REX Technology: Real Estate 2.0

Real Estate Exchange (REX) is a combination of technologies that give rise to a new evolutional trend in real estate transaction through a web 2.0 platform. The technologies are as follows:

1. Multiple Listing Services (MLS)
2. Internet Data Exchange (IDX)
3. Virtual Office Website (VOW)


REX combines all the features of all the three technologies and some add-ons, giving the real estate brokersflexibility and control over his data. And at same being in a competitive and cooperative market.

REX is built on the concept of web 2.0 as participatory and informational platform. REX serves a market where buyers and sellers of real properties meet each other and possibly transact.

REX gives rise to now what is called REAL ESTATE 2.0: which is next generation of real estate business transaction.

Design Goals

1. Commercial Information Exchange.
REX provides an organized platform where information about real estate is obtained and utilized by both parties (buyer and seller) involved and the intermediary (estate agency) through multiple market listing.

2. Estate Brokerage.
The application should provide a personalized platform where an estate agent or broker can use to market real estate on behalf of his client and selling it for the highest possible price under the best terms through Virtual Office Website (VOW) functionality.

3. Simplified Information Retrieval and Usage.
Another important goal was to build systems that reasonable numbers of people can actually use. Usage was important because some of the most important real property search will involve leveraging the vast amount of usage data. The information retrieved should be in a few simple steps and fast.

4. Transaction and Cash Flow Documentation.
The REX system was design to keep record of transactions and cash flow of the market. With full implementation, it is possible to monitor all transactions in the market any time any day and to know who buy what, from whom, at what price and date. It is also possible to know the total worth of real estate transacted in a particular period of time and total cash flow of the market including the commission earned by the brokers.

5. Improved and Easy Real Asset Acquisition.
REX incorporates internet technology in the real estate industry so as to make the real asset acquisition easy by sophisticating and enhancing the usual procedures the buyer usually follow to acquire real estate. REX technology can improve dramatically the professional ethics and transparency of the industry. Thus, making it a world class safe heaven for investment and employment opportunities.

Multiple Listing Service

A Multiple Listing Service (MLS) (also Multiple Listing System) is a suite of services that
(1) Enables brokers to establish contractual offers of compensation (among brokers);
(2) Facilitates cooperation with other broker participants;
(3) Accumulates and disseminates information to enable appraisals (Valuation);
(4) Is a facility for the orderly correlation and dissemination of property listing information to better serve broker's clients, customers and the public.

A multiple listing service's database and software is used by real estate brokers representing sellers under a listing contract to widely share information about properties with real estate brokers who may represent potential buyers or wish to cooperate with a seller's broker in finding a buyer for the property. The listing data stored in a multiple listing service's database is the proprietary information of the broker who has obtained a listing agreement with a property's seller.
The primary purpose of the MLS is to provide a facility to publish a "unilateral offer of compensation" by a listing broker, to other broker participants in that MLS. In other words, the commission rate that is offered by the listing broker is published within the MLS to other cooperating brokers. This offer of compensation is considered a contractual obligation; however it can be negotiated between the listing broker and the broker representing the buyer. Since the commission for a transaction as well as the property features are contained in the MLS system, it is in the best interests of the broker participants (and thereby the public) to maintain accurate and timely data.

The additional benefit of the MLS system is that an MLS subscriber may search the MLS system and retrieve information about all homes for sale by all participating brokers. MLS systems contain hundreds of fields of information about the features of a property. These fields are determined by real estate professionals who are knowledgeable and experienced in that local marketplace, whereas public real estate websites contain only a small subset of property data.
MLS systems set their own rules for membership, access, and sharing of information, but are subject to nationwide rules laid down by Real Estate Professional Association. An MLS may be owned and operated by a real estate company, a county or regional real estate board of realtors or association of realtors, or by a trade association. Membership of the MLS is generally considered to be essential to the practice of real estate brokerage.

Limitations of access to the MLS
Most MLS systems restrict membership and access to real estate brokers (and their agents) who are appropriately licensed by the state (or province); are members of a local board or association of realtors; and are members of the trade association (e.g., NIESV). However, access is becoming more open as internet sites offer the public the ability to view portions of MLS listings.

A person selling his/her own property - acting as a For Sale By Owner (or FSBO) - cannot put a listing for the home directly into the MLS. Similarly, a properly licensed broker who chooses to neither join the trade association nor operate a business within the association's rules cannot join the MLS.

However, there are brokers and many online services which offer FSBO sellers the option of listing their property in their local MLS database by paying a flat fee or another non-traditional compensation method.

