ERA Franchise Systems held its annual Young Leaders Network event at the offices of ERA Brokers Consolidated in