<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>518795-00123</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Received Date:</b></TD> <TD>10/21/2005 2:51:05 PM</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Organization:</b></TD> <TD>ERA Alliance Realty</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Commenter:</b></TD> <TD>McGraw, Kathy</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/> I am a new Real Estate agent by Industry Standards, only having my license for a little over a year. I learned very quickly that this is a very competitive business, and if I wanted to be able to feed myself and pay my bills, I would have to do things better than my competition, and find my own niche. I found a growing area, and stated networking. There were other agents also trying to get business from this area, so again I looked at what everybody else was doing, read all the info on REALTOR.com, the MLS, etc. and came up with my own plan, my own successful marketing strategy. I have done very well in my first year having closed 20 transactions, and all of my business comes from referrals, or from my efforts. I watch many of my friends struggle, and I have experienced the competivness of other agents. Some call and want to pick my brain for an hour or more then use my information for their benefit. As an Independent Contractor that means I lose money when I do all the work, and give away all my resources and knowledge to my competition. i try to be fair, and always answer questions, but many of the other agents do not. In closing I would like to say I was scared to death starting in this field. Scared that I had so much to learn, and scared that I would have to compete with agents that have a lot more knowledge and skills than I do. But for me this was the challange, and the excitement that makes me love being an agent. Darwin's Theory, survival of the fittest, definetly applies to this field, and I personally hate whiners. If they can't figure out how to do the job, or they want more advantages then they are willing to pay for with hard work, studying, and time, I do not feel I have to pay for this. I have paid my dues in starting out. And i pay 8% of all my transactions for the ERA franchise in order to have the Internet, and marketing, tools that make my job easier. I also pay very high dues to the California Association of REALTORS, and the national, as well as the local MLS. I pay these because it gives me the tools and the exposure to better help my clients. Thank you, Kathy McGraw </body> </HTML>