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Strategies & Market Trends : Rande Is . . . HOME -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kanetsu who wrote (51249)	5/3/2001 11:25:51 AM
From: Tradelite	Respond to of 57584

Kanetsu re HOMS.... I don't know what everyone pays, but some of the largest franchise and independent brokers in the country (one of which I was affiliated with for many years)seem to be buying blocks of "subscriptions" to HOMS services at less than the posted prices that you will find if you go to www.realtor.com. Smaller brokers may have to pay full freight----don't know. At any rate, there are different levels of service and different prices for each. I don't think it's appropriate to discuss what fees were in effect while I was actively engaged in the business or speculate on what other brokers might be arranging with HOMS and paying today. I also don't think it's all-important to focus on the contribution that these subscriptions make to HOMS' bottom line, profitwise. The company is bigger than just agent subscriptions. It runs a separate password-protected website for NAR called "One Realtor Place" which is an excellent resource for the industry. It operates the website of the National Association of Homebuilders. It does other things, too, which are clearly explained if you want to read them by going to www.Homestore.com and clicking on the "information about us" link. Links to the website have been much sought-after by other Internet sites and major media companies....all of which are listed under that link mentioned above. The important thing is that while the website is relatively new, more and more agents must be encouraged to use it and find how it works to their best advantage. I'm certain that if you get in at a discounted price, you'll get squeezed later with higher prices---I can't help but think that's the plan. This discount certainly worked to boost participation in my office, where I noticed many agents bought into the website, even in the case of agents who don't list much property that needs to display their name or who never do much personal advertising at all. I was an early subscriber and paid full freight before I got the cheaper price thru my broker----got a lot of inquiries from buyers, some of whom became my clients and paid for my fees many times over. The recent purchase of Move.com, which brought the Cendant brokers under the Realtor.com wing, is viewed as a great benefit.....and I believe it is. It's important to gather home listings in one place, where they can be found, in order to drive the most traffic to the website and increase business for Realtors, builders--and encourage more non-real estate entities to advertise on the site. Bank of America recently entered into an agreement with HOMS to establish a link to the home listings, but under the watchful eye of NAR, HOMS just pulled the plug on allowing B of A to frame the listings and make them look like they belong to B of A. The bank is not a happy camper and has expressed its severe disappointment, thinking it was going to get this little benefit, which NAR is not about to give away to any other website. Oh gee, too bad. Hope this helps.