The NAR believes it is heading full steam toward the electronic transaction. But before that can happen, MLSs must make the decision to provide their members with electronic forms, contracts, addendum's and documents. They must take a good hard look at their business models and see how forcing their members to buy paper forms keeps brokers and REALTORS anchored to an inefficient, expensive, outdated past.

Before the electronic transaction can occur, the contracts, forms, addendum's and documents need to initialize digitally and then be distributed through print, fax and electronic exchange.

The problem today is that printed forms and contracts are under strict copyright control, a control usually owned by local Boards of Realtors.

The electronic distribution of contracts and forms would seem to be a logical course of action for the real estate community to endorse. Why not offer both printed and digital formats of critical transaction documents? Why not enable the agents who are on line to have access to the docs they need, and also continue to service the membership at large with print versions? Going digital doesn't cost the Board anything more and in fact would generate tremendous savings in terms of print costs and legal risk.

Digital documents can be automatically amended by legal teams to meet moments of urgency. The "next" request for a digital document would receive the amended, "risk averse", version.

So what's not to like?

One doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that the local Boards have a conflict of interest in considerations to move the documents to an electronic distribution method, in spite of the significant advantages of doing so.

You see, the Board gets paid for each document used. This is usually done through a contract with a printing concern. A Brokerage purchases the forms by case lot from the printer, and the Board gets paid. They get paid whether or not the form is actually used.

A commonly repeated situation is that of a legal language change being necessitated. That change in a printed form renders the entire inventory of documents obsolete. It is the Brokerages who must then repurchase a valid and updated stock of new documents.

Two weeks ago I saw this situation first hand in a very busy Bay Area Coldwell Banker office. The entire stack of Purchase and Sale Contract forms could not be used until the amended versions arrived. Agents, in what is one of the busiest offices in the entire country, had to wait until Monday to write offers! And do you not think that in Silicon Valley, of all places, the consumers weren't painfully laughing at this absurdity? The only solace was that every real estate office in the area had the same problem!

Is shared idiocy an acceptable excuse?

The printed forms treadmill is a costly waste of time, money and resources. But who pays that cost? Brokers and agents, that's who! The copyright owners, "The Boards", are the primary beneficiaries of a scam that might be called "profitable planned obsolescence."

The first generation of Internet was dominated by giant property portals cashing in on the "marketing" aspects of the property transaction process. And yes, the next generation of Internet will focus on the actual "transaction" portion of the process.

The first wave of Internet saw a fleet of interlopers come into the real estate sector to grab a piece of the property transaction pie. Lacking an understanding of the new medium, and having squandered their investment reserves on obsolete local solutions, professional Realtors got trampled in round one. Forms are yet another way in which the Boards are shortsightedly holding their members back and preventing them from competing in the real world.

Now, with round two, the eTransaction wave, about to begin, are the pros ready? Or will we see a more disastrous replay of round one? If anything can be learned from the first wave it is that real estate practitioners have to be ready to move, and move fast. They need access to systems that can host their transaction needs in a global arena. They need to have a business model at the ready that can swiftly move to fully service transaction client needs by integrating global and local market demands. And perhaps most important of all, practitioners need technology partners that directly serve the users business interests without conflict, and without also demanding a piece of the transaction pie.

By forestalling the eTransaction revolution, through copyright control of forms as well as other self-serving proprietary decisions including buying outdated proprietary information systems,) the Boards are trading short term profits for the long term viability of their members' competitiveness in the global marketplace.

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Published: March 11, 1999

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Editor's Note: This article reflects the opinions of Gary Edwards only and not necessarily the views of this or any other publication, organization or Website owner.

Gary Edwards writes an occasional opinion column. He specializes in real estate technology trends. Gary is known for his far reaching perspectives. You can e-mail Gary at gary.edwards@OpenStack.us.