewer choices.

As for the portal, the majority of listings will be from the largest firms. As internet trends have shown us, only the most powerful brands profit from large unified sites. Small firms' brands will be reduced to insignificance alongside the large firms unless the portal has no branding at all, which will never be acceptable to the larger firms. While large firms have the most power in this debate, small firms were originally asked to bear the lion's share of the set-up costs. Put simply, this translates to the small firms paying to build the brands for the larger firms. Apparently, REBNY is reconsidering this pricing model and have recognized their error in presentation.

The major objection to the portal is that it was originally presented as though the plans were being implemented without any input from the members. Many independents, mid-tier firms, and even brokers in large firms simply want more information and discussion before decisions are made.

The petition that many signed is simply to demand a more open discussion. Douglas, the petition you posted was a draft, not the final version. As you were not part of these discussions, you do not have a full understanding of why many of us are concerned. I certainly did not like the wording of the petition as you posted it. The initial draft only represented the opinion of its writer (who was from a mid-tier firm not an independent.) The draft was not an accurate representation of the opinions of the majority of independent and mid-tier brokers. The petition was changed for that reason.

Personally, I do not have issues with the big firms and work very well with them. In my experience it is less about the firm and more about the specific broker within the firm. There are good and bad brokers, from both large and small firms. Many independents have far more experience and broker many more deals per year than many large firm brokers do individually. So to characterize independents as not providing a "significant service" is a serious misstatement.

You state that independents are" bitching and moaning about the bigger fish" and seem to imply that we should play along with the big firms. While this may be true, REBNY is collectively our trade organization and was not setup to further the cause of the large firms at the expense of the small and mid-sized firms. REBNY has worked in many cases to level the playing field between agencies and that should continue. Smaller firms simply need to know that they still have a voice in the organization and are being heard. This should not be a battle between big and small firms forcing REBNY to take sides, but many arguments on both sides are creating this adversarial environment.

Lastly, your comments about holding information "hostage" and "listings becoming public" are also inaccurate. Truly "public listings" would eliminate agents entirely! What the public really wants is less fees in real estate transactions. This can only be achieved by matching buyers directly with sellers and letting their attorneys negotiate the deals. This result is something no firm, large or small wants to see. Therefore big and small engage is similar "hostage" holding as you refer to it.

Mr. Sherman,

In many ways (most in fact) we appear to be on the same page. I acknowledged in my first comment on this post that the pricing structure seemed to be scaled inappropriately. Regarding the validity of the petition that I posted, I made it clear that it was sent in by a reader of Curbed. I was also clear about my post being a knee jerk reaction to the petition.

The bigger picture here is that not REBNY, the NAR, nor any other "self-governing" body is going to have 100% success in pleasing all of their members, and that alone is reason to suggest that none of these organizations should be involved in creating, monitoring, or governing any type of MLS (RLS as it's called in Manhattan).

Let's also not forget that there are a significant number of Independents who choose not to join REBNY (as well as the NAR) and thus will not be included in this portal. Manhattan will still not have an MLS like the rest of the United States... and this is good?

Furthermore, I'm astonished that you openly suggest that I and many of my colleagues wouldn't welcome a "truly" open listing system available to the public. I would suggest that you seriously consider welcoming this very real possibility because it IS going to happen. Our industry is changing right before our eyes and those who resist this change (I know change is scary) and continue to do business as they have for the past 20-30 year are in for a rude awakening. Those who embrace this change and change the very way they think about service and the real estate industry will be the pioneers of the new real estate marketplace.

And I am absolutely suggesting a "truly open listing system" as you put it. Not only do I believe this to be the best thing for the consumer, but it will change the way our industry does business in a way that will be more professional and more efficient for everyone involved. No doubt that a lot of people will leave the industry and fewer will enter it as it will be much more challenging (and rewarding) to succeed. Those I imagine, like yourself, of the utmost integrity who exhibit the highest level of professionalism will remain an asset to anyone who wants an expert to guide them through the process of selling or buying often the largest asset in their portfolios. These new consumers will look to real estate professionals to guide them through the plethora of information that they will bring to you. Ready yourselves...it's happening!