Homestore.Com, Inc., National Association of
Realtors Launch Realtors Electronic Transaction
Platform With Key Industry Players
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 2000--Seven of the largest and most respected organizations in the real
estate industry, encompassing Realtors, and financial and technology companies, have joined forces to build the Realtors
Electronic Transaction Platform, an innovative online system designed to facilitate and streamline the steps involved in closing
the purchase or sale of a home.
This announcement was made jointly by Stuart Wolff, chairman and chief executive officer of Homestore.com, Inc.,
(Nasdaq:HOMS - news) the leading home and real estate-related network on the Internet, and Dennis Cronk, president,
National Association of Realtors (NAR), America's largest trade association representing 750,000 members, in front of
approximately 1500 Realtors at the mid-year NAR conference being held in Washington, DC.
The Realtors Electronic Transaction Platform is designed to provide Realtors and other transaction participants with a
Business-to-Business platform for ordering services, coordinating the closing process, and exchanging data and documents. To
achieve the scale and adoption necessary for such a system, Homestore.com and NAR are collaborating with key industry
participants and financial and technology leaders. The venture is a natural evolution of Homestore.com's mission to help real
estate professionals and consumers gain efficiencies in the purchase and sale of homes.
``This is truly a landmark announcement in the annals of the real estate industry,'' said Homestore.com Chairman and CEO
Wolff. ``We turned to the superstars of our business to assemble a powerhouse lineup to ensure that this remarkable platform
will succeed, and envision that professionals and consumers alike will experience tremendous benefits from our initiative.''
``We are creating the platform that we hope will set the standard for the real estate industry,'' said NAR President Cronk. ``We
believe the result will be a more efficient, consumer-friendly digital transaction that ensures the Realtor remains in the center of
the transaction. The Realtors Electronic Transaction Platform is intended to leverage technology to save time for consumers and
create tremendous value for Realtors' relationships with their customers.''
The purchase of a home represents the largest financial transaction most Americans will enter into, and for most, one of the
most complicated and emotional. The platform will be designed to more effectively process services such as property
inspections, appraisal, mortgage, title and escrow, and to provide consumers and Realtors with real-time statusing of their
transaction. It will be designed so that information will flow securely, yet seamlessly, between partners. As a result, it can help
consumers save time and money through efficiencies such as streamlined loan processing and secure electronic transactions.
The platform will help Realtors take an even more positive role in the process, be able to choose from a wide variety of service
providers, and coordinate the closing process electronically.
The Realtors Electronic Transaction Platform will also be designed to provide integrated software to help real estate
professionals manage and streamline the contract-to-close activities. Homestore.com and NAR intend to incorporate
technology from Wyldfyre Technologies -- a recent acquisition of Homestore.com -- and the developer of the number one
listings management software, whose products are used by more than 100,000 Realtors to help manage their inventory; Fannie
Mae, providing technology tools needed to help lenders with the loan approval process, provide more flexible underwriting,
simpler documentation and faster loan decisions; VeriSign, the leading provider of Internet e-commerce trust services, enabling
online authentication, digital signatures, the processing of a broad range of payment types, and digital records and receipts; and
RE FormsNet, a platform supporter, whose library of more than 9,000 pages of electronic contracts and forms is the largest in
the industry, enabling Realtors to create and electronically transmit contract and disclosure information during the closing
process.
The three organizations signing on as charter investors and the three entities committing their support as endorsers represent
some of the most important players of the real estate industry. They are contributing financial and informational resources and
expertise to a program which will be designed to accelerate, streamline and make the complex home buying process more cost
efficient. Together, the founding investors and the endorsing parties expect to commit capital, expertise and other assets valued
approximately at $150-$200 million towards the development of this platform over the next twelve months.
A special distinction of the Realtors Electronic Transaction Platform initiative is the broad support and participation of the real
estate industry in the design of the system. This new platform is the latest development in the continuing evolution of the alliance
between Homestore.com and NAR to bring the total home experience to the Internet. With the participation of the leading real
estate organization, the National Association of Realtors, the platform is being designed with input from the real estate industry
to ensure that the specific needs of its professionals are precisely met. By keeping the Realtor involved in each stage of the
process, consumers can be assured that their transaction is being managed by a qualified professional with an ethical
responsibility to protect their interests.
The charter organizations will collectively contribute capital, software, transaction processing infrastructure and expertise
covering a breadth of functionality. The fundamental elements of this transaction platform are already in place, with ongoing
development efforts underway to bring the remaining parts of the real estate deal online, as well as integrate and extend the
platform capabilities.
Joining Homestore.com and NAR as the initial equity investors in the venture will be:
GMAC REAL ESTATE AND GMAC MORTGAGE. GMAC's home ownership brands will provide services to more
than 2.5 million customers this year. GMAC Real Estate (formerly Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Service) is
comprised of both the national franchise network and company-owned real estate brokerage companies, with nearly
25,000 agents in 1,500 locations. GMAC Mortgage is the sixth largest mortgage servicer with nearly 1.8 million
customers. GMAC Real Estate and GMAC Mortgage are developing a technology platform that will enable all partners
in the real estate transaction to clearly and quickly communicate all aspects of the home buying and home selling
experience to its customers.
