Spooky Story or Reality?

Sound like a spooky Halloween story? Worse it was reality for thousands of home buyers before the National Association of Realtors and the Multiple Listing Services came about. Back then the use of caveat emptor, Latin for buyer beware, was common to warn buyers away from those slick salespeople representing the interests of home sellers.

Even worse, you had to work together with the salespeople who had the listing.  So if you wanted to look at multiple available homes, you may have to work with multiple different people, who were hired to represent the interests of the seller. Caveat emptor!!

“For buyers, these marketplaces save them the burden of extra costs at closing, enable them to receive professional representation and make homeownership possible for more people. In fact, the U.S. model of independent, local broker marketplaces is widely considered the best value and most efficient model in the world, with no hidden or extra costs and with more complete, verified information compared to other countries. We look forward to arguing our case in court.”

Corporate America vs The American Dream

One only needs to look at who would gain the most by disrupting a system that is designed to protect the public, encourage home ownership, maintain strong small businesses, boost cooperation and competition. We can only hope organizations like the National Association of Realtors can hold off the tide of corporate America trying to pull profits at the public’s expense. 

Let’s hope we don’t again see a time when it becomes a nightmare for homebuyers to obtain the American dream and these stories stay ghost stories for the campfire.