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Many of you saw on the front page of the WSJ yesterday the 3 year old battle between the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the Department of Justice settled on Tuesday.*** If you dont have the time to read this post…the most important part of this settlement is: Under the terms of the settlement, the Realtors will enact a new policy that guarantees Internet-based brokerage companies (US) will not be treated differently than traditional brokers!!! ***

Beginning in 2005, the antitrust lawsuit was against the real-estate trade group, according to a DOJ news release. NAR policies challenged in the lawsuit were believed to prevent consumers from receiving the full benefits of competition provided by the online newcomers (US) and they also discouraged discounting or any type of “alternative” business model that saved consumers $$$.

The case was scheduled to go to trial in July.

Specifically, the lawsuit challenged some of the group’s rules on how traditional brokers were permitted to interact with a new breed of broker based online.

These online brokers allow their customers to access listings via password-protected sites instead of requiring a broker to facilitate their searches, according to the release. The Virtual Office Web sites or VOWs, often increased the productivity of brokers affiliated with the systems, which translated to lower commission rates for sellers and rebates for buyers.

Prior to the lawsuit’s filing, multiple listing services permitted traditional brokers to withhold their listings from VOWs (a policy suspended during the investigation). NAR didn’t, however, permit brokers to withhold listings from a traditional broker member of an MLS.

If approved by the U.S. District Court in Chicago, the proposed 10-year settlement would require the association to change the policies and resolve the competitive concerns. NAR also will enact a new policy to guarantee Internet-based brokerages won’t be treated differently.

In a news release, NAR pointed out that it is not required to make payments or admit any liability or wrongdoing in connection with the settlement.

Richard F. Gaylord, president of the National Association of Realtors, called the settlement a win-win for the industry and consumers.

“Competition is alive and well in the real estate industry. In fact, the competitive nature of our industry is even more apparent in times of market turmoil like those we are currently experiencing,” Gaylord said in a news release.

Joe Ferrara over at the Sellsius Blog took a unique look @ this outcome which shows the few giant steps forward for innovative web-based real estate brokerages (US) … but also the small setbacks.

Setbacks to web based brokerages & buy-side consumers include:

1. The ability for sellers to withhold listings and property addresses from display on the Internet.
2. The ability for sellers to prevent comments, reviews and AVM valuations from attaching to their listings on the internet, which we do allow right now.

Read More here on Sellsius

Bottom line is that we are not so much affected by this because we are a real estate brokerage offering full service just like any other real estate broker/agent. I guess we will see how fast this stuff starts getting put in place now…stay tuned.

US DOJ Settlement Link

Not bad for us East Coasters throwing a little bit of tech in the real estate vertical.

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(Photo via our trusty iPhone)

Oscar winning actor Robert De Niro, who already owns several restaurants and hotels, has announced plans for The Nobu Hotel Condo in the Financial District.

Plans call for a 62 story glass tower housing 77 condos and 128 hotel rooms (mini-bars stocked with green tea and sake!), with the condo units located on the forty-first floor thru penthouse levels.

The eco-friendly building will include a health club with spa, indoor pool, and an outdoor sun terrace which will be available to both residents and hotel guests. Additionally, the Japanese themed condo-hotel and spa complex will house a Nobu restaurant which will provide room service for guests and residents.

The project will be the second in the chain, and is scheduled to open within the next three years at 45 Broad Street; the first will open this summer in Herzliya along the Mediterranean. Since there is little information currently available on this project we’ll be sure to let you know the moment the dedicated website launches.

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PRESS RELEASE
Fourth-largest U.S. residential real estate firm signs up for Zillow®
Listings Feed program

SEATTLE and AUSTIN, Texas, May 8  /PRNewswire/ — Zillow.com and Keller
Williams Realty Inc. today announced a partnership which enables Keller
Williams to automatically feed the listings of the company’s 73,000
associates to Zillow.com on a daily basis, joining the Zillow Listings Feed
program, which launched in November 2007.

(LOGO:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060503/ZILLOWLOGO)

Each listing Keller Williams feeds to Zillow includes a description of the
property with multiple photos and contact information for the listing agent,
including links back to the Keller Williams Web site where Zillow users can
find more information and connect with a Keller Williams sales associate to
guide them through the home buying and selling process.

“We’re thrilled to have such a widely recognized and respected brand
participating in our listings feed program,” said Jorrit Van der Meulen,
Zillow’s vice president of partner relations.  “Keller Williams is one of the
largest residential real estate firms in the U.S., which makes this
partnership a natural fit, as Zillow is one of the largest real estate Web
sites, drawing more than five million monthly visitors.”

“Our agent-centric business model means we are committed to providing our
agents with the best marketing platforms possible,” said Cary Sylvester,
director of technology with the Keller Williams Realty International Service
Center. “The Zillow Listings Feed program is a tremendous marketing
opportunity for our agents and their sellers. Add to that the fact that
two-thirds of Zillow’s five million users are in the market to buy or sell
now, or plan to within the next one to two years, and our agents are tapping
into an audience that needs them.”

“We’re also proud to say that because of our ‘My Listings, My Leads’ lead
routing philosophy, all the leads generated from our agents’ listings on
Zillow will go directly to the listing agent for free,” added Sylvester.

The Zillow Listings Feed program allows participating listings providers to
automatically gain free marketing exposure for their listings on one of the
most-visited real estate sites in the country, while providing Zillow’s users
with a more robust search experience.  Real estate brokerages post for-sale
listings directly to the site in a bulk feed, giving the homes a virtual
for-sale sign at no cost.

For enhanced exposure, individual agents can create a free profile page with
photos, contact information and more details about the agent, linked directly
from each listing.  For more information on Zillow Listings Feeds, visit
http://www.zillowfeeds.com/.  For more information about Keller Williams
Realty, visit http://www.kw.com/.

About Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

Founded in 1983, Keller Williams Realty Inc. is the fourth-largest real
estate franchise operation in North America, with over 650 offices and 73,000
associates in the United States and Canada. The company, which began
franchising in 1990, has an agent-centric culture that emphasizes access to
leading-edge education and promotes an economic model that rewards associates
as stakeholders and partners. For more information, visit Keller Williams
Realty online at http://www.kw.com/.

About Zillow.com

Zillow.com is an online real estate community where homeowners, buyers,
sellers, real estate agents and mortgage professionals find and share vital
information about homes, for free. Launched in early 2006 with Zestimate®
values and data on millions of U.S. homes, Zillow has since opened the site
to community input, data and dialogue.  One of the most-visited U.S. real
estate Web sites, Zillow’s goal is to help people become smarter about real
estate in every stage of the home ownership process — buying, selling,
remodeling and financing. The company is headquartered in Seattle and has
advertising sales offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los
Angeles.

Zillow.com, Zillow and Zestimate are registered trademarks of Zillow, Inc.

GarageTown USA AZ is offering garage “condos” for sale at multiple locations in the Phoenix Valley and there’s no shortage of investors. Director of Sales and Marketing Stefanie McDaniel notes, “We launched our first community in August at Chandler’s Stellar Airpark and sold out immediately”. Unlike traditional storage rentals, buyers purchase units with 16’ ceilings and average 2,000 sq ft of interior space. Internet, air conditioning and more options are available. Tenants utilize space for RV’s, boats and toys. Due to a high concentration of car enthusiasts in Arizona, 85% of the Chandler location houses classic cars and vintage race cars.

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