Consolidation is the name of the game and the transaction platform with the most pieces necessary to real estate agents and their consumers wins. With its purchase of transaction management tools from Internet Strategy, Inc, formerly known as oneparkplace.com, now Homebid.com hopes to gain a market advantage over its competitors.

Either companies are organically creating modules for the transaction platform or they are buying them in a race to see who finishes with the most useful, comprehensive tool set first.

Homestore's eRealtor puts client management together with transaction management through its subsidiaries. HomeAdvisor Technologies, Inc. couples lender transaction software with office management software to serve brokers and their agents. Homebid has the only offer management platform which enables buyers and sellers to communicate through their brokers in an online offer environment. That's a point of difference in the crowded transaction platform marketplace.

Transaction management is the buzzword for 2000 as brokers look for a way to offer more advantages to their clients to offset the compression that is taking place in commissions. While consumers grow more demanding and ask for the real estate transaction to be simplified, new criteria such as environmental and liability issues make it more complex. In an effort to simplify and make the transaction more transparent and easy to understand, brokers are using transaction management software as a means of offering better, more streamlined service to their customers.

Open transparent platforms are designed to assure that a transaction will close on time because all participants can get their documents online to be viewed by all concerned parties in a password protected environment. Problems can be detected early with alerts that lets providers know if key documents are missing that are necessary for closing.

Spokespersons would not disclose the cash amount that Homebid paid for the product formerly known as Oneparkplace, but the company does plan to integrate the tools into its "Offer Manager" home negotiation platform to "give real estate professionals a true end-to-end solution for finding, researching, and negotiating for a home as well as closing the many complex threads of the transaction online," says the company.

Under the terms of the contract signed by both parties, Internet Strategy will customize the transaction management tools to meet Homebid’s specifications, says the company, and Homebid will be the exclusive owner of the final product. Integration with Offer Manager is now underway, and should be completed in early November. A beta version will then be tested, and Homebid expects to release the completed suite sometime in mid-winter.

Brokers and agents who employ the new platform will be able to work with title companies, inspection companies and other service providers of their choice. The system sends alerts to all parties involved, schedules and manages the completion of items needed for closing, and creates and routes reports that can be stored electronically. The Web-based software is designed to work with both email and fax communications, so providers don't have to have any special Internet knowledge to participate on the platform.

The transaction management components will access offer information from Homebid’s Offer Manager platform, filling out required fields and starting the closing process the instant an offer is accepted and the deal is signed. With the information already in the system, no further data entry is required, saving everyone involved time and effort. All parties – agents, service providers, buyers and sellers -- can monitor the transaction from the broker’s Web site and ensure that every action item gets completed on time. With each step of the closing process identified, assigned to a party and updated when completed, issues that could potentially hinder the process can be addressed before they cause a problem.

The company will supplement the new transaction platform with digitized forms and the ability to upload and download data from the MLS, which will coincide with the new Broker Reciprocity initiative by the NAR in which MLS organizations will make MLS database downloads possible for brokers who wish to post MLS listings for search on their personal Web sites.

Published: September 26, 2000

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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.