Fizbomap Blog
Idaho For Sale by Owner tips, news and updates
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Fizbomap Offering Video Tours
Posted by Matt Newbill in Fizbomap, News, Advertising on March 5th, 2007
We are pleased to announce that we are now offering video tours. These tours can be purchased individually or added onto an existing package to enhance your Fizbomap listing. These tours require an activation fee of $99 to get going.
We are using the property video services of WellcomeMat but will be including these videos on the Fizbomap site and highlighting listings that have them.
View the sample video below.
Fizbomap in InmanNews
Posted by Matt Newbill in News, Consumer Rights on February 28th, 2007
Today we were featured in InmanNews in an article about the new minimum-service bill in Idaho. You can view the entire article here if you act soon. (if you wait too long it requires a paid subscription)
Basically, the article talks about the same issues that we’ve been discussing all week on our blog, the proposed minimum-service bill. However, this article touches on the U.S. Department of Justice’s involvement. Here’s a quote from the article.
In January 2006 the Idaho Real Estate Commission considered its own draft legislation to establish new minimum standards for real estate services and requested a review by the U.S. Department of Justice, which along with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has expressed opposition to other states’ proposed laws and regulations that would heighten the mandatory level of real estate services. Because of states’ rights to pass legislation, the federal agencies can comment about state legislation but have limited authority in taking other action against state laws, even if they are considered in violation of federal antitrust laws.
Representatives for the Justice Department met with the Idaho Real Estate Commission in January 2006 to discuss the commission’s own legislative proposal. And according to public minutes for that meeting, the Justice Department opposed the commission’s draft of the legislation “as presenting consumers from maximum choice in brokerage services. So far no complaints have been filed, either in Idaho or any state,” and, “The proposed legislation will prevent consumers from saving money should they decide to hire and pay brokers to perform only some services.”
Representatives for the Justice Department were not immediately available for comment today about the Idaho Association of Realtor’s minimum-service legislative proposal.
Several states have passed these so-called minimum-service laws despite objections by the federal agencies, while other states passed similar legislation that did not draw opposition from the agencies.
Realtor trade groups have typically endorsed and lobbied for minimum-service laws, which the Justice Department has said can be anti-consumer and anti-competitive because they can limit choice in real estate business models while potentially raising the rates charged by low-cost real estate business models.
So, as you can see, the DOJ did review the draft of the legislation and were opposed to it. Even going as far as stating that it would prevent consumers from maximum choice in brokerage services. Meaning that it would be limiting consumer choice.
The article also points out that the commission isn’t aware of any complaints stemmed from companies that offer limited services to clients.
Jackson-Heim said she wasn’t aware whether the commission has received complaints over companies that offer limited services to clients. “We don’t keep track of complaints necessarily unless they develop into investigations,” she said.
Hopefully this increased exposure will bring some attention about this issue to both consumers and (hopefully) the State Senate before they make their vote.
8 commentsFizbomap in Idaho Business Review
Posted by Matt Newbill in Fizbomap, News on February 27th, 2007
We made the front cover of the February 26th edition of Idaho Business Review.
The article, “Realtors want state to define scope of services” covers the proposed legislation that defines Realtor’s scope of services. You can read the full article at idahobusiness.net, or grab a hard copy from their offices located at: 855 Broad St in Boise.
We’re pleased that there is some outside interest in this piece of legislature besides ourselves.
Our favorite quote out of the article has to be from Representative Jim Patrick of Twin Falls…
“It sure is attractive when you see some really cheap rates for real estate fees. Most people aren’t sophisticated enough and this is the largest purchase they’ll ever make.” - Jim Patrick
Wow. I can’t believe he actually said that most people aren’t sophisticated enough to sell their homes on their own. I wonder what else he thinks we aren’t smart enough to do on our own?
We’ll have a full posting in detail about the article in the next couple of days, so stay tuned.
1 commentReal Estate Representation Bill Passed by Idaho House
Posted by Matt Newbill in News, Consumer Rights on February 26th, 2007
It looks like the Idaho House of Representatives unanimously passed the real estate representation bill on Friday, Feb 23rd. Next stop is the Senate floor. I wonder if the Representatives fully understood the bill and it’s impacts on consumers? It seems like they didn’t, otherwise they probably wouldn’t have passed it.
The thing that bothers me most about this, is that it is very apparent that this is not in an effort to protect consumers, but more to protect the industry for Realtors. Does this seem fair to you?
We’ll be watching this bill closely and will keep you up to date with the latest news.
no comments yetMarch 2007 Boise, Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell Real Estate Market - Builders Hold 46% Of the Inventory
Posted by Heinrich Wiebe in Fizbomap, For Sale by Owner, News on February 25th, 2007
In an effort to feed the real estate information hunger, we dug-in over the weekend and found some interesting bits of data to ponder here in the Treasure Valley.
