PETER P. CASEY
‘More efficient’ system
During a typical home sale transaction, real estate agents spend hours photocopying documents, playing phone tag and sending dozens of faxes to clients, attorneys and all the other parties involved in the purchase and sale of the property.
Managing all the paperwork generated from a single transaction, including the purchase-and-sale agreement, disclosure forms and settlement documents, can be quite time-consuming. That’s why the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and real estate trade groups in other parts of the country are starting to offer their members software that enables them to manage the entire transaction online. The transaction management platform technology is designed to streamline the process and help real estate brokers maintain control of the point of sale.
After months of researching and testing products, MAR recently signed an agreement with a Virginia-based company called Settlement Room Systems and plans to offer paperless transactions through a product called Transaction Live to Realtors later this month.
“It will make the system considerably more efficient,” said Peter P. Casey, president of Prudential Wilmot Whitney Real Estate in Weston and a past MAR president.
A recently completed study by the National Association of Realtors shows that 30 to 40 percent of a Realtor’s time is spent copying data from one source to another, according to Mark Lesswing, vice president of the Center for Realtor Technology in Chicago. Transaction management platforms significantly reduce the time a brokerage spends copying data, he said.
“The biggest win is the document management side of this,” said Lesswing.
‘So Simple to Use’
Through Transaction Live, MAR members will be able to manage real estate transactions online through a password-protected site. Casey explained that agents using Transaction Live will be able to post documents online and provide and restrict access to them accordingly. For example, a seller and buyer will be able to examine a purchase offer, while an attorney or home inspector will have access to other documents, like an inspection report or a purchase-and-sale agreement.
Changes can be made to documents online, and the parties involved can refer to a log to see when documents were uploaded, when changes were made and who made them. Transaction Live also features a task list, and once tasks are completed and checked off, the appropriate parties are notified via e-mail.
When the transaction is closed, all documents are sent to one part of the site, and Realtors can print out a complete history of the transaction to verify that all the necessary paperwork exists. In addition, documents of the entire transaction can be burned onto a CD and the disc can be provided to both the buyer and seller so they can receive permanent copies.
“What we’re trying to do is give the buying-and-selling public a way of receiving information in a way that they want to receive it,” said Corinne Fitzgerald, vice president for business development and technology for MAR.
Fitzgerald, who formed a task force of Realtors across the state to test the transaction management technology, said most buyer clients and seller clients have e-mail and Internet access. But even for clients who don’t have a computer, Transaction Live has a feature that enables documents on the site to automatically be faxed to them.
A study has shown that a typical real estate transaction involves the exchange of hundreds of phone calls, faxes and pieces of mail, according to Fitzgerald. Transaction management platforms like Transaction Live are designed to eliminate the duplication, streamline the process and make it more efficient and effective, she said.
A partner at Key 100 Real Estate in Greenfield, Fitzgerald noted that she has received “wonderful” feedback from clients and attorneys who have used the product.
“This product is so simple to use. If you know how to open an e-mail and know how to go on the Web, you will be able to use this,” said Fitzgerald, who has already completed more than 20 transactions using the product.
Waltham real estate broker Mel Martocchia, one of 18 Realtors selected by MAR to test the product for the last four months, said he completed at least four transactions using the product. “It’s a pretty easy product to use,” he said.
Martocchia, broker-owner of Martocchia Realtors, said one of the biggest benefits of using the tool is that buyers and sellers can check on the status of the transaction at anytime and from any location.
“It opens up the transaction quite a bit more so that all the players can see everything that’s going on,” he said.
Martocchia said he has received positive feedback about the product from buyers, sellers and the attorneys with whom he’s worked.
Casey estimated that there are 50,000 real estate agents nationwide who are currently using paperless transactions on a regular basis.
Massachusetts Realtors will be able to access Transaction Live and purchase groups of transactions at a time on the MAR Web site. Ten transactions will cost members $199.95, and Realtors who purchase the product through MAR instead of contacting the company directly will receive 10 percent more transactions.
Title insurance companies and mortgage firms have utilized similar transaction management platform systems for some time. MAR is one of the first state Realtor organizations to identify a transaction platform and make it available to its members, according to Casey. “We’re ahead of the curve on this,” he said.
Realtor associations in Orlando and Dallas have made systems available to members. In January, the Kansas Association of Realtors announced that it had signed an exclusive agreement with a company called First American Residential Group to provide a similar service. The National Association of Realtors is also working with the California Association of Realtors to develop its own system to streamline purchase-and-sale transactions.
Aglaia Pikounis may be reached at apikounis@thewarrengroup.com.
