I've been writing a lot lately about how the big players in the title industry are capitalizing on the use of technology to the detriment of small agents and abstractors as well as consumers.  There is, however, a flip side to the technology coin, the silver lining in a dark cloud, so to speak.  With the advent of the Internet, a cadre of bright young entrepreneurial types all across the spectrum of the real estate industry are using the technology of the World Wide Web to their advantage and that's what I'm focusing on today.

My first exposure to any type of online community, at least as far as my profession is concerned, was with the website Source of Title.  Launched in 2002, Source of Title is the brainchild of Robert A. Franco, president of VersaTitle Services, Ltd. of Mansfield, OH.  Mr. Franco's goal with Source of Title was to assist the title industry with locating independent vendors around the country.  SOT's vendor directory boasts over 5,400 listings and receives an average of over 12,000 hits per week.  Unlike ActiveRain, which is primarily a blogging medium, SOT's online community is more forum-driven.  "The purpose is similar," says Mr. Franco, "to help title professionals network and share their thoughts and concerns on their industry."  The ‘site has been nothing short of an absolute smashing success.  For the first time ever, title examiners and abstractors all across the country were able to compare notes about such things as terminology, pricing, local customs & practices and which companies are good payers and which ones to avoid.  In fact, the discussions on the forums of Source of Title were largely responsible for the formation of the National Association of Land Title Examiners and Abstractors (NALTEA), the first-ever nationwide trade industry group devoted exclusively to the concerns of title examiners and abstractors.

Despite early concerns that increased frequent use of the Internet would come at the expense of personal interaction, studies are finding that not only is the reverse true, but that the ‘net actually helps people to strengthen and maintain their social networks.  A recent report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, for example, highlights how the web has supplemented, rather than replaced people's interactions with one another outside the virtual world.  Of course, it goes without saying that ActiveRain, (as I'm finding out), is a very popular lead-generating/networking resource for real estate agents, brokers and mortgage professionals.  Since I've only recently discovered the ‘site myself, I'm still familiarizing myself with all of its features and I'm more or less on the front end of the AR learning curve.  Nonetheless, I'm finding it to be a great resource for reaching out to a wider audience within the real estate community.

So, while technology is not without its problems, it also presents us with unique opportunities for networking, marketing and making our voices heard.  There is much work to be done in the way of educating our colleagues in the real estate community (as well as consumers) about the importance of quality title work.  The objective of this blog will be to keep ActiveRain members and visitors apprised of the latest developments relating to the abstracting trade and to bring items of interest to the attention of the real estate community at large.