In the history of various industries providing products and services to consumers, there has been a fairly consistent and predictable sequence of events:

• A truly new product or service is offered,
  
• The product or service adds many extensions, options and/or arrangements in an effort to provide the consumer with a good deal of choice, and then
  
• The sheer amount of choice becomes inefficient and the consumer looks for (and the industry provides) simplified and in many cases “bundled” standard packages.

The three co-authors of this whitepaper are all well known and widely recognized industry experts. Best selling author Stefan Swanepoel serves as Chairman and CEO of the RealtyU® Group, the nation's largest network of real estate schools. Stephen Murray is CEO and Publisher of REALTrends, one of the nations leading real estate news services and hosts of the popular Gathering of Eagles annual conference. Anne Murray-Randolph is Editor of the recently launched and very prestigious lore (Lives of Real Estate) magazine.

Swanepoel stated that “choice provides the consumer with a sense of control and control is a fundamental long term trend among consumers that has been growing since Baby Boomers decided they could 'have it their way.' The Internet has been a key enabling tool for consumer to acquire information that would allow them to be in control and to make informed choices."

“Residential real estate agents are already noting that consumers are coming to them armed with the exact homes they want to see in a particular neighborhood with much greater regularity,” said Murray-Randolph. “Today, in many instances, consumers have already figured out what they can afford and have already received a mortgage commitment. Current events make it clear that there is no doubt about it, the consumer is gaining control of the home finding process,” she concluded.

According to the authors, consumers have already indicated a strong desire for simplifying the transaction by desiring to obtain all of the services they need from one single source. But, before this can truly become a reality, the industry has some very entrenched rules, regulations, processes and participants that have to change. The whitepaper discusses the industry finds itself in the process today, how it got there, which major players were the trend's forerunners and the road ahead as it is being defined by the major players impacting how the game is to be played - including RESPA and HUD.

Real Estate confronts Bundled Services will be released nationwide on November 1st and from that date can be downloaded from http://www.realsure.com and http:/www.realtrends.com. However, advance printed copies will be available at the National Association of REALTORS® annual convention in San Francisco on October 29th and 30th.