The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-05-25
MULTIPLE LIST |NG' IF REAL ESTATE |S NON| ASSURED
Birmingham Real Estate Men Regard It Wonderful
 Benefit To City

Multiple listing of real estate sales is assured for Birmingham.
 Bruce Hobltzell, manager of the method for the Louisville. Ky. real estate board has so thoroughly sold the Birmingham realtors on It that already they are swapping con- fidences of which 24 hours ago they would have preserved the secrecy at the cost of a heavy commission.
 Just how strong the Magic 'Clty men are for the new method was shown at the luncheon in the Tut wiler hotel Thursday afternoon when Richard R. Randolph, president of the King Land and Improvement company, had his board status switched from honarary mempersnlf to full participating membership nos only in the board but in multiple listing.
 Thursdays meeting was a double barreled affair. It started with a talk to the sales division in the auditorium of the Chamber of Com merce where MT. Hoblitzell outlined the advantages of multiple listing, but before he could finish, general sentiment had made ducks and drakes of the old regime. so all waddled through the rain to the luncheon at the Tutwiler.
 In brief, multiple listing, as pre-
  listing of all property for sales with all member firms and individ- uals, division of the commission be- ing made, according to the amount of work done.
 Commissions in Birmingham, as they have operated for the past 50 years. are per cent on the first five thousand dollars involved, and two and half per cent on the re- mainder named of the transaction. Commissions In Louisville.
 MT. Hoblitzell told the Birmingham real estate board members that the commissions in Louisville are per cent on the first five thousand dol lars, 4 per cent on the second five thousand per cent on the next S10,000, and 2 per cent on the re- mainder. As MT. Hoblitzell finished giving out this information low cries and groans could be heard ema- hating from several parts of the room with an occasional, "oy, oy," sob.
 Multiple listing originated in Toledo, O., ten years ago, averaging adoption in ten additional cities each year, with the hundred city mark now reached and passed.
 Louisville, since adopting the sys- tenn 15 months ago, has recorded S1,200,0 900 worth of residence property sales, and said Mir. Hoblitzell, while that was better than had been the great value was seen in the ac- celeration of movement of what had been, before the change, obscure though valuable property. One trust company had built d range of 40 bungalows and found them still on their hands after three years of ef- fort to sell. They were placed on qf in 1icf ha tire lot was sold in two days.
 It was at this point in the dis cussion that Mir. Randolph inter- rupted the speaker, personally moved that the King Land company be taken into the fold. secured fast ac- more. Incidentally, while digressions are in order MT. Randolph stated he had offered ten acres to manu- featuring concern that wanted to come to Birmingham, his agent had started the deal, another agent had knocked the property, the deal was called off. and the Magic City lost the location of a $60,000 factory Aid Civic Movements.
 MT. HoblitzeI, resuming, said the Louisville realtors had found their cry worthy civic movement, whether for public buildings better streets. drainage or what-not, and had achieved thereby, four hundred times as much publicity from the Louis vile newspapers as had been given the board of trade. Of 95 firms In Louisville, S3 have joined the null tiple listing association, that is, the members of the firms have joined as individuals, there being no firm as. a-whole memberships.
 Birmingham realtors that signed up prior to and during the luncheon yes terday are: w. B. Leedy, A. C. Montgomery, Jerome Tucker, Roscoe Mcconnell, Nelson Realty company. J. Y. Yancey. and the members of the Smith, Thockmorton and Shultz com pany.
 Mir. Yancey, president of the Bir- mingham real estate board. after the luncheon, said it was a forgone con- clusion that great majority of the Birmingham dealers would join, the delay being only the formality of signing and the printing of the neces- n fN la ul~,