Looking for a Total Solution

In the hectic life we lead today it is becoming increasingly important to find the best expert help for the specialized needs we have in all parts of our lives. For example, increasingly the "Boomer" generation is being faced with liquidation of estates of their parents. This can be a very trying time, which calls for the use of a number of specialists.

Traditionally, someone who found him or herself in this situation would rely on advice from a neighbor or perhaps family friend. Many find themselves relying on the advice of the funeral director at the funeral home selected for the services.

Studies tell us that over 70% of American's do not have a will, have not left final instructions for disposal of property and have not expressed their wishes to their next of kin. What an opportunity to help provide service at a time when it is needed! What a market to focus on for the provision of real estate services. But wait, what about all the other services that are needed at a time like this? This sounds like a listing opportunity not a buyer's agent opportunity. Enter the Circle for Success.

The Circle for Success is a vehicle that brings all the parties who might be service providers for seniors who are planning their estate. Who belongs to the Circle of Success? Realtors, accountants, attorneys, auctioneers, financial planners, life insurance agents, appraisers, clergy, assisted care living center personnel and funeral directors all comprise the Circle for Success. It is an opportunity that is open to all real estate professionals, but especially accredited buyer representatives.

Just think of the typical scenario: You have just obtained a senior as a buyer client that is new to your community. They have not developed a relationship with any of the key partners in your Circle for success, but they will need to over time. You become the center of the Circle for constant cross referral (not for money, but for continued new business opportunities) of business. Of course there are other players you can add to your Circle as needed such as the various different home service providers you probably already recommend. So how do you develop a reputation for having these ties?

New studies show that more and more consumers are turning to the Internet to help buy a home, with seniors being the fastest growing segment. With more than 10,000 real estate sites on the Web, it’s clear that we must provide greater speed, convenience and choice to New Economy consumers or they will find these benefits elsewhere on the Net. Luckily, new transaction management technology gives buyer’s agents a powerful way to offer these benefits to clients. Transaction management enables agents to provide an end-to-end solution that enhances the value of their services, by streamlining the real estate transaction and then staying in touch with the client, for life, to provide recommendations for other key life transition decisions. You need to be on the Net, and you need to create a home for your clients on the Net.

Transaction management is certainly the answer, but with all the real estate sites and services to choose from, it’s easy to get a case of “cyber-fatigue” trying to settle on the right technology choice. What is really needed is a comprehensive real estate management tool that integrates the functionality of multiple products. The ideal tool would be an end-to-end technology platform that not only streamlines transactions, but also builds and sustains long-term client relationships by offering value beyond closing; the access to your Circle for Success.

One Buyer’s Perspective

When drawing up a wish list for the ideal transaction management platform, it’s helpful to consider it from the client’s point of view. What concrete benefits are today’s time-constrained homebuyers seeking? Well, let’s take an example. A friend of mine, Marie Jacobson, is a busy grandmother with a daughter, a single working mom with two toddlers. She had just moved to our community to be closer to her grandchildren. When she started looking for a house, the time required to keep in touch with her agent and view houses was a real burden. In her few free moments, she really wanted to finish writing her family genealogy, not be on the phone with her agent trying to decide which houses to visit.

Marie is like many other consumers who are looking to the Internet for home-buying assistance. She wanted to have easy access to details on homes so she could pre-screen them and save time looking at homes that didn’t meet her needs. And she wanted to communicate with her agent and with everyone else involved in the process, through the Net, on her own time. As for the loan approval process, she dreaded the thought of it all. The time and trouble it takes to go from bank to bank the constant discussion of why she took early retirement and moved. She wanted to get a loan online but there are so many different sites offering loans, she wasn’t sure which to choose—and whether she could really trust them.

To test out my thoughts about agent-centered transaction management, I described to her the ideal Internet tool for real estate: a one-stop-shop provided by her agent where she could handle all her home buying and ownership needs. This tool would give her access to listings, loans and services, saving her the time and trouble of surfing many different sites and it would be accompanied by the expertise and advice of her agent. With this tool she would have access to real time MLS data, allowing her to save search criteria and bookmark desirable listings. And it would automatically notify her of new listings that met her search criteria or any status changes on book-marked properties. It would also allow her to get pre-approved online from her choice of local and national lenders recommended by her agent and order and track all necessary closing services.

As we talked further I asked about other life transition issues such as life insurance, financial planning and legal matters. It turned out that this former business executive had been worried about a number of these issues since she had moved from her home community of 30 years to join our little community. But she didn't really know where to turn for help. I described the Circle for Success!

Marie was ecstatic when she heard this idea. She wanted to know where she could find a real estate agent who could provide her with the kind of efficiency that not only would help her with her real estate transaction, but with many of the other services she would need in her new community.

The Agent’s Perspective

From the agent’s point of view, the potential benefits of the Circle for Success combined with technology are equally appealing. The optimal transaction management solution gives real estate clients the same access to listings data offered by the major consumer portals, but keeps agents in the driver’s seat of the transaction by allowing them to give their clients a one-stop-shopping experience from first contact, to closing, to ownership. It would also allow agents to provide an array of both local and national closing services and lending choices. And of course, it opens the tracking capability to be of service to the client for years to come by recommending partners in the Circle for Success.

The technology would facilitate communication and collaboration between homebuyers and their agents and everyone else involved in the transaction--banks, closing service providers and other home services vendors--and it would make it possible to research community amenities, like schools and churches, without having to pick up the phone or send a fax. In addition, all paperwork would be handled electronically, including offer-to-purchase and counter offers.

From an organizational standpoint, a tool like this would be a real breakthrough. It would allow agents to manage all their contact information in one place, only entering data once and keeping track of all their transactions online on secured Internet pages built for the client but forever framed with the name of the agent. Forget about those hundreds of heavy legal-sized file folders!

It also could save agents hours of precious time spent searching the MLS to create hot lists for each client. The tool would instantly alert clients of new properties that meet their search criteria, and it would reduce the number of houses they need to visit in person.

E-power for Agents

The ideal real estate management platform would be designed from the agent’s point of view, providing a response to the challenges of the new e-powered market. The key elements of this comprehensive tool are: 1) one-stop-shopping for local and national lenders, closing service providers and post-closing home services; and 2) around-the-clock Web-based communication and task management through a single on-line point-of-contact. It should not leave consumers to “do-it-themselves”, like direct-to-consumer real estate Web sites. Instead, it should support the agent’s central role in facilitating the entire real estate transaction, and it should help agents promote their brand and foster life-long client relationships by constant cross referral with members of the Circle for Success. And finally, it should do all this without cutting into the bottom line.

Today there are already a couple of different transaction management services available to Realtors. The system used by my local association took care of many of Marie's problems and will continue to help, and her agent, for years to come. These services are a wonderful way to build a long-term relationship with clients. One which can be tracked easily on the Net and build a considerable book of business for buyer representatives by keeping the agent in the middle of client referral needs for years to come.

Author
Stephen J. Martin, ABR, is president of The GWENT Group, Inc., a Bloomington Indiana Based real estate consulting firm as well as President of RECP, the RealtyU® Affiliate in Indiana.