Almost all the new transaction management platforms are targeted to brokers so that they can control of the transaction by centralizing their services. Now, thanks to Homestore and Onepipeline, they can control the loan services, too.

I told you that you'd read it here first, and so you will. Last week, I wrote that some big news will shortly be announced that will change everything you ever knew about the banking industry, the real estate industry and what online transaction management can do for you as a Realtor.

Today, that announcement came. Homestore has become an equity partner in Onepipeline, the leading provider of automated legal compliance technology. According to the release, the automated compliance software, undergoing the patenting process by Onepipeline, will enable real estate agents and brokers to streamline the mortgage transaction process. Details about how much money has changed or will change hands were not available, according to a Onepipeline spokesperson, but the equity endorsement should be worth its weight in gold to Homestore investors. Why? Realtors will become their own loan originators and Homestore will get a piece of every compliance contract.

What does this development mean to Realtors? For one thing, buyers' brokers can rejoice as they now have a way to take control of the transaction the same way the listing broker has done via the listing.

The two-year, multi-million dollar software and marketing alliance means that Homestore is going to put Onepipeline's compliance software on the eRealtor client/business/transaction/affinity platform making it possible for agents and brokers who want to do their own loans to comply with RESPA regulations while working with the leading banks and mortgage lenders in the country. As an equity partner, Homestore will also be able to capitalize on every agent who signs up to become legally compliant - even if the agent isn't registered through the eRealtor platform.

This isn't just going to make Homestore and Onepipeline money. It's going to make Realtors money. Think about the power of originating your own loans for just a moment. You've got a buyer sitting in front of you. Before you put them in your car, you open your desktop and using the eRealtor platform, or the platform licensed to you by a lender such as Countrywide or Wells Fargo (neither of which have announced participation with Onepipeline) you input the client's information. You originate the loan for your buyer, get him or her pre-qualified, and off you go. Your buyer makes an offer on a home, and the contract is auto-populated with the client and information you have already entered. You track the transaction and the loan simultaneously in a Web-based environment. Finally you will be paid loan origination fees for doing much of the work you would be doing in the same environment anyway! Because you are managing the transaction in a transparent environment, fewer mistakes will be made, fewer lost deals, and you'll waste less time. You have the buyer's loyalty instead of the other twenty agents who have shown the same buyer homes because you are doing the loan. And, when the home closes, your relationship with the buyer can continue as you offer to provide equity and home improvement loans. What's not to like?

For those agents wondering if it is legal for them to do loans, this piece of the transaction puzzle has the full blessing of the National Association of REALTORS® who participated in the choosing of Onepipeline to add to the eRealtor platform. In fact, Onepipeline made some accommodations to its business model in order to please the NAR and Homestore. Although the Homestore-to-broker (aren't you glad I didn't say business-to-business?) platform has yet to be rolled out in full, eRealtor promises to eclipse all the other transaction management platforms....except for one, which you'll read about tomorrow.

I've been preaching for months about business plans that take money away from brokers and agents, and have tried to find as many ideas that put money back into the broker's and agent's pocket as possible. Nothing I have found comes close to the agent-originated loan concept. Why? They get paid an honest dollar for doing honest work. The loan fees give them wiggle room: they can offer more service, offer rebates if they choose, cut their loan fees instead of their commissions or vice-versa. They have some control.

If the war between e-brokers and traditional brokers is heating up, and transaction management platforms are the new battlefield, the broker who can enable his or her agent staff to originate their own loans will definitely have the advantage.

Published: October 26, 2000

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