DOUBLE WHAMMY
Before we get to the national story regarding the National Association of Realtors loss in federal court, let’s revisit the first real estate whammy – Mammoth Town Council’s recently passed moratorium on the issuance of new STR (short-term rental) permits.
At its regular meeting Wednesday, Council created the committee to “study” the STR issue.
The appointees from the general public were John Morris, Cynthia Fleming, Kerry Burke, Jason Kellogg, Alisa Mokler Harper, Matthew Avery and Kelly Gardner. Councilmembers Amanda Rice and Chris Bubser will also serve on the committee.
The appointments came after a popularity contest was held and then staff tallied the choices of the four Councilmembers in attendance (Rea was absent).
Of the applicants, six received three different Councilmembers votes and were ushered in without delay.
Gardner had two votes but was selected among several who received two votes (including Dale Knott, Shields Richardson, Jason Herbst). Rice said Knott had misrepresented the content of an email she had written, so that DQ’d him in her mind. She then suggested Gardner. Everyone else said fine.
Staff liaisons to the committee will be Town Manager Holler and Town Finance Director Patterson.
There are two optional spots for a 10th and 11th member.
One for a potential hispanic community member (if someone from that community shows interest or can be identified). Wentworth insisted this didn’t represent tokenism.
If that person is identified, then to make the committee have an odd number of people (you know, in case you need a tiebreaker), the committee would itself make an “at-large” selection NOT from the real estate or lodging community, currently represented by Morris, Fleming, Kellogg and Avery.
Local real estate broker Matthew Lehman dismisses the whole thing as a bunch of posturing. “It’s [the moratorium] all about collapsing a segment of the market to ‘create’ housing,” he observed. But no matter how much you collapse it, he added, it probably won’t make prices affordable enough to make a difference.
Speaking of Lehman, I asked for his opinion of Tuesday’s court decision in Kansas City.
From Bloomberg: Zillow Group Inc. and other real estate stocks plunged after a Missouri jury struck a fresh blow against the battered industry, finding that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) colluded to maintain high brokerage commissions.
The jury awarded nearly $1.8 billion in damages in the case, one of several recent lawsuits concerning how real estate agents are paid. The Justice Department is also scrutinizing the commission-sharing system, which typically puts home sellers on the hook for a 5% to 6% cut of the sale price, split between their agent and the representative for the buyer.
In a worst-case scenario for the industry, the federal government could seek to ban sharing commissions, which would upend how real estate agents have done business for decades.”
The issue appears to be the sellers not wanting to be on the hook for paying the buy- and sell-side agent fees.
Lehman said in California, the contract verbiage states that the buyer is responsible for paying his/her own agent, but if there’s a shortfall, the seller’s agent can ‘make up the difference.’
Both Lehman and Re/Max Broker Paul Oster emphasized that everything in real estate is negotiable. Depending on the deal and the client, commissions are routinely adjusted.
“It is more commonplace these days for buyers to call listing agents directly,” observed Oster. That’s one way to avoid paying two agents.
Lehman added, “If we double-end a deal, of course we discount the commission.”
But, he said, “There’s a lot behind the scenes that people don’t know about. “They [outsiders looking in who perceive realtors to be killing it] think we’re pimps, but … it’s more involved [pushing a transaction over the finish line] than people want to give us credit for.”
“I don’t see the price fixing,” said Oster. “I just got into a negotiation with a seller [over fees] yesterday.”
An NAR spokesman was quoted in the Wall Street Journal Wednesday saying, “This matter is not close to being final as we will appeal the jury’s verdict.”
Upcoming: On November 8, Mammoth’s Planning and Economic Development Commission will hold a public hearing regarding a use-permit application for an 80’ tall celltower proposed at Fire Station #2 in Old Mammoth.
The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. in Suite Z, Minaret Mall.
Mammoth Fire Chief Ales Tomaier and his board of directors are supportive of the project. “From our perspective, it’s a public safety project,” he said, which will result in better cell coverage in Old Mammoth and in the Lakes Basin.
It’ll also bring more capacity, faster speeds, and a broadband connection to Fire Station #2.
It’ll be an open system built on behalf of AT & T, but available for use by one other carrier.
The lease payment to MLFD would be $46,200 annually from AT & T and $15,000 for a potential second carrier. The money would go towards MLFD’s capital expenditure fund.
Jeff Boucher, a retired fire commissioner, says a similar proposal was rejected unanimously by the Fire District Board roughly a decade ago.
“Add three zeros behind their offer and I’d still reject it,” says Boucher. “It’s an 80-foot tower.”
Even if they call it a “stealth monopine.”
