For any REALTOR® who hasn't yet gotten the message - the electronic transaction is the future of the REALTOR. And the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) is using its considerable weight to make sure that the REALTOR is not only front and center - s/he will become the electronic transaction manager, says NAR president, Sharon Millett.

"Our goal is to keep the REALTOR as the first point of contact with consumers," says Millett. "Our second goal is to embrace the changes that technology is offering. We see open, REALTOR -friendly Internet standards as being one of those opportunities."

As evidenced by the Midwinter Governance Meeting held over a week ago in Atlanta, the NAR's latest mission is to create open standards for the Internet, so that all parties to the real estate transaction can communicate with each other efficiently and less expensively than with current methods.

By driving open standards, possibly featuring XML as one of the data standards, NAR will be able to facilitate display of real estate information on the Internet and other networks.

According to a recent NAR press release, XML is a simplified computer dialect designed to ease the processing and exchange of on-line information.

"XML has the potential to possibly radically change how REALTORS search for information," says Millett. "The unknown is that XML in itself can't change the Internet - in order to work, it has to be adopted and used by everyone in the writing of their Web sites. We will have to see how this language will play out in the marketplace."

NAR's vision

The promise of XML is that REALTORS, their clients, and service providers pertinent to the real estate transaction will each be able to communicate with equal ease using the Internet. Just as important, all communication will be password protected to assure the privacy of the client.

Instead of the pieces of the real estate transaction coming together only at closing, they will join at the beginning of the transaction - when the contract is placed in a secured environment on the Internet. Each service provider will work with the REALTOR to provide on-time on-line service delivery and accurate data entry.

Managing the transaction will be the REALTOR . Ideally, the way it will work is that once a contract has been signed, a password protected transaction file will be placed on the Internet. All parties to the transaction will be able to access and deliver information to their protected area. The REALTOR will open the file with the contract. From there, s/he will monitor the other key players, making sure that each performs as they should. The lender will deliver loan approval on-line to the file. The inspector will file his/her report on-line. The title company, or closing agent will set the closing date - on-line. All key players and their information will add their pieces of transaction data at the appropriate times, prompted by the REALTOR.

And everyone will be, in the most literal sense, - on the same page.

The advantage to the REALTOR is that s/he will be back in the center of the transaction, able to bring the services that provide value to the consumer. The advantage to the consumer is that closings can happen in much less time, and with fewer problems.

The advantage to the NAR is that the organization will have done its job - improving the business climate for its members.

"Our members will be able to share information seamlessly, so that the only barriers will be only those that REALTORS think are important," says Millett.

The barriers

Getting everyone on the same page will be the challenge. Service providers such as title companies, inspectors and appraisers will have to learn to communicate "electronically" just as REALTORS will.

But the NAR is taking the first step toward the electronic transaction by working to create open Internet standards featuring a new mark-up language which will enable all parties to communicate with each other using the same code.

The Internet works smoothly in most cases because it has its own mark-up language - html code. But REALTORS, MLSs, and lenders don't have that advantage. They may be managing information on proprietary client/server systems or browser/server systems which don't relate well to one another.

The nation's MLSs have so many proprietary systems, that it is the equivalent of every city having its own Yahoo! said one REALTOR. Or, every city speaking a foreign language, said another. These systems use different vendors, different programming, and are not able to support additional software by ancillary vendors without expensive programming changes to the client/server systems.

That would all change with the adoption of open standards. With the NAR leading the way, the organization's members would benefit by being able to access the same information regardless of whether information rests on a client/server system or a browser/server system. The Internet would become the bridge.

A long, hard road

The open standards ball was put in motion over a year ago at NAR's mid-year conference when the board gave the mandate that the organization develop open standards for communication and property transaction management. The goal was to open electronic communication standards so that REALTORS , MLSs, lenders, appraisers, insurers, and others with roles in the real estate transaction can lower costs, improve services to each other and to real estate consumers and save time and frustration.

Dale Stinton, CFO, CIO, and comptroller for the NAR said, "This is a huge accomplishment and a huge benefit. We are trying to drive vendors to write software for MLSs which can easily be incorporated into their current systems."

After working on the language and reviewing solution providers, Stinton believes the NAR will be ready to present its open standards model at the Washington D.C. Mid-year conference, May 21st through May 23rd at the Marriott Wardman Park.

"Many vendors are participating," says Stinton. "and they are anxiously awaiting the release of our standards," says Stinton. "They will immediately accommodate their systems to them. It is to their advantage because they no longer will have to make expensive changes to the systems to adopt third party software. They would much rather focus on providing better software than spending time writing bridge programs."

"The future has yet to be written," says Millett. "The MLS can create an orderly market and ensure the accuracy of data, but things will definitely be different."

"REALTORS will be different."

Published: March 8, 1999

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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. For more articles by Blanche, click here.