Choosing the Right Path

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Choosing the Right Path

By Lesley Geary

For HomeServices of America, the Edina, Minnesota-based real estate concern, 2004 was a banner year with over $60 billion in sales. With offices in 18 states across the country it is a well-respected name within the industry. But when it comes to technology and software operations, HomeServices Chairman and CEO Ron Peltier says to count the company out.

?Many big real estate companies thought they could do it all and we have watched those companies commit millions of dollars to invest in their own software only to have to trash those efforts,? he says.

Peltier explains that HomeServices decided early on that outsourcing technology was the only way to go. ?With technology you are never finished and we made the decision not to get into an area we didn?t know. We are real estate operators, not software developers.?

Today HomeServices outsources its IT functions to Santa Ana, California-based Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions (FNRES, formerly known in the industry as FNIS). FNRES, a division of Fidelity National Financial, the giant title insurance and real estate-related services company, offers a host of technology platforms built specifically for the real estate industry. Its various products are geared to help agents and brokers, as well as multiple listing service providers. What?s more, FNRES estimates close to 75% of all United States Realtors use one or more of its technology products?everything from back office programs to its AgentOffice suite.

One such real estate company is Southern California-based Prudential California Realty, (a division of HomeServices). The chief financial officer of the Southern California concern, Jeff Welles, says it outsources most of its tech support operations to FNRES. ?The key for us is that they have specialists, like high-level network security consultants, who we could not afford on our own?these guys are very specialized and very expensive on an hourly basis?but by using FNRES, we get to use them whenever we need them. They are just part of the service.?

What?s more, Welles says FNRES, which Prudential California has used for almost five years, knows their system. ?We have a great working relationship,? he says and ?they are dedicated to our needs.?

While Welles admits that he may not get access to FNRES 100% of the time, he emphasizes that ?we get them often enough that they meet our needs, and where it really counts? the account manager folks are with us all the time.?

All things considered, Welles believes FNRES gives the brokerage a leg up against the competition by letting Prudential concentrate on its core competencies of real estate, title, mortgage and escrow. ?And perhaps most importantly, it helps us maintain our focus.? Or, as Welles says, quoting the former Netscape chairman Jim Barksdale, ?The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.? With Fidelity doing the tech support Welles says Prudential is able to do just that.

Diane Krob, vice president of Information Technology at another HomeServices company, Edina Realty, says it uses the ?Sell My Home? feature offered by FNRES to great success. Krob says the real estate concern launched the program on its broker Web site, www.edinarealty.com in December of 2004 and that it gives the company an unprecedented presence in the market. ?Because of our broker-site partnership with FNRES we were able to quickly leverage our MLS integration efforts and provide another technology first,? says Krob.

She adds that the ?Sell My Home? product lets agents do a lot more for their buyers and sellers. Perhaps one of the most important features, Edina Realtors are able to update seller details with listing information changes almost immediately and can also quickly update any open houses they might be having. Edina Realtors are also able to personalize their seller packages on the Web site, making them, as Krob says, better marketers.

Meanwhile, in Central Maryland, Champion Realty outsources all of its e-mail functions to FNRES. ?The product,? says IT Director Garrett Keating, is ?invaluable?nobody has as good a Web site as we do.?

Keating says the brokerage started using FNRES for its e-mail about three years ago and that, ?while the cost is minimal, you get a lot of professionals helping out.? The system, he says, supports Outlook, which is important to their agents.

Keating adds that the Central Maryland marketplace is extremely fast paced and competitive, and by using FNRES for the company e-mail needs, ?it lets you be totally up to date?something that is key in this type of market.? He also says that there is a feature that is very popular with Realtors as well as buyers. That feature instantly notifies people as soon as a property that matches their pre-set specifications comes onto the market.

Keating notes the market is flooded with tech support companies, but he says what puts FNRES out in front is that Champion can count on it to handle any problems. ?The product itself is available in a state-of-the-art data center and the people are there.? Keating adds that the people at FNRES are always willing to modify and change its products to fit Champion as its needs change.

In one of the most saturated and competitive real estate markets in years, companies are finding that anything that gives Realtors more time and better ways to sell their property is more important then ever.