Consumer Advocate HomeSpace Brings "Find a Realtor" Program to Web Site HomeSpace.com, the company that re-emerged when AmeriNet Inc. was taken private last year, has begun offering a "find a Realtor" program on its Web site, guaranteeing that consumers will find an agent to help them who will rebate anywhere from a half to 1 percent of their commission, one way or another. The company also is promising to change out any agent or broker who isn't meeting the consumer's expectations. HomeSpace is the successor company to AmeriNet, which made headlines three years ago when it became the endorsed real estate service provider for Costco Warehouses, promising Costco members steep rebates on real estate commissions. Real estate agents who signed on with AmeriNet hoped they would make up in volume what they lost from the 35 percent referral fee. Today, the Costco deal remains the cornerstone of the HomeSpace program, but HomeSpace has vastly expanded its network in the past year. Currently the system has some 700 companies, with roughly 3,000 offices. There are about 7,000 agents signed onto the program in more than 350 cities nationwide. HomeSpace President Eric Cunliffe said the company was continuing to actively recruit brokers and agents, but also hinted some regions were nearing "sold out" levels. "Our primary purpose now is to really drive business to the agents we have," he said. "The issue is market share, and we want to help our agents build market share - which means taking it away from brokers who aren't in our program." The purpose of the Web site and a series of upcoming partnership deals, he said, would help the company achieve that increased market share goal. While HomeSpace offers the "carrot" of more business while holding the "stick" of disciplining its membership, Cunliffe said it was rare that the consumer advocate section of the company had to take action. "Occasionally we've had overly aggressive agents who just wouldn't show the consumer homes they wanted to see," he said. "And we've had cases where agents (claimed) to be experts in zip codes where they really weren't familiar with the market." When the company gets a consumer complaint, a HomeSpace official will contact the brokerage and try to work out the problem - usually solving it. In the last 18 months only one brokerage has been kicked out of the program for non-compliance and only a dozen or so sales associates have been removed. "Usually the broker can get the agent back on track and doing their job. But we won't hesitate to decertify an agent or a broker if we have to," Cunliffe said. Although many states have prohibitions against rebating commissions to consumers, Cunliffe said even most of those states have accepted an alternative business plan by which agents, representing either the buyer or the seller, can provide up front commission discounts rather than post-transaction rebates. Alaska currently is the only state that has banned either form of consumer compensation. | 
