Mission Possible
by Stefan Swanepoel
Good morning Mr. Hunt: “Should any of your team get
caught using the software, we will disavow any knowledge of ever promising you
that the software would actually work.”
Echo’s of the Internet bubble when we were bedazzled by people “Showing
us the Money” and selling us promises of solutions that ruthlessly sucked
us into a web of lies. And then in April 2000, things went wrong. The stock
market crashed and we were left with our “Eyes Wide Shut” on a cancelled
virtual reality trip.
However, looking back there were actually some great
attempts to create the ultimate “Top Gun” solution. Not that transaction
management systems were really new, but the packaging was polished and the
industry was desperately in search of it’s own silver bullet to validate the
web’s promises of cheaper, faster and better. So, what happened to Ethan Hunt’s
team that was pursuing the paperless transaction?
Well, Microsoft’s HomeAdvisor stopped giving advice; HomeStore’s eRealtor later dubbed
DealTrack never got on track; former Synteleos became GURU after being acquired by Century21 New
Millenium; Realty Plus Online with its Close your
Deal platform was acquired by First American and was re-dubbed SMS Closing
Tracker; iProperty’s Chorus sang a new tune when it,
together with Reez.com and Expeditrix’s Smart Close,
was briskly snatched up by Fidelity Title’s new subsidiary FNIS and was
re-branded TransactionPoint; while RealtyAssist remained the only intact survivor due to and
earlier investment by Stewart Title and their creation of a private label
product called SureClose.
We all know software is a “Risky Business” and
without the “Color of Money” a solution remains “Far and Away.”
However, from the title industry came “A Few Good Men” and accepted the
mission to finish the assignment. It is especially FNIS’ interesting B2B
aggregation strategy that might actually qualify as brilliant. At a pace
pumping speed with cruise control determination, they incorporated their own
technology and information companies and then expanded through the acquisition
of various key services such as MLS, Appraisal and Mortgage Services before
ending up with the closest entity the industry has ever seen to a one-stop
technology solution; with almost every technology tool a real estate
professional may want and then some – be it lead or inventory management,
platform interfaces, transaction management or listing aggregation capabilities
– it’s all there.
So it would seem that the original vision of a seamless
integration is still intact. Now all we have to do is re-train tens of
thousands of Realtors® on how to use all these new cool tools – let’s hope
that’s also possible.
“This message
self-destructs in 5 seconds.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stefan
Swanepoel is a sought after keynote speaker and is widely recognized as the
leading industry visionary on trends and change. He has penned eight books and
whitepapers including the best selling “Real Estate confronts” series. Stefan is Chairman
& CEO of RealtyU, the largest network of real estate schools in the
nation (www.RealtyU.com), and also serves as strategic
advisor to numerous companies, both locally and abroad. More information
visit www.RealSure.com
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