It's something you didn't know the real estate industry needed, because things should work smoothly without it, but the truth is there was no communication standard in online technology to serve the real estate community.

For example, when you plug an appliance into the wall, you know it is going to work because of UL standards. Standards means that the appliance and the electricity speak the same language.

But until 1999, when technology professionals got together to establish a real estate transaction standard (RETS), real estate technologies didn't communicate. Software vendors, MLS vendors and others had to write long laborious code to enable disparate systems to communicate. Even then, some information couldn't be translated accurately between one vendor and another at the MLS level, which raised end costs and added inconvenience to Realtors, lenders, consumers and everyone else associated with the real estate transaction.

So have you "got RETS?"

Chances are your MLS vendor, software designers, Website vendors, and others are making sure that your MLS and transaction data is RETS-compliant.

"We're trying to eliminate incompatibility," says Kevin McQueen, president of Focus Forward Consulting, Inc."RETS enables improved electronic communication through standards. The standards define the rules by which software developers write their code to move information back and forth online. Unfortunately, there are a number of standards, which is like having a number of languages, so we have created one standard."

"If a software vendor doesn't know what language to speak, they don't get nor will they be able to deliver the information they need," explains McQueen. "It is much more difficult to translate the information being exchanged, but in the exchange, the data might not be as accurate, it takes longer, and its more expensive."

With RETS as the standard for listing data information, now more lenders are coming to the party, says McQueen. "That's why it is called the real estate transaction standard - it's listing data information which has a lot of crossover with mortgage information."

But just like a mother's work is never done, neither is the work of a standard.

"Just like technology is changing, there are opportunities for further improving the standard," says McQueen. "In terms of who is using it, the majority of MLS vendors are now providing RETS-compliant solutions for their customers, and the third-party software companies have adopted RETS as well, allowing them to more effectively communicate with those MLS software vendors."

RETS is always undergoing review, says McQueen, and because new and existing vendors come to the table with new ideas, the RETS Standards Group formed and continues to meet to discuss improvements.

The RETS working group, sponsored by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), met last week in Cincinnati, Ohio to discuss the making of RETS 2.0.

Bruce Toback, RETS Technical Chairperson said the group is working to improve interoperability among various RETS-compliant solutions. “We approved increasing the number of standard data names for inclusion in the RETS specification. Once adopted by software vendors, this will reduce time to market and ease of connectivity for software vendors since they will already know the standard names of commonly used fields in the data,” Toback said.

AMS, a global consulting firm with deep expertise in data security, shared a compelling presentation on the future of real estate data security opportunities and challenges, says the group.

The first "RETS Developer" seminar was offered to provide a fast-start program for software developers that are new to RETS. NAR sponsored the seminar, says the group, to focus more attention on making it easier for third-party software developers to utilize the benefits of RETS. Based on excellent attendance and the positive feedback from the participants, NAR intends to offer the RETS Developer seminar again at the next RETS meeting, scheduled for August 3-5, 2004 in Chicago. The RETS working group meets at least three times per year.

For more information about RETS including future events, visit www.rets.org.

Published: April 2, 2004

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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.