Internet Battleground for Future of Residential Real Estate

Real estate agents are gearing up to face the biggest shift in their industry since it's beginning. No longer the first in the path of homebuyers and sellers, agents have gone from top feeders to the bottom feeders with real estate consumers in just a few years.

I started in the real estate business when agents were top feeders and the keepers of the information. Multiple Listing Servicesо began migrating to the Internet at the millennium. Most agents in my first realty office said the Internet wasn't going to change anything, because we still had the telephone like books with available homes for sale. Consumers had to call us to start their search to purchase a home.

Buyers started calling from out of town on a property and they hadn't driven by it, they saw it on the Internet. This started the shift of the consumer having access to the same information as the agent. Proactive agents and virtual brokerages saw the writing on the wall and began Internet marketing efforts and captured new market share by being early adopters and listening to their new web-based consumer.

Today traditional brokerages and their agents are scrambling to get in the path of Internet real estate consumers, who number seventy-four percent of all buyers in 2004 according to the National Association of Realtorsо Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Many of these late adopters have to compete with thousands of real estate websites and e-marketers who have been honing their position for the last five years to be the first in the consumers path when they start their home search. Large newspapers hold brokerage licenses and own real estate websites to capture real estate consumers and sell these leads back to agents, now the bottom feeders.

Real estate trade associations are fighting back against the Internet real estate pioneers with changes to state real estate license laws to restrict and define their roles in lead generation and interactions with consumers. Large Internet powerhouses with non-traditional real estate brokerage business models will give a whole new face to residential real estate by the year 2010.

Mark Nash is a residential real estate author, broker and commentator. He has been featured on CBS The Early Show, Bloomberg TV, CBS Dow Jones Market Watch, and Smart Moves by Ellen James Martin. His latest book 1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home is available online and in bookstores nationwide.

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German Stocks Fall Most Since January; Hypo Real Estate Slumps - Bloomberg

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0i-0fd=Rurl=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/05/AR2008100500671.htmlcid=1251970064ei=HV3qSMCiDKqi9gT63NhAusg=AFQjCNHCSmfg4D-F4pGMm47q4Mzol2HwPgimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=Vjnq1VTuiFEJimgurl=media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2008/10/05/PH2008100500672.jpg width=69 height=80 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Washington Post/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-0fd=Rurl=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news%3Fpid%3D20601100%26sid%3DapMYnS6j53Zk%26refer%3Dgermanycid=1251970064ei=HV3qSMCiDKqi9gT63NhAusg=AFQjCNFZ6uZ0JShJYdF77uu0ZgJEb8qL4wGerman Stocks Fall Most Since January; Hypo bReal Estate/b Slumps/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fBloombergnbsp;-/font nobr2 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Hypo bReal Estate/b, the nation#39;s second-biggest commercial- property lender, tumbled 37 percent as the government and the country#39;s banks and insurers agreed b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-1fd=Rurl=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DZz0F4-iutWccid=1251970064ei=HV3qSMCiDKqi9gT63NhAusg=AFQjCNGGZNUwVVtdLYFJJoSrMknsX9cqPgVideo: Wall St.#39;s worst week in 7 years/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrReutersVideo/nobr/fontobject width=448 height=356param name=movie value=http://www.youtube.com/v/Zz0F4-iutWc/paramparam name=wmode value=transparent/paramembed src=http://www.youtube.com/v/Zz0F4-iutWctype=application/x-shockwave-flashwmode=transparentwidth=448height=356/embed/objectbr/fontfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-2fd=Rurl=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/hypo-real-estate-tripped-funding/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B2B1A4778-8429-4E11-88E0-96FD0D888991%257D%26dist%3Dmsr_1cid=1251970064ei=HV3qSMCiDKqi9gT63NhAusg=AFQjCNHlhXnis_2u53qWXv75Mw67x7JF1QHypo bReal Estate/b tripped by funding strategy/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrMarketWatch/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-3fd=Rurl=http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3692522,00.htmlcid=1251970064ei=HV3qSMCiDKqi9gT63NhAusg=AFQjCNGnlCGPe-p_2Q3sRfJG23JykzAYWAGermany Rescues Hypo bReal Estate/b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrDeutsche Welle/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-4fd=Rurl=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/german-officials-move-save-hypo/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B99F9DBD1-3CCB-4FD9-A31D-248BFE852C56%257D%26dist%3Dmsr_1cid=1251970064ei=HV3qSMCiDKqi9gT63NhAusg=AFQjCNF87uP9UxXDF3T4AMNvYYo1j8qwJwnobrMarketWatch/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-5fd=Rurl=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/germany-moves-rescue-hypo-real/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257BD97E28E7-42B0-4DE5-B730-13B59C349C04%257D%26dist%3Dmsr_1cid=1251970064ei=HV3qSMCiDKqi9gT63NhAusg=AFQjCNGX_-X3EPsdr0EtejG5CjnP5UgLGwnobrMarketWatch/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1251970064hl=ennobrall 1,945 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Real estate roundup: BPA leases Vancouver space - Bizjournals.com