Our results are from the Intermountain Multiple Listing Service (IMLS). We searched Ada and Canyon Counties; all housing for sale, any age.
We wanted to illustrate and analyze the distribution of housing for sale in the Treasure Valley based on age. The reason for this search is our assumption; we believe builders are holding a significant amount of inventory and that could spell trouble.
Here’s why: Spring is not yet here, and we predict homeowners looking to sell will begin to hit the market very soon. This could produce a glut of homes for sale, and the market might become a buyers market. Or worse (for sellers), homes prices could fall. With that said, here’s what we found:
Total Inventory Available For Sale - 6,657.
This is a stable number historically (reflecting back three years, before our market exploded). To illustrate an instable number, we need only look back to spring 2006. At that time, there were roughly 3,300 homes on the market (March 2006). Our explanation for this low inventory is because the market had “been purchased”. Most of what was sold was priced under $275,000; the price range that most buyers can buy. This buying frenzy left mostly expensive home on the market and thus drove housing prices up at an accelerated pace because affordable housing was all but gone.
The distribution of our findings can be seen in this bar chart:
The YELLOW, ORANGE and RED columns represent homes that builders want to sell. When you combine these three columns of available inventory not yet sold (2,917 houses), it makes up a whopping 46% of the total! Remember, this is before the spring push by regular home sellers looking to upsize, downsize or just move-on.
As you can see, spring could be a muddy and bloody time if buyers don’t show-up to solve the problem carried by builders. Trust that we’ll continue to monitor as this story develops. One thing’s for sure, if sellers/builders want to become more price competitive, they can always look to Fizbomap!
2 comments33% of Fizbomap Homes Sold, Bought by Realtors
Posted by Matt Newbill in Fizbomap, News, Consumer Rights on February 22nd, 2007
In an amazing discovering, we’ve found that 33%, or 1/3 of all homes sold using Fizbomap were purchased by Realtors. I guess that means they aren’t blacklisting us after all…
I wonder how many of those sellers didn’t know what to do once they had received an offer as pointed out by John Eaton of IAR? Since we didn’t take any calls, I would say all of them knew the routine.
In fact, we offer an advisory service that reviews all offers and so far all but one Fizbomap seller has declined this service. We also offer a hot-line (1-888-693-8437 ext. 01725788) for sellers to ask real estate related questions. To date, we’ve had no one use it, but it’s there if needed.
I guess this helps substantiate the fact that contrary to the beliefs of IAR (Idaho Association of Realtors), Realtors and state legislators, that consumers ARE smart enough to sell their homes on their own and should continue to be given the choice to do so without legislative interference.
2 commentsIdaho Business Review - Brief Interview With Idaho Association of Realtors
Posted by Heinrich Wiebe in Fizbomap, For Sale by Owner, News, Consumer Rights on February 20th, 2007
Lora Volkert, a reporter with the Idaho Business Review caught up with John Eaton, government affairs director at the Idaho Association of Realtors (IAR) to discuss the proposed bill that takes away consumer rights. Take a moment to review what thoughts he shared on the matter.
no comments yet2007 Idaho Legislature - H0135 Proposes Real Estate Minimum Service Law
Posted by Heinrich Wiebe in Fizbomap, For Sale by Owner, News, Tips, Consumer Rights on February 18th, 2007
House Bill 135 has arrived. This is the proposed legislation we’ve said was on the way. It isn’t nearly as troubling as we had initially thought, but keep in mind there could be other tie-in proposals looming on the horizon. This bill is driven by the Idaho Association of Realtors and it chips away consumer rights of choice when it comes to obtaining real estate services while providing a liability shield for real estate agents and their brokers.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
By law, licensed real estate agents owe their customers and clients certain duties. This legislation clarifies that an agent be available to receive and timely present offers and counter offers. The legislation also clarifies the difference between a customer services agreement and a representation agreement.
BUSINESS REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE REPRESENTATION ACT
Amends existing law relating to the Idaho Real Estate Brokerage Representation Act to revise definitions; to revise duties to customers and clients; to provide that broker compensation or an agreement for broker compensation shall not constitute an agreement for agency representation or otherwise create an agency relationship; and to revise provisions relating to the duration of an agency relationship.
After reading the above canned summary, this bill sounds reasonable enough. But you should be cautious because the devil is in the details. To assess this proposal and share with you our thoughts, lets take a look at it one proposed change at a time.
DEFINITIONS SECTION
We agree that adding more clarification is always helpful and consumer friendly. In this case, the proposed changes make a clearer distinction between “customer service agreements” or “compensation agreement” and “representations agreements” or “contract for representation”.
Imagine a situation where you, the consumer, sign some “wordy” paperwork presented by a real estate agent. This paperwork refers to some level of real estate service to be supplied in exchange for money paid. The proposed definitions help to identify exact language to be used in the agreement so duties owed by Realtors to consumers is clearer (to Attorney’s mostly).
