<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>518795-00284</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Received Date:</b></TD> <TD>10/27/2005 5:25:15 PM</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Organization:</b></TD> <TD>Prudential Carolinas Realty</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Commenter:</b></TD> <TD>Martin, William</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>State:</b></TD> <TD>NC</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/> Few of the agents I have cross sales with charge the same commissions and it is unbelievable to think that there are some that believe this business is anti-competitive. To the contrary, margins are constantly squeezed and it is our ability to set our own price - whether its 6%, 7%, 10% or 3% - that makes and breaks people in this business. Those who charge 3% are unlikely to last. At 6%, the average Realtor will be just barely able to survive. I'd suggest you look elsewhere for anticompetitive behavior ... e.g. Medicine where the supply of physicians is controlled, yet the price of their service is not. Yours, Bill Martin, Realtor/Broker/MBA </body> </HTML>