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1-0fd=Rurl=http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/10/06/daily2.htmlcid=1254855186ei=HV3qSMCiDKqi9gT63NhAusg=AFQjCNGzG_HiWkOrdfPHmjtdn_c7xk2QiAbReal estate/b roundup: BPA leases Vancouver space/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fBizjournals.com,nbsp;NCnbsp;-/font nobr1 hour ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1New amp; Neville bReal Estate/b Services represented Cricket. тАвFoam Street Investments LLC purchased The Parkview Apartments, a 104-unit complex at 7808 NE 12th b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1-1fd=Rurl=http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20081006/ARTICLE/810060402/2058/NEWS%3FTitle%3DReal_estate_dealscid=1254855186ei=HV3qSMCiDKqi9gT63NhAusg=AFQjCNGNfpvLg88nSYDkG1MXTAs8wJNYHAbReal estate/b deals/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrSarasota Herald-Tribune/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1254855186hl=ennobrall 4 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Blumberg Capital Partners Completes Two-Year Real Estate ... - MarketWatch

Real estate wrap: Rowan opens first building at technology park - Bizjournals.com

Commercial real estate feels pinch - Minneapolis Star Tribune

The 2008 Real Estate Review Is the Most Comprehensive Guide to the ... - MarketWatch

Analysts cautious commercial real estate outlook - Forbes

Hypo Real Estate, Deutsche Bank, Metro: German Equity Preview - Bloomberg

Japan Stocks Fall on Hypo Real Estate Bailout, US Job Losses - Bloomberg

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-0fd=Rurl=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news%3Fpid%3D20601080%26sid%3DaCLlNLHwIv5k%26refer%3Dasiacid=1254747604ei=HV3qSMCiDKqi9gT63NhAusg=AFQjCNENvhREve6ayXuQfKItK3zJsFQKhgJapan Stocks Fall on Hypo bReal Estate/b Bailout, US Job Losses/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fBloombergnbsp;-/font nobr18 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By Masaki Kondo Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Japan#39;s stocks fell as the biggest US loss of jobs in five years and a bailout of Hypo bReal Estate/b Holding AG fueled b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-1fd=Rurl=http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7012547666cid=1254747604ei=HV3qSMCiDKqi9gT63NhAusg=AFQjCNETg0stHRHj5pv3LFX7bhwgXd3c4AAsian Markets Trade Lower As Credit Crisis Goes Global/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrAHN/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-2fd=Rurl=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news%3Fpid%3D20601101%26sid%3DaRNEW8NF6B9g%26refer%3Djapancid=1254747604ei=HV3qSMCiDKqi9gT63NhAusg=AFQjCNG-YAz_8ygkuO4qxMzSOGzGp9oJSgJapan Stocks Fall to Five-Year Low as Credit Crisis Intensifies/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBloomberg/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1254747604hl=ennobrall 4 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Bank exposure to real estate sector climbs by 5.2% in June - BusinessWorld Online

Real-Estate - Google News

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