Real Estate and Technology news for agents,brokers

BrokerIPTV: Today, we are talking with Pat Bybee, the president and CEO of Metrolist and Pat, welcome to the show.

Pat Bybee: It is a pleasure to be here.

BrokerIPTV: Today, we are going to be talking about real estate standards a little bit. I don't know that everybody knows what that means and we are going to talk about two acronyms in particular, RETS and RESO. Start with RETS.

Pat Bybee: RETS is... the term has been around for a while. It is for Real Estate Transaction Standard.

BrokerIPTV: Okay.

Pat Bybee: And RESO is the Real Estate Standards Organization.

BrokerIPTV: Okay. Now, how do those apply to Metrolist?

Pat Bybee: RESO is actually newly organized because the industry has been trying to develop real estate standards across the country and although good effort using MLS', MLS vendors, brokers, it just wasn't... we were not seeing the fulfillment of the promise. So, the RESO organization was started to give it a little more formality, board of directors, decision making capability.

BrokerIPTV: We have always had these standards in place. Now, RESO is kind of pushing compliance a little bit. Is that how it goes?

Pat Bybee: In a sense, yes. RETS has been around since the late '90s actually. Metrolist was the first MLS in the nation to be RETS compliant in 2000. So, it has been here. It just has been slowly... slow to adoption and until it is the predominant standard in the country, we are in a situation where there are 800 MLS' in the US.

BrokerIPTV: Wow. Okay.

Pat Bybee: Each of them has its own unique database structure and if you are a vendor of an application that the realtor might want, you have to write a custom solution for each MLS you work with.

BrokerIPTV: So, does Denver have a RESO so to speak?

Pat Bybee: No. In Denver, the use is RETS. RESO is a national organization.

BrokerIPTV: National organization and do they have some authority over what you do so to speak or do they just kind of make suggestions?

Pat Bybee: They make suggestions, which is why it was moving slowly.

BrokerIPTV: Yeah. All right. But if I am a realtor, why is this important to me?

Pat Bybee: Well, mainly, you know, MLS database is very rich in information, but it is just sitting on the MLS computer. So, if you want to have a variety of choices for getting a hold of that data so that perhaps you could do a specialty CMA if you have got an application for some specialty solution or a back office solution. How do you get the data from the MLS without writing a custom interface each time?

BrokerIPTV: Now, is NAR involved in this in instituting some new policies for this as well?

Pat Bybee: Yeah, as a matter of fact, last year NAR created a new policy for MLS' that require us to be RETS compliant by June 2009.

BrokerIPTV: So, that's everybody across the nation.

Pat Bybee: All 800 of them.

BrokerIPTV: Okay. How does RETS benefit Metrolist members specifically?

Pat Bybee: [Inaudible] really. Metrolist members have had the benefits of RETS since 2000. A number of our business partners use RETS to access the database to deliver services back to the members.

BrokerIPTV: You enlightened me. I really appreciate it. Great having you here, thank you.

Pat Bybee: Glad to have the opportunity, thanks

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BrokerIPTV: Today, we are talking with John Clikeman, managing partner of AfBA Meridian Title and Escrow and John, welcome to the show; thanks for being with us.

John Clikeman: Thank you.

BrokerIPTV: You know in a previous segment, we ended talking a little bit about a lot of RESPA issues, a lot of disclosure information, wanting the consumer to know more, wanting the consumer to go out and investigate things for themselves and of course this morning I read an article in Inman talking about HUD and HUD is making a real push to get consumers to shop for loans and Title Insurance. Will that work John?

John Clikeman: Well, I think it is a lofty goal at this point. I think it is important that the consumers actually realize that there are big differences in cost, not only on the loan side, but on the title insurance side. I think what HUD and RESPA is all about is making sure a consumer at least comprehends that there is available many different types of rates out there and they should be educated about those to make, I guess you would call it, an informed decision.

BrokerIPTV: You stick a GFE, a Good Faith Estimate, in front of somebody, it is two pages; apparently, it is going to go to three pages. I think the purpose of that was to make it simpler, but I am not sure that going to three pages actually accomplishes that. I mean do you find that most people kind of have that glazed over look in their face?

John Clikeman: I would say so. [Inaudible] I don't think that there are that many people who are in real estate, standard residential real estate transaction that totally comprehend it. I think most people if you are a seller, what do you want? You want your property sold, you want your proceeds, and you want to go on buy another house. As a buyer, you want to get the deal done, you want to get your loan closed, and move on. So, there is a problem there. I mean... I think they are trying to address it. I am not sure what they have done so far is solving what they are trying to do. It might be even complicating it [Voice Cross Over] more.

BrokerIPTV: Yeah. Coming in 2009 another change is that they are trying, at least in the real estate contract, to let people know that title insurance is just not the sole discretion of the seller anymore, that they buyer can purchase their own title insurance, they should be encouraged to check out title insurance and various rates and so forth; your thoughts on that.