DUTIES TO A CUSTOMER SECTION
This portion of the bill introduces the ‘minimum service’. We interpret this section to mean that if a customer selling their home on their own (For Sale By Owner) obtains real estate services (such as marketing through the MLS), then the customer becomes obligated to have the Realtor/Broker who supplied the service be ‘available’ to ‘present’ all offers.
We want to know what it means to ‘present’ offers and what it means to be ‘available’. No definitions are provided in the statute. These obligations are so important however, that they cannot be waived. In other words, this proposed law would force Realtor’s be in the middle of the transaction anytime consumers obtain the smallest amount of Realtor service.
We found a Readers Digest article this month titled “Real Estate Ripoff” and it provides the best analogy we’ve found for this arranged policy. “It was like requiring Burger King to have waiters. Pay for waiters – or real estate agents – if you want the service, but why mandate it?”
What if a customer doesn’t want a waiter/Realtor to present offers and counter offers? What if the customer wants their offers and counter offers presented directly? Tough; it can’t be waived.
We see this as a built-in path to job security through statues. The inability of consumers to ‘opt-out’ is precisely the complaint the Department of Justice made when its Attorney’s came to town and made their position known to the Idaho Real Estate Commission.
From our position, it’s clear this bill is directed at business models that un-bundle the traditional real estate process, giving consumers more choice. The choice to buy less than the full meal Realtor deal.
The focus should be on consumers that are choosing to selling their own home, but don’t want to pay for 100% of the old school Realtor package. Why should it be forced on them? Does the Idaho Legislature believe that consumers are too dumb to manage their own real estate transactions? We don’t think so.
The net result here could be business as usual, costing consumers money while keeping new business models at bay through new laws.
The the existing cartel is preserved as long as Realtors control the data that the majority of consumers view when considering real estate for sale, and Realtors are obligated by law to present all offers generating.
1 commentMinimum Service Law - Idaho Real Estate Commission Denies Request for Information
Posted by Heinrich Wiebe in Fizbomap, For Sale by Owner, News, Consumer Rights on February 13th, 2007
Our request for Information to the Idaho Real Estate Commission included:
DESCRIPTION OF REQUEST
All notes, drafts and records pertaining to Legislative genda Items in development and review by the Idaho Real Estate Commission pertaining to Brokerage Service Legislation. This Brokerage Service Legislation is concerning the Idaho Association of Realtors (IAR) organization and its members and the general public. This Brokerage Service Legislation is also known as “Minimum Service Law”.
Here’s my letter back from IREC.
What our request actually produced are the Meeting Minutes of the Commission, which are available online. These minutes point out little detail other than the Department of Justice paid a visit and had a view of the draft legislation LAST YEAR JAN, 2006. In otherwords, they’ve been kicking this issue around for some time.
Here’s a few images from IREC’s meeting notes LAST YEAR JAN, 06:
After DOJ’s reviewed the draft legislation (I wonder how they got their copy?), they came to town and pointed out that it prevented consumers from maximum choice in brokerage services. DOJ went on to point out that if the real concern is the issue of “agency”, then the issue should be resolved by seeking an agency bill, instead of a minimum service bill. I would like to point out that there is no other licensed profession that is managed by a minimum service statute.
As for the concern of broker and agent duties to consumers, I believe that the legislature made some changes around 2002 that removed statue language that included words like “Professional” and “Fiduciary Duty”. In other words, real estate agent and brokers aren’t considered professionals nor do they have a fiduciary duty to customers or clients they serve.
Could it be that real estate agents want all the money for representing consumers in real estate transactions, but without the liability? Does it seem reasonable that the Idaho Legislature should come back and make a few tweaks to the the statue just so business as ussual is preserved, thus defending off the varied unbundled real estate service models that save consumers money?
no comments yetNAR Admits To Too Many Realtors
Posted by Heinrich Wiebe in Fizbomap, News, Tips on February 11th, 2007
With few barriers to entry, many ready to get rich quick individuals have landed in the real estate business. Can you blame them? Heck, why not make a shot at big cars and big checks while working part time?
Turns out it’s harder than it looks; especially when the market softens. The net result here is too many agents delivering too few benefits to consumers. What’s even more surprising is the National Association (NAR) of Realtors sees it the same way.
From RealEstateJournal.com, The Wall Street Journal to Property
“When David Lereah, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, addressed the group’s convention in New Orleans in November, he got one of the biggest bursts of applause by predicting there would be fewer Realtors around in a year. Mr. Lereah said in an interview that he expects membership in the trade group to decrease by about 6% to 8% from the record of nearly 1.4 million reached in 2006.” READ MORE…
If you or someone you know has fallen into the difficult position of being a licensed agent who has determined the business isn’t what you thought it’d be, reply to this post and share your story.
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