The long-standing feud between the Department of Justice and the National Association of Realtors is close to reaching an end. And it’s a pretty big win for consumers.

Two main positive emerge from this agreement. One is that those who run real estate websites can now know exactly what is and is not allowed according to MLS rules. Before, you were never sure if you were about to get kicked out of your local MLS for your activities online.

Second, it is now possible for brokers to post detailed information about listings, sold properties and other off-market properties as long as they make users register with an e-mail address to see this information. While that’s a burden, it’s not a huge one. If someone is motivated enough to use the information, surely they could come up with an e-mail address to get to it.

This is the type of information that internet users have been craving and will make it even easier for consumers to manage their relationship to their home transaction and the amount of involvement they want from their real estate agent.

More competition online means better service for homebuyers and sellers. This is exactly the type of consumer-empowering move that we at SeekingAgents support.

Check out the article at Inman to read more.