Erik Lerner | RealEstateArchitect.com

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I agree there are inherent conflicts. However, when both buyer and seller are informed about those conflicts and, given the option to be referred to another broker still choose dual representation, I'm hard pressed to find a reason not to go forward. I disagree with the lawyer comparison. The worst thing about the legal system is that it's all or nothing - there's always a Winner and a Loser. The best thing about real estate brokerage is that, in the best cases, Win/Win is the operative principal. A willing buyer and a willing seller equals two Winners.

Columnist Gellner bemoans the state of compensation for architects, analogizing the architect's work product - the drawing - to the doctor's procedure. That is certainly the experience of this patient and architect. It is equally true in the real estate world, where brokers also are rewarded best, in fact usually ONLY for the procedure most highly valued in that business: the closed transaction. But awareness of the 'thinking' part of medicine is up for discussion now amidst the currently raging public health care discussion. To the degree that consumers' enlightenment grows about the value of 'thinking,' the resulting rebalancing of compensation away from procedures in favor of a broader range of services will be felt in real estate. With growing skepticism about the lucrative 'procedure,' combined with free information and alternative compensation models, the pop of a big commission at closing may one day no longer be available. The result might be a real estate system which placed a greater value on "thinking."

A correction to this: "The USGBC also created its Certified Green Professional (CGP) designation that recognizes builders, remodelers and other industry professionals who incorporate green building principles into homes without driving up the cost of construction." BuildItGreen has a certification for something called a Green Building Professional. See http://www.builditgreen.org/cgbp USGBC has made a point of distinguishing between its policy to "certify" buildings and "credential" LEED Accredited Professionals (LEED APs). See http://www.gbci.org/