RICH JACOBSON ASKS ABOUT THE SYSTEMS WE USE. FLASH!! HARD CORE REAL ESTATE PRACTICE REQUIRES HARD CORE SYSTEMS!!

DO WE NEED SYSTEMS TO MANAGE INFORMATION?  You bet we do!

Rich Jacobson asks about information management systems.  I'm not a member of the Group because I'm focused on other things right now, but it's a good group and should produce some wonderful ideas and resources for members.  Information management can mean the difference between spending time searching through files or having the information at your fingertips. 

You can look here,           or here            .

BACKGROUND:  Back in the "good old days", the Residential Contract of Sale in MD and VA was 2 pages.  The Land Contract of Sale was 1 page.  If you did a home inspection, you wrote your own addendum for the contingency.  There was no board promulgated contingency form.  Eeek! Talk about agents practicing law.  For instance, home inspections did not really become widespread in Fairfax Virginia and Montgomery County until the early 1990s.  In Southern MD, Baltimore areas, out counties in Northern Virginia, we didn't see them routinized until the mid to late 1990s.  In fact, Virginia is still a caveat emptor state. 

Then, during the late 1990s the contract became longer and longer.  There was an attempt to integrate the areas through a "Regional Contract".  It is used almost exclusively in Northern Virginia, but, alas, rarely used in Maryland where the "Maryland Association of Realtors" contract form is still widely used.  So much for Regionalism.  It will come.  Margaret Woda has done yeoman's work volunteering on the MD committees constantly revising, imporving our ever longer MD contracts.  The lady knows her business. 

The large companies offered secretarial services to manage our contracts.  Once the contract was ratified, it went to the secretary/processor/office assistant and they kept documents, sometimes ordered termite, title, etc.  Life was simple and good.  ALONG CAME STATUTORY REAL ESTATE LAWS.  No longer were agents and brokers advised to write our own addenda (Thanks!!).  The contracts were completely revised and revised and revised until today where a Contract of Sale in Maryland, with addenda, is about 35 pages.  In Virginia, it's shorter, but still can be 10 pages or more. 

DATA EXPLOSION REQUIRES DATA MANAGEMENT.  In the mid 1990, when I left the comfortable surroundings of the mega broker and began working from home, case management became more difficult.  Every piece of paper in a file had importance.  Case management had to be organized and immediately available.  When you're managing 3-5 buyer or seller files at a time, it's manageable.  However, once formed Homefinders.com the brokerage and hired agents, I had to manage contract information for my own sales, but need to be able to keep records and manage data for agents sales. 

SYSTEMS ARE IMPORTANT.  THEY HELP CASE MANAGEMENT AND REDUCE RISK.  In 1999, after experimenting with several commercial data management systems and finding them to be very time consuming and not geared to Buyer Agency, I contracted with an experienced programmer to design a case tracking system just for my business.  It's not perfect, but it works.  Case management is so important to real estate practices with any volume.  At it's peak, Homefinders.com agents closed over 200 contracts a year and that is serious case management.  There is also the matter of tax returns, 1099s, sales and financial reports, etc. all of which should be available at the management's fingertips in seconds.  I also wanted a system that was Internet based so it could reside on MY hard drive and not that of a supplier.  That is the system I wanted and we came pretty close.  

THE BEST SYSTEM FOR INFORMATION MANAGEMENT IS THE ONE YOU USE.  The important thing is not the system that an agent or broker uses.  The important thing is that a system be available and be used.  The system I designed permitted me to pull information for 1099s in minutes.  There is a category for agents that includes the agent name, address, phone, e-mail, tax data, licensure, etc.  A comprehensive information system saves money in accountant fees.  The system also permits reports for agent/broker income for sales reports.  For some reason, whenever one of my agents would buy or refinance their home, they never had up to date income information for their loan officer.  So, they called Lenn and I could send it to them in minutes.  Such informtion from an employing broker is helpful when self employed agents need mortgage financing.  It removes the spector of the underwriter suspecting that the agent is "estimating" their YTD income.  Good information often makes the difference in getting a "full doc" interest rate or a more expensive one. 

TYPICAL CASE FILE EXAMPLE - Internet based and simple minded like the owner. 

FINANCIAL REPORT EXAMPLE