Santa Arrives Early... Did you see the headline in the Wall Street Journal on Christmas Eve? "Real-Estate Sites Raise Commissions" (December 24, 2003). The article began, "Online real estate brokers, who once promised sizable discounts on the standard commission for selling houses,
have quietly raised their rates."

As Mark Lloyd with NAI H.S. Turner in Jacksonville, FL, wrote recently, "The way we collect and disseminate information has changed dramatically. But the core of our industry remains the same. It is a relationship-driven industry."

Actually, maybe it's multiple industries. Jim Wadsworth with United Properties in Minneapolis, MN, writes, there are "at least two simultaneous realities in the commercial real estate business." One is the business for locally-based companies and investors, and the second is the business for national accounts.

While national account service providers frequently experience fee pressures, local service providers don't seem to experience the same level of pressure. What do you think? Which business is more profitable?

--Peter Pike