<HTML> <HEAD> <title>WebForm1</title> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 7.1"> <meta name="CODE_LANGUAGE" content="Visual Basic .NET 7.1"> <meta name="vs_defaultClientScript" content="JavaScript"> <meta name="vs_targetSchema" content="http://schemas.microsoft.com/intellisense/ie5"> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content='text/html; charset=UTF-8'> </HEAD> <body > <TABLE id="Table1" cellSpacing="1" cellPadding="1" width="100%" border="0"> <TR> <TD><b>Comment Number:</b></TD> <TD>518795-00088</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Received Date:</b></TD> <TD>10/20/2005 12:54:22 PM</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Organization:</b></TD> <TD>Star Real Estate</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Commenter:</b></TD> <TD>Hagenbach, Luke</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>State:</b></TD> <TD>CA</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Agency:</b></TD> <TD>Federal Trade Commission</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Rule:</b></TD> <TD>Competition Policy and the Real Estate Industry</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Docket ID:</b></TD> <TD>To Be Added</TD> </TR> <TR> <td colspan='2'>No Attachments</td> </TR> </TABLE> <hr/> <b>Comments:</b><br/><br/> To whom it may concern, My name is Luke Hagenbach and I am am Realtor in the state of California. Recently, the situation regarding the Department of Justice and the investigation of the National Association of Realtor's internet listing data policy has come to my attention. As I am a member of the National Association of Realtors, The California Association of Realtors, and the Orange County Association of Realtors, I am quite familiar with the issues facing real estate practitioners and the market in general. Since childhood I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit. Real estate was the industry I chose because of the small business competitive nature the industry embraces. The real estate industry is a model of competition that works. In an economy in which large, national corporations -- such as Wal-Mart and Microsoft -- dominate the marketplace, real estate stands apart. We are an industry made up predominantly of small businesses and independent contractors who represent the entrepreneurial spirit this country was founded on. All of us serve localized markets where we compete for business every day. The company I work for, Star Real Estate, is one such company of independent contractors. We work every day to gain new clients and support our current clients in a way unparalleled, so we can maintain their loyalty among a sea of real estate professionals who are willing to take them on as clients. Fierce competition is fueled largely by the uniquely intense and personalized nature of the service we provide to our clients -- which, in turn, determines our future success through referrals and return business. Every year I spend countless hours polishing my business model so I can continue to compete for my clients. Barriers to entry into the industry are low. When deciding on an industry I could go into business for myself, real estate showed the lowest barrier to entry for me among the other businesses I was interested in. If you are willing to take the time to learn the business in your local market, pass the state license examination and adhere to the REALTOR&reg; code of ethics, there is nothing to stand in the way of success in this industry. I had to learn the business and pass the state licensing examination, but it is my own work ethic, commitment to professional standards and dedication to client satisfaction that determine my success. Even through the economic downturns our country has experienced in the past few years, our industry has continued to provide opportunity -- something I would say is confirmed by the thousands of new agents that join our profession every year and the over 2 million Americans who are now licensed to provide professional real estate services in communities across the country. Nothing encourages a competitive business environment more than providing consumers with choice. In the residential real estate marketplace, consumers not only are able to choose from more than 76,000 brokerage firms and more than 1.2 million REALTORS®, but also from a variety of business models. Thank you for hearing my thoughts, and I implore you to take my experience, and the experience of over 2 million other Americans, into consideration. Sincerely, Luke Hagenbach </body> </HTML>