“This case demonstrates that the Commission has no tolerance for attempts by those who run an MLS to ban nontraditional listings or limit the use of discounting in brokerage services,” said David P. Wales, Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. “We have challenged such conduct in a number of cases in the last few years because it results in higher prices for consumers, and we will continue to prosecute such conduct wherever we find it.”

West Penn is the only MLS that serves metropolitan Pittsburgh and surrounding counties, according to the FTC. It is owned by its membership, which consists of more than 6,800 real estate professionals in the area. Membership in West Penn is necessary for a broker to provide effective residential real estate brokerage services to buyers and sellers of real estate in the area, the FTC alleges.

Read the rest of the story on the FCC website.

Sooner or later…they will get rid of their VCRs and thermal facsimile machines as well.

photo credit: KitAy

You have been all over the web looking for homes in the greater Pittsburgh area.  You are getting frustrated with the amount of housing inventory out there.  Where do you start?  Call me.  Let me shed some light on your path to your new home.  I will put you in touch with an area expert.  Someone that will understand your future commute from Fox Chapel, Lawrenceville, Oakmont or any where around Alleghany or Westmoreland County.  I am originally from the area and have plenty of contacts that can assist you in your move.

Relocating to the Pittsburgh area can be easy with the right contacts.  Let me make that contact for you.

Call 240-285-4918 or email me with your needs.

Have a great day

Bob

photo credit: KitAy

I drove up to Harrisburg on Friday morning and picked up my Temporary License.  I won’t receive my actual license number and be seen on the Real Estate Commissions website until my broker renews their license.

Does that mean I will start selling real estate in Pittsburgh?  No.  I will mostly be looking to help buyers and sellers in Franklin and Adams County around Gettysburg, PA and Waynesboro, PA.  I do believe, I will eventually move back to the Pittsburgh area some day.  This site will help me build my web presence and generate leads.

Websites and lead generation takes some time to grow legs.  Over a period of time with some quality content about the greater Pittsburgh area, readers will find this space.

photo credit: ed_fast1

This plug in is a nice little addition for the wordpress blogs.  It not only adds dome eye-candy to the post but it also gives credit to some increditably talented photographers.

photo credit: sbrookss10

There’s isn’t a limit on the number of photos you can drop in the post.

I think I am liking Photodropper a lot.

What I did find out; that they are very tight lipped about the information that they hold. Agents are not allowed to advertise other brokerages listings on their personal websites. Even the West Penn MLS webpage is quite ancient and backwards. You (the consumer) can only research homes on the Brokerages main company website or Reatlor.com. My Maryland MLS (MRIS) has a public spot that any consumer can access housing market statistics. I am a firm believer that in today’s world, consumers want information now and on their own terms. Information is always available on the internet whenever they want it…why wouldn’t it be available for anyone? I guess its just a matter of the environment. The Maryland area is very high tech and the Pittsburgh area is growing to get there. I imagine it is only a matter of time before you have access to the top secret housing market statistics for the local area. I would hope that the local boards would come together and move in to the ever changing information highway and Real Estate 2.o, and give the consumer what they want.

I always provide a snap shot of the housing market conditions in Maryland and intend on doing it here for the Greater Pittsburgh housing market as soon as I have access and have my Pennsylvania Real Estate License. You can click on that link to see an example of what I will be providing to you in the near future. My job as a real estate agent is to provide you with information in order for you to make an educated decision about your next real estate purchase.

Pennsylvania and Maryland now have a Reciprocity Agreement for their real estate licenses. I only have to get my background check done and then make it up to Harrisburg to pick up my license.

It shouldn’t be long before I make the market conditions information available to you.

Until then, I am NOT giving you any real estate advice…only commenting on the current situation with me trying to find any type of any housing market conditions for the area around Allegheny and Westmoreland county.

As it stands right now I am only licensed in the state of Maryland…just thought you should know.

Stay tuned as I continue to build a resourceful real estate blog about Pittsburgh and surrounding areas. Most likely I will be focusing on areas east of Pittsburgh like, Oakmont, Springdale, Cheswick, Fox Chapel, Tarentum, Natrona Heights, West Deer, Sarver, Freeport, New Kensington, Lower Burrell, Murrysville, Plum, Monroeville, and Verona to only name a few.

See you soon,

Bob