FANNIE MAE is the largest non-bank financial services company in the world (NYSE:FNM - news) and America's
largest source of mortgage financing for American homes, providing nearly $2.8 trillion of mortgage financing for 34
million families since 1968. Fannie Mae is working with Homestore.com to provide the technology tools needed to help
lenders streamline the loan approval process, provide more flexible underwriting, simpler documentation and faster loan
decisions. In addition, Fannie Mae's lender seller-servicers will have the advantage of working even more closely with
their Realtor partners through this platform.
VERISIGN, INC. (Nasdaq: VRSN - news) is the leading provider of Internet trust services - including authentication,
payment and validation needed by enterprises, electronic commerce service providers, web sites and individuals to
conduct trusted and secure electronic commerce communications. The Realtors Electronic Transaction Platform plans to
take advantage of VeriSign's state-of-the-art ability to support the issuance of digital credentials, the processing of online
payments and its vital role in boosting consumer confidence in participating in online, paperless transactions.
Homestore.com intends to contribute the leading technologies of WyldFyre Technologies, Inc. into the Realtors Electronic
Transaction Platform.
WYLDFYRE TECHNOLOGIES, based in Silicon Valley, CA -- and recently acquired by Homestore.com -- is the leading
developer of software used to access MLS (Multiple Listing Service) data and property photos. In addition to a suite of
products to help automate the real estate transaction, WyldFyre is currently developing Realty Link(tm), which expects to
provide real estate professionals with a unified view into the property closing process. It also is designed to offer detailed
calendars to allow both buyers and sellers to track the process through the close of escrow, as well as secure web-based
statusing tools to help consumers get real-time information as their transaction is completed.
Endorsers that have agreed to support development of the platform, and look to play a larger role in the future, are:
The PRUDENTIAL REAL ESTATE NETWORK is comprised of high quality, professional brokers and sales
associates located throughout the United States and Canada, supports the platform for all of its real estate professionals.
Started in May 1988, the Prudential Real Estate Network has since grown to 1,518 offices with 39,000 sales associates
in the United States and Canada, and has generated an annual sales volume of $75.5 billion.
The RE/MAX franchise network, now in its 27th year of consecutive growth, is a global real estate system operating in
34 countries, comprised of 60,000 sales associates and 3500 offices. RE/MAX representatives' involvement will help to
assure that the platform meets the needs of the RE/MAX organization and properly interfaces with deployed systems.
RE FORMSNET, a joint venture of NAR, Homestore.com, Inc. and CAR, plans to provide real estate professionals
with electronic standardized real estate forms accessible via the Internet. RE FormsNet intends to provide a common
electronic platform for the custom forms created by Realtor Associations and brokers around the country, and is
currently the exclusive electronic documentation standard in 23 states, designed to support all necessary data standards.
The real estate market represents 15 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product, its single largest market sector, while the
transactional elements of the real estate deal generate $90 billion in fees on an annual basis.
``We believe that this opportunity will accelerate our ability to deliver a seamless closing experience to millions of customers we
serve through GMAC Real Estate and GMAC Mortgage,'' said Mike O'Brien, chairman, GMAC Home Services. ``In
addition, we hope the platform will provide the capabilities to advance Internet-enabled business models for the residential real
estate industry. The scope and impact of this initiative on this sector of the economy is a tremendous investment opportunity.
We are genuinely excited about the value the Realtors Electronic Transaction Platform can create for real estate professionals,
consumers and investors.''
``RE/MAX International, Inc. is pleased to support and participate in the transactions platform project,'' stated Daryl
Jesperson, president, RE/Max International. ``Our representatives look forward to providing input and to serving in an overall
advisory capacity during the development and design process.''
``Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services has a long history of promoting the vision of a more customer-friendly real
estate and relocation transaction experience,'' said John Van Der Wall, chairman and chief executive officer of Prudential Real
Estate and Relocation Services. ``A simple to use platform such as this one, providing world-class tools and content, will
significantly improve the process of moving a residential homeownership transaction from contract to close. We look forward
to helping define the processes, standards and communications links that will most clearly benefit real estate professionals
globally.''
``As a Realtor, I support this initiative because it has been designed for Realtors by Realtors,'' emphasized Gary Thomas,
president-elect, California Association of Realtors and chairman, RE FormsNet. ``As the No. 1 supplier of electronic contracts
to the real estate industry, RE FormsNet is excited about interfacing with the new platform as a gateway to this impressive
online system.''
Designed as an open platform to facilitate cooperation among all parties to the transaction, the Realtors Electronic Transaction
Platform will rapidly expand to include mortgage, title, inspections and data standards as well as other services configured by
local brokers to meet their business needs. |