John Clikeman: Well, again, I think that is a good goal. I think what you are going to see, the evolution of that, would be offers are going to be made by buyers, where it will actually be specified in the contract, which title company they want to use. So, it becomes a contractual issue and the assumption there would be that the buyer again has actually gone out and done his or her homework and done his shopping and selected a title company that is more attractive to the buyer from the rate structure. So, it is... the offer is made with the title company designated. That is not the way it used to be in Colorado. It used to be where the seller pretty much controlled that.

BrokerIPTV: Well, if the seller is paying for the title insurance, do you find that most buyers really care?

John Clikeman: Traditionally, honestly, no.

BrokerIPTV: Okay.

John Clikeman: I mean title insurance is a pretty generic thing. I mean you don't get different product by going to a different title company. You might get different service, you might get different rates, but the product as such is standardized. It is all the same stuff, so...

BrokerIPTV: And until recently we had some title companies that just ended up closing their doors prior to transactions closing, which was even more important that you picked a stable title insurance company.

John Clikeman: That is correct.

BrokerIPTV: John, thanks so much; really appreciate you being here.

John Clikeman: Thank you.

BrokerIPTV: Today we are talking with Bruce Gardner, a real estate practitioner with Keller Williams and a member of the board at Metrolist. Bruce, welcome to the show.

Bruce Gardner: Thanks Dan.

BrokerIPTV: Thanks for being here. Metrolist obviously has spent an enormous amount of time and effort in Prime Access and getting up to being very Web 2.0 these days for people in the real estate business and so forth. Talk a little bit about how that is going.

Bruce Gardner: Well, the way we see it is that Prime Access will be the central point of our vision for the future. Web 2.0 concepts are about interactivity between users of the system and we see Prime Access as the heartbeat of that interactivity.

BrokerIPTV: Now, we have got a lot of different tools that are very Web 2.0 for people whether you are talking about documents online or whether it is online management or you can upload disclosures and so forth. Talk about some of those different features.

Bruce Gardner: We have a number of features that are coming online, but the key concept for us Dan is that we see the MLS of the future as the heartbeat of the real estate transaction. So, what our company, Metrolist, wants to do is be more involved with the transaction life cycle, be involved from more in the beginning to more at the end and step beyond just the data entry or database system.

BrokerIPTV: And you are talking about incorporating what, the title company in there, the mortgage company, how would that all work?

Bruce Gardner: Again, the vision for the future of MetroList is to tie all of the players in the transaction together, so that the realtor can do a single point of entry with the information on the property, the other components of the transaction can access that information through the MLS system, and work on a single platform, which will allow each of these players to be more efficient and more effective.

BrokerIPTV: What has the response been to a lot of these different features?

Bruce Gardner: We have had overwhelmingly positive response. Everyone seems to really like the new tools and the new direction of our company.

BrokerIPTV: I know a lot of realtors are kind of resistance against change. I actually have a couple of realtors in my office who are still using the really old system, before the standard www.mymls.com. Are people starting to move over from mymls to Prime Access?

Bruce Gardner: Well, it is a good question, because I don't think it is just realtors that are hesitant to change; I think it is people in general, but what we are really seeing is an adoption of the new Prime Access system and transition through, but keep in mind, Metrolist is one of the only companies in the country, MLS systems in the country, that offers this level of choice to their users. Our users have three different access methods to the MLS data, the old system, the current mymls, and the new platform called Prime Access. In addition to that, we have created interconnectivity so that our users can choose to use a front end software solution by a different vendor if they would rather do that too.

BrokerIPTV: Now the old, old access, is that going away?

Bruce Gardner: Well, eventually, it will; yes.

BrokerIPTV: Yeah and then eventually, everyone will phase from mymls into Prime Access?

Bruce Gardner: Absolutely.

BrokerIPTV: All right. Do you have a specific feature that you like the best?

Bruce Gardner: Well, the new features what I really enjoy is the Microsoft mapping feature, which allows us to really not only do a search based on the location, but then transition over to a satellite view. You can actually see the property from a satellite view, look at it on a 45 degree angle, and learn much more about the property than you would through a static database system.

BrokerIPTV: I like that as well, because when you pull up and you are searching for a home for a buyer and you have got all of your actives down there at the bottom, you are trying to see on the map how close in proximity they are to each other, so you don't have a drive all the way over here and a drive over here; if you see them all bunched, you are kind of happy and say, "Okay, we know where we are going." So, that is a favorite feature of mine. There is a lot of stuff that is in testing still from Metrolist and Prime Access to support the whole transaction lifestyle. Talk a little bit about that.

Bruce Gardner: Well, on the front end of the transaction, we are looking at integrating CRM customer relationship tools into the system, so a user can start to work with the data that is specific to a client and then connect it and marry it to a property that they end up wanting to buy. On the back end of the system, we are also looking at integrating... we already have integrated Instanet contract software, allows the user to do the contract online, manage that paperwork all the way through the transaction, and then store it after the transaction is closed indefinitely.

BrokerIPTV: Wow! That sounds great. Bruce, thanks. It is terrific information. Appreciate you being here.

Bruce Gardner: All right Dan. Thank you.