Tomorrow, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission will be voting to possibly repeal the “Net Neutrality” regulations put in place in 2015 by the Obama administration. These regulations were implemented to ensure broadband internet is easily accessible to everyone.

Net neutrality may very well be coming to a close. The FCC’s chairman, Ajit Pai, earlier released his plan for repealing the current “Open Internet Order,” hoping to replace the current policy with regulations encouraging more competition in the marketplace, but it may result in allowing internet providers to block, slow down, bundle, throttle, and charge extra fees to both private consumers and businesses in accessing broadband internet.

Currently, broadband service providers such as Comcast and Verzon are regulated under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 and were placed under this policy in 2015 by the Open Internet Order. Because of this shift in policy in 2015 from the Clintonera internet policies, broadband is now treated as an essential utility to ensure that all “Americans reap the economic social and civic benefits of an open internet.”

The National Association of Realtors disagrees with repealing net neutrality regulations, saying the reversal of net neutrality will adversely impact both Realtors and real estate consumers.

The internet’s development and expansion has changed the face of how real estate consumers find a home and real estate transactions are completed.

Over the past 25 years, real estate has morphed from a very person-to-person, face-to-face dependent business to an industry highly reliant on the internet in conveying real estate information to the consumer. Today, most first-time home buyers probably do not recall a time a home search did not begin with Google or Zillow and may even be surprised to learn how the home buying and selling process was organized back “in-the-day.”

Before widespread internet access, individuals and families wanting to buy a new home began their search within their local Realtor’s office. A prospective buyer walking into their local real estate establishment was greeted by the office secretary who then provided the prospective buyer with a local multiple listing book; better known as the “Listing Book.” This highly coveted, plain white covered book held only black and white photos of local homes for sale. The Listing Book could not leave the office. The home search happened right in the office with the Listing Book as the guide and access to a Realtor close at hand.

The book was very localized, containing information on listed homes only for the general geographic region. If you, as a potential buyer, were looking for a home in the greater Brunswick region and stopped by a real estate office in the greater Brunswick region, you would be offered the listing book published by the Merrymeeting Board of Realtors; our local real estate board tasked with servicing our region’s real estate needs.

If you happened to be toying with moving out of the greater Brunswick region, you would most likely need to drive out of the region to the area you hoped to move to, walk through a local real estate office door and view area listings, in their listing book, published by their local real estate board.

As cumbersome and time-consuming leafing through a local listing book is while also sitting in some unfamiliar real estate office, this process presents its own beauty and benefits to potential real estate clients; all prospective home buyers and sellers are afforded an equal opportunity to access real estate information through the local listing book all while building a rapport and relationship with their local Realtor.

Our local real estate boards no longer publish listing books. No longer do buyer and sellers sit in offices learning about local homes for sale, but instead land on impersonal and often confusing informational real estate websites designed to capture the consumer’s information and sell back to the local Realtor.

With repealing net neutrality, buyers and sellers will find their real estate options and information severely limited. What may this possibly look like? No longer will consumers enjoy equal access to fast moving real estate information and data. Instead, consumers may find access to real estate information hampered as their internet connections are slowed. Some consumers may even be unable to access some real estate websites depending on their internet service providers’ choice.

Large real estate websites may make financial arrangements with internet service providers to ensure their websites download at faster speeds than, say your local multiple listing service provider’s download speeds.

Smaller Realtor firms will have a competitive disadvantage in trying to connect with buyers and sellers in this unregulated broadband sphere as they may be unable to purchase “fast lanes” or may even have their websites intentionally slowed.

All this translates into potential buyers and sellers being unable to connect with their local Realtor or even unable to find real estate information in a timely manner.

Strong relationships with a Realtor are critical to home buyers and sellers as they move through the home buying and selling process. Repealing net neutrality may impact a consumer’s ability to connect with a Realtor by making it difficult for consumers to find a small, local Realtor’s information online.

Homes can come and go off the market faster than websites can push the updated information out to the internet. When real estate consumers rely only on information found on the internet, their interests are not as well served as when they are working with their own Realtor; their Realtor can provide guidance and faster updates than Zillow.

GINA LEDUC-KUNTZ is a local Realtor who grew up in Topsham and whose family owned and operated

LeDuc Realty as a mainstay in Topsham for nearly 40 years. She now lives in Freeport with her very large and rambunctious family. Her two eldest sons are Maine lobstermen off Chebeague Island, her eldest daughter is studying early childhood education, her two young children attend St. John’s Catholic School in Brunswick and her pre-teen son attends the Coastal Academy in

Harpswell.