Real Estate Continuing Education

MODULE ONE: Real Estate Brokerage

Real Estate Brokerage Basics

1. The Real Estate Industry
2. Inside the Brokerage

a. Brokers and Salespersons:

b. Brokerage Services

c. For the Seller 

d. For the Buyer 

e. Steps in a Real Estate Transaction  

f. A Career in Real Estate

g. Career Paths

h. Additional Related Occupations

i. Associations

The Internet’s Role in Real Estate Brokerage and Agency

1. Impacts on the Real Estate Industry
2. Increased Consumer Access to Real estate-related Information
3. The Internet’s Effect on the Real Estate Industry
4. Regulations and Useful Technology

a. ESIGN Act

b. SOCIAL MEDIA

c. Facebook®

d. Linkedin®

e. Twitter®

f. Trulia®

g. Zillow®

h. Home Path®

WEB TOOLS

a. DocuSign®

b. Google Maps

Non-traditional Brokers

1. Full-Service Discount Brokers
2. Fee-For-Service Brokers
3. Fee-for-Service Arrangements
4. Table: Brokerage Options and Potential Savings on Home Sold for $184,334
5. Virtual Office Website Brokers
6. Websites that Provide Advertising and Other Services to FSBO Sellers
7. Broker Referral Networks

iBuyers – A Popular Emerging Model

1. Instant Buyer
2. PC Magazine defines iBuyer
3. (Instant BUYER)
4. Top Five iBuyers

• Opendoor
• Knock
• Offerpad
• Zillow Instant Offers
• Redfin Now

The Multiple Listing Service

1. Description of the MLS
2. Why the MLS is Important to Sellers, Buyers, and Brokers
3. United States v. Realty Multi-List
4. Obstacles
5. Use of MLS Rules to Disadvantage Competitors
6. Discrimination Against Brokers Entering into Exclusive Agency Listing Contracts
7. the Austin Board of Realtors,
8. Information and Real Estate Services, LLC,
9. Northern New England Real Estate Network, Inc.,
10. Williamsburg Area Association of Realtors, Inc.,
11. Realtors Association of Northeast Wisconsin, Inc., and
12. Monmouth County Association of Realtors, Inc.;
13. Consent Agreements
14. Anti Competitive Conduct
15. Collusive and Exclusionary

VOWs and MLS

1. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUES NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS FOR LIMITING COMPETITION AMONG REAL ESTATE BROKERS
2. NAR Policy Obstructs Internet-based Real Estate Brokers from Offering Better Services and Lower Costs to Consumers
3. Restrains Competition
4. Nar’s Policy
5. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AMENDS ANTITRUST LAWSUIT AGAINST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
6. NAR’s Modified Policy Continues to Obstruct Internet-Based Competition
7. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES SETTLEMENT WITH THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
8. Settlement Will Result in More Choices, Better Services and Lower Commission Rates for Consumers
9. This Final Judgment to NAR
10. PROHIBITED CONDUCT
11. NAR Amended VOW Policy
12. Policy governing use of MLS data in connection with Internet brokerage services offered by MLS Participants (“Virtual Office Websites”)
    • Definitions and Scope of Policy.
    • Policies Applicable to Participants’ VOWs.
13. Policies Applicable to Multiple Listing Services.
14. Requirements That MLSs May Impose on the Operation of VOWs and Participants.
    • EFFECTIVE DATE

Competition Among Brokers

1. Service Competition
2. Marketing
   • websites
   • social media
   • search engines
   • television
   • radio
   • print
3. Commissions and Rebates

Legislative and Regulatory Restrictions on Competition

1. Rebates
2. Prohibited States
3. Cooperating Brokers
   • Example
4. State Authority
5. DOJ and the Kentucky Real Estate Commission,
   1. Restriction on Competition
   2. Settlement
   3. Brokers Restricting Rebates
   4. Additional Investigations
      • South Dakota Commission 
      • West Virginia Real Estate Commissionsrescinded their regulations prohibiting rebates,

Anti-Competitive Activities

1. Justice Department Files Antitrust Case and Simultaneous Settlement Requiring National Association of Realtors® To Repeal and Modify Certain Anticompetitive Rules
   • Civil lawsuit against the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR)
2. Proposed Settlement
   • modify its rules to provide greater transparency to home buyers about the commissions of brokers representing home buyers (buyer brokers),
   • cease misrepresenting that buyer broker services are free,
   • eliminate rules that prohibit filtering multiple listing services (MLS) listings based on the level of buyer broker commissions, and
   • change its rules and policy which limit access to lockboxes to only NAR-affiliated real estate brokers.
3. NAR’s Anti-Competitive Rules, Policies, and Practices
   • (i) prohibiting MLSs that are affiliated with NAR from disclosing to prospective buyers the commission that the buyer broker will earn.
   • (ii) allowing buyer brokers to misrepresent to buyers that a buyer broker’s services are free.
   • (iii) enabling buyer brokers to filter MLS listings based on the level of buyer broker commissions offered; and
   • (iv) limiting access to the lockboxes that provide licensed brokers with access to homes for sale to brokers who work for a NAR-affiliated MLS.