I watched the 60 Minutes segment on Real Estate."? It surprises me that so little could generate so much controversy.

Basically it was a great commercial for Red Fin ' Good for them.

They did blast NAR ' Too bad for them.

The Red Fin CEO said the real estate industry is really screwed up ' What's new?

The real issue is ' Who cares?"? There are much more important issues.

The marketplace will sort out what the best model is for consumers."? Consumers will choose what ever model best suits their individual needs."? That's how it has always been and will always be.

There is a much larger issue here than either 60 Minutes, NAR or Red Fin addressed."? Its kind of like watching Emergency Room Doctors focus on a patient's hang nail while the patient bleeds to death from multiple gun shot wounds."?

Wake Up!! It's all about multiple revenue streams.

Our premise has been for years that Brokers and Agents with only one revenue stream will not be economically viable anyway when economically trying to compete with Brokers and Agents with multiple revenue streams."? This is not rocket science.

Think about it."? What would the cash flows look like with a Brokerage firm that offers Real Estate, Title, Mortgage, Escrow, Home Insurance, and Home Warranty services all originated by one sales staff, administrated by one administrative staff, housed in one corporate base?"?

By providing these 5 services simultaneously with one sales staff and one infrastructure cost base, the savings are incredible and customer service is tremendously improved when compared to traditional stand alone firms.

Can you as a real estate Agent or your firm as a real estate Broker compete with this on an economic basis?"? If the answer is no, you need to make some changes.

Think about just the transaction coordination, loan processing and escrow."? At CalFirst we call it single seat processing."? More than 90% of the escrow, loan processing and transaction coordination functions are redundant."? With very little expansion of job description, one person can provide all 3 functions and the 3 revenue streams can be split over excellent employee compensation, better profits, significantly improved customer service and consumer savings.

Take it further and visualize, one office building, one human resources department, one accounting department, one CEO, one Board of Directors, one administrative staff combined with the removal of all redundancies.

How can this all be done?"? Technology is the key."? All of these functions essentially use the same database."? With the right software, all of the output functions are not much more than glorified print jobs.

What happens when integrated software produces the Real Estate documents, Title, Mortgage, Escrow, Home Insurance and Home Warranty documentation?

You don't even have to hit the print button."? Convert all to PDF file format and eMail the entire package to the "Field Document Signing Service" and sign up the deal."? Funding, Recording and Disbursement completes the transaction.

You have to ask yourself what is standing between you the Agent and your Broker and implementation of this business model."? If the leap is too far, the company will be out of business soon.

It really is that simple. DonMurray@CalFirstFinancial.com