This is just too (unintentionally?) funny for me to pass up. On Tuesday, Ardell over at RCG made a post about the online alternatives to “full service” brokers that are available in increasing numbers to help people buy and sell houses. Here’s the part that I got a good chuckle out of (emphasis hers, as usual):
Redfin, Zillow, Zip Realty, For Sale by Owner in the MLS companies, these all represent the newer “alternative” business models… Why should “Traditional Brokers” HELP the Alternative Business Models to succeed? Because WE NEED them, now more than ever, all of us. The consumer needs them. The industry needs them. We need a whole lot more flavors of Kool-Aid out there.
That’s right, you read it straight from the agent’s keyboard: traditional brokers, real estate websites, discount brokers, FSBO tools… they’re all just different flavors of Kool-Aid! So drink up, consumers. Drink up!
In other RCG-related news, contributor Galen Ward has finally launched his fancy real estate search site ShackPrices.com. I have to admit, it’s got a sharp interface on top of zippy functionality and lots of nice features. I could definitely see it becoming my favorite real estate search tool.
Now if only there were some real estate out there worth searching for…
(Ardell DellaLoggia, Rain City Guide, 12.12.2006)