Origin of the MLS

According to the National Association of REALTORS (USA):
“In the late 1800s, real estate brokers regularly gathered at the offices of their local associations to share information about properties they were trying to sell. They agreed to compensate other brokers who helped sell those properties, and the first MLS was born, based on a fundamental principal that's unique to organized real estate: Help me sell my inventory and I'll help you sell yours.”

MLS systems worldwide

Although many countries are lacking regulations regarding real estate transactions, lately there are attempts to align with those in developed markets. A special case may be Italy which is developing the first international MLS. Its multilingual interface, which translates property details and all the web pages instantly and automatically into 8 languages, allows estate agents to share their property listings with other estate agents around the world. The platform links over 1000 real estate agents and over 40000 offers from 16 countries worldwide.
Real estate agents pay subscription fees to an MLS company which then allows property listings to be uploaded onto their servers. Also, all subscribing real estate agents create a property search link on their own websites which links directly to the MLS service. Thus, any site visitor to any of the subscribing agents' sites will be able to find all properties listed on the MLS servers, even though they are visiting the website of a single agent. In effect, every single subscribing real estate agent appears to be offering exactly the same properties for sale.
When buyers use the internet to find property, often using Google, the search results usually provide a list of real estate agents’ websites in the locality which is being searched. The buyer clicks through the various websites and starts browsing properties of interest, although every site visited is offering the same properties because they are all linked to the same MLS server.
The buyer then has to choose an agent (again, not very different from elsewhere), but it does force the buyer to make a decision, since all agents in the area have access to all properties and the seller's agent will benefit regardless of who brings the buyer.
Although there are currently no regulations in Europe in relation to MLS, it may be a matter of time before its use may be viewed as a restrictive practice designed to benefit real estate agents, rather than consumers.

Internet Data Exchange

An Internet Data Exchange (IDX) is a real estate property search site which allows the public to conduct searches of approved Multiple Listing Service properties in a certain area.
Site users generally gain the benefit of anonymous property searching and review. IDX sites usually provide less detailed information than the full Realtor Multiple Listing Service, limiting the data to that which is deemed publicly accessible. This system benefits both parties. The benefit to broker (realtors) is that users of their IDX web site can search freely, establish some confidence, and qualify themselves before contacting the realtor(broker). The benefits to clients are to save time and refine his target.
Certain rules apply to the real estate companies' ability to display each detail about a property. These "display rules" are set by the Multiple Listing Service organization, which generally forms its policy around the recommendations of the National Association of Real Estate Professionals.
A common and standard data exchange protocol for IDX information is the Real Estate Transaction Specification or RETS.


Virtual Office Website

A Virtual Office Website (VOW) is a web site that is used to conduct business activities. One example is a VOW used as a real estate property search site allowing the public to conduct searches of approved Multiple Listing Service properties in a given area under certain conditions.

Features

The VOW allows the public to:
1. provide contact information
2. agree to become a bona fide customer / client
3. get a password protected private account
4. describe property interest(s)
5. And then conduct searches of all available Multiple Listing Service properties in a certain area.

Site users have to provide personal information before they can actually look at the listings. Also, Realtors (Real Estate professional) who use VOW can choose to “opt out” from the local Multiple Listing Service, which means that these Realtors’ properties will only be displayed to people who have signed in with the VOW.
The benefit to Realtors (Real estate Professional) is that registered users of their VOW web site become customers under contract. Registered users gain the benefit of more detailed information about each property and can generally see all available properties.

Regulation

Certain rules apply to the real estate companies ability to display each detail about a property, these "display rules" are set by the Multiple Listing Service which generally forms policy around the recommendations of the National Association of REALTORS(Real Estate Professionals).

Real estate trends

Real estate trends is a generic term used to describe any consistent pattern or change in the general direction of the real estate industry which, over the course of time, causes a statistically noticeable change. This phenomenon can be a result of the economy, a change in mortgage rates, consumer speculations, or other fundamental and non-fundamental reasons.

A real estate trend is the catalyst for the change, and it is usually a concept, a belief, a philosophy, or an event. Sometimes a real estate trend evolves to meet a specific need, while others evolve when new products or solutions are launched. For example, when more lenders began offering creative financing products, more borrowers were able to afford a mortgage (at least on paper). At other times, a trend from another industry spills over into the real estate industry and is adopted.
Therefore, a trend must have substance and be based on fact. Over time, it will cause pattern of change. Monitoring changes and tracking trends is a not an exact science and can be very hard to predict.

WEB 2.0: Definition

"Web 2.0" refers to a second generation of web development and design, that facilitates communication, secure information sharing, interoperability, and collaboration on the World Wide Web. Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services, and applications such as social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, mashup and folksonomies.


Visit: 2huts.com-The World's 1^st Real Estate Exchange.