Technology Transactions

by Peter Miller

Peter G. Miller OurBroker® It"s been a banner year online for real estate. Usage is up, home buyers are buying, home sellers are selling, and brokers are learning to use the Internet. But as the Web matures as both a medium and a marketplace, it"s interesting to see how some things stay the same -- and what such stability means for both consumers and realty professionals. While technology has changed and will continue to evolve, the core issue for consumers -- and thus for brokers and lenders -- is the ongoing search for the best possible deal. But how do consumers find such deals? And how do brokers and lenders capture such business online? Part of the answer can be seen with the online services offered by banks and stock brokers. Online banking has been a huge thud to this point, in large measure because banks continue to see online services as another way to both cut costs and generate new fees. Stock brokers -- at least savvy stock brokers -- see efficiencies online and are passing through such benefits to consumers. The result: Consumers are flocking to stock brokerage sites while online banking is nowhere near its potential. In a similar fashion, the same process is taking place online with real estate. Realty sites that give something to consumers are succeeding, in large measure because they favorably answer five basic questions. *Why is this site here? Sites that fail to put the consumer first cannot be competitive. This means realty sites should be information rich; they should be a resource rather than just a store-front. Successful sites create relationships online that lead to transactions off-line, a necessary step because real estate remains what it"s always been -- inherently local and unique. *Who does this site serve? There are realty sites out there which are marvels of technology and design -- and largely useless to consumers. Most consumers do not have the latest computers, browsers, or modems, and sites that are sufficiently advanced are essentially off-limits to those with computer systems bought last year or the year before -- not good news in an environment where a single mouse click allows the public to move along to other sites. *Is consumer privacy respected? Everyone who markets loves to take names, and since everyone markets something the result is a huge amount of data-mining. The conflict between data gathers and the right to privacy is both substantial and growing. In practical terms, this means that merely visiting a site does not give the site owner a license to capture your name. It also means that information entered into an online form cannot be retained by the site owner without clear permission, given in advance, by the consumer. *Is the site owner responsive? This question divides into two areas. In one sense, there are "sites" which consist of a single page and represent little more than an electronic headstone. Such sites offer little or nothing to consumers, and thus are destined to encourage lots of mouse clicking and abandonment. The second form of responsiveness concerns e-mail. One can find wonderful sites where owners simply do not respond to e-mail. The result is that those site owners who check their e-mail once or twice a day capture business that other owners needlessly lose. *Is the site connected? To paraphrase an old expression, the best site in the world isn"t worth the electrons it took to build if it can"t be found. Most consumers want information, they want it NOW, and want it in one place, without searching online for 19 hours. Realty sites that are not connected to Realtor.com and registered with leading search engines are essentially invisible to consumers. In essence, successful sites are designed to place consumer needs first. If you want to know who"s succeeding online, just look for sites that upload quickly, look nice, are easy to navigate, offer information, and are operated by people who promptly answer their e-mail. Question Of The Week Q There are a lot of co-op apartments in big cites such as New York and Chicago. Is it also possible to have detached houses that are co-ops? A Yes. A "co-op" is a form of ownership, not a form of real estate. With a co-op, a corporation owns the property while residents own a share in the co-op corporation as well as exclusive use of a particular unit. Such an ownership scheme can work for detached homes as well as apartments and townhouses. Weekly Resource Ever wonder how much it costs to build a web site? The Web Price Index looks at the ligh, low, and medium costs to construct various types of commercial sites.

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