The Market's Going to Change!

No. This post isn't what you think it's about.

This is really about how the residential real estate market is going to change as a result of products like Point2Agent and ListHub. These products enable listing distribution to some of the most popular consumer websites - like google, Yahoo Real Estate, Trulia, Zillow, et. al., - with the primary objective of getting more eyeballs to the listing.

But, really what does this mean?

I believe it means significant change to the existing real estate business models: the brokerage business model, the independent contractor agent, and the MLS's.

Right now, listings are owned by brokers - not the agents that actually have the relationship with the buyer and/or seller, nor by the homeowners themselves (owners sign their property listing information ownership" over to brokers when they sign listing agreements). Agents, as well as consumers, generally don't understand this point.

For the benefit of consumers, should this whole model change?