5-15-07 To: CBS
I've been a proud REALTOR since 1963; President of the Chico Assn. of REALTORS in 2001; REALTOR of the Year in 1995, and a State Director of the California Assn. of REALTORS from 2001 through 2003. During this period I have been fortunate to have sold nearly $200 million worth of California real estate.
I found your 60 Minutes segment last Sunday to be most unfortunate, demeaning and inaccurate, both personally and to all of us NAR practitioners. I perceived it to be your standard liberal attack media hit piece and as such extremely biased and prejudicial to all REALTORS.
CBS obviously has no idea whatsoever what we do for our commissions.
By the way, the only people that MAKE money work in mint; we EARN ours, every penney. We don't just put out a yard sign and head for the golf course. The jeopardy and liability are great. How are those nerds at Redfin in Seattle going to deal with even the physical house inspections here in Chico, CA for example?
I'd be sued in a hot minute by my client if I weren't sheparding and watching out for their best interests and their transaction every day. I'll tell you another thing: my doctor won't reduce his fee, nor will my attorney, stock broker or CPA. I get paid what I do because I know how to do deals and keep my people safe. If you hadn't blindsided that unfortunate, hapless ReMax agent on your show, she might have said the same thing. At least you showed how diligent and professional she was.
I'm like the Yakuza: if you're harmed in any way, you get my little finger- and after 44 years in the business, I'm pleased to report that it's still attached to my hand! I have never been to court in my entire career.
Today's market is tough compared to the last few years. The main reason REALTORS today don't recommend a commission reduction is that sellers need every possible incentive, including perhaps even a bonus on TOP of the fee, is to encourage a selling agent to show their property over the competition in this period of inflated inventory.
The only reason I watch your show is to see what dirt you're going to dig up next so as to be prepared to combat it with some rational factual data. CBS is out of line, as usual. You, not unlike the NY Times, are one of the primary problems in this country: the portrayal of the facts in an outrageous, slanted and one-sided fashion.
You're essentially disgusting and empirical in your pompous, overblown and grandiloquent style of delivery. You're off my list. From now on I'll watch FOX, thank you, where the news truly is "Fair and Balanced." CBS needs remedial lessons in humility and telling the truth, the whole truth, for a refreshing change.
In closing, I must say that I resented the segment immensely. How dare you?!
Ken DuVall
NAR Responds to 60 Minutes' May 13, 2007 Segment
CBS News Magazine Show Misses the Mark May 14, 2007 -- In the world of political campaigns, it's a standard ploy to set the stage with an empty chair when one candidate refuses to debate his opponents. The CBS show 60 Minutes gave the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® the empty chair treatment in a May 13 segment that examined the impact of online brokerages on the real estate industry.
The show featured interviews with a representative from the now-defunct eRealty and the president and CEO of Redfin, but no one from NAR, even though NAR twice offered and prepared Association spokespersons for interviews with Leslie Stahl. It was CBS that made the decision it would rather interview our opponents and let them make unanswered -- and inaccurate and unfair -- accusations about REALTORS® and NAR policies. The one-sided journalism and egregious errors served no one well, especially the once-vaunted news magazine show.
NAR staff spent nearly a year working with CBS, briefing producers on the issues involved. The producers attended the REALTORS® Conference in New Orleans and met with NAR's legal counsel for half a day in Chicago. Yet, still the segment was full of major errors. NAR is in communication with 60 Minutes about its unbalanced reporting and presentation of misinformation and will be sending the CBS network a letter demanding an opportunity to correct these errors and misrepresentations.
Here are some examples of the misinformation:
Error: The six percent commission is "sacrosanct."
Fact: All commissions are negotiable. The average commission rate is not 6 percent, but 5.1 percent, according to Real Trends.
Error: NAR is the industry's "governing body."
Fact: NAR is a trade association. It does not govern the industry.
Error: In 2003, NAR issued new rules of its own that threatened to block Internet discounters' access to the MLS.
Fact: The Virtual Office Website policy did not block access to MLSs for discounters or any other brokers who are members of the MLS.
Error: The MLS is the database that lists virtually every home for sale in the country.
Fact: There is no single national MLS. Rather, there are more than 900 local and regional multiple listing services. These are not simply "databases" but private exchange of offers of cooperation and compensation between real estate brokers.
Error: Eight states have "minimum service laws" that require REALTORS® to provide a level of service many Internet discounters can't afford.
Fact: "REALTOR®" is a trademarked term and should never be used synonymously with "real estate agent." The intent of minimum service laws is to ensure consumers receive a minimal level of service from licensees.
Error: The brokerage industry has a powerful lobby. Eleven states flatly prohibit rebates.
Fact: The intent of anti-rebate laws is to prevent kickbacks in real estate transactions, not to limit brokers' incentives to attract customers. The brokerage industry does not lobby for anti-rebate laws.
Other key points 60 Minutes misrepresented or overlooked: NAR supports all business models and favors none. Our 1.3 million members include REALTORS® who work on a full-service basis, as well as those who consider themselves to be limited service, fee-for-service, minimum service, and discounters. We think it's great that consumers have a choice today.
The real estate industry has harnessed technology for the benefit of consumers and will continue to do so. Real estate is both high-tech and high-touch, so can be enhanced by both electronic and personal interaction.
There is no such thing as a "standard commission." Commissions are negotiable and prices vary. The fact is that commission rates have decreased 16 percent from 1991 to 2004 (source: Real Trends).
The real estate business is unique in that competitors must also cooperate with each other to ensure a successful transaction, and MLS systems facilitate that cooperation. The first MLS was created more than 100 years ago as way for brokers to share their listing agreements with each another in hopes of procuring buyers for their properties more quickly and efficiently than they could on their own.
The MLS is a tool to help listing brokers find cooperative buyer brokers to help sell their clients' homes. Without the collaborative incentive of the existing MLS, brokers would create their own separate systems, fragmenting rather than consolidating property information.
