Any buyers who get Realtor Ken Lampton to represent them in a transaction are lucky. An expert in East Dallas homes, particularly in the sizzling near-downtown "M-streets" area, Lampton has a love and appreciation of older and historical homes like few Realtors have today. While some may turn up their noses at houses that need work, Lampton educates the buyer on what's a dealbreaker, what isn't, what's valuable to preserve, what isn't, and most of all, what will enhance the buyer's enjoyment of their new home.

Visiting Lampton's Website is an education to itself, where he shows buyers how and what to appreciate in older home styles and elements. A former mechanical engineer, Lampton understands what works and doesn't work. He's also been a Realtor since 1985, so he has years of experience in real estate transactions to share as well.

The M-streets, where Lampton is fond of selling, is known for quaint Tudor-style homes that can as much as double in value when they have been updated and expanded for modern families, but rehabilitation projects aren't for the faint-hearted. Neither is buying an improved home where some updates may cause an historically significant home to either lose value or be overpriced by comparison.

That's why when a buyer calls Lampton for help but doesn't really want his help, it's a little disconcerting, especially when it comes to buying an older home which has a different set of priorities and problems than new homes.

"A fellow phones me and says he wants to buy a house in "the M Streets" (my market area), but he wants to buy directly from the sellers, without any Realtors being involved," explains Lampton. "He does not want me to represent him or give him advice. He isn't interested in any house listed in the MLS. But he does want me to "give him access to the MLS database" of homes that have been sold in the M Streets. He proposes to give me a fee of 1 percent based on the purchase price of the home he buys."

Taken aback, Lampton told the buyer that he enjoyed doing the very things the buyer didn't want - getting to know new people, showing them houses, helping them understand the market, helping them negotiate, and helping them interpret the comparable sales data.

"It wouldn't be fun to do business in the manner he was describing," says Lampton.

It was the buyer's turn to be surprised. Lampton reports that the buyer said, "I can't believe it would take much time to pull the sales data out of the MLS and give it to me, so why wouldn't any agent want to do business this way?"

"I told him he was correct, it wouldn't take long, but I wasn't interested," says Lampton.

"He tells me 'I just want to buy an M-Street house, fix it up, and sell it for a profit but I need the sales comparables to do it,'" says Lampton.

While laws vary from state to state, there are specific problems with accommodating a request like this in Texas.

First, virtual office Website rules will allow us (presumably) to put information about home sales on Websites, but customers must register to see it. "Will that registration prevent a guy like this from pulling out all the sold comps he wants, then disappearing?" asks Lampton.

"Another question - If I had agreed to provide data to this man in the manner he described, would I be violating MLS rules?" he wonders.

Lampton called the MLS Department at the Greater Dallas Association of Realtors. "She said I was prohibited from giving the guy data in the manner he described, and I would be in trouble with MLS if I abused my access to sold comps in that manner. I could do a market analysis on any one house that he was thinking of buying. I could show him the comparable sales related to that market analysis. But I could not simply print out all the M-Street comps and hand them to him. Makes sense to me."

In addition to the fact that it breaks the rules, how would it be contracted? "It would have been interesting to have him explain whether we would have some kind of written agreement," says Lampton. "How would that agreement be worded?"

Lampton also explains that the Texas Real Estate Commission has been talking about clarifying the rules for minimum levels of service.

"This guy's request was the flip side of all the discount brokers out there who simply enter a listing into MLS for a flat fee, without giving the seller any help showing the house or negotiating a contract," observes Lampton. "If they can do that, why can't a buyer's agent accept a flat fee from a buyer in return for sitting him down in front of the agent's computer to pull data off the MLS?

He says, by the way, that it is a "goofy idea on both sides."

"I've read many articles about the increasing demand from consumers for discounting fees for real estate services," says Lampton, "but this one was new to me!"

Published: August 5, 2004

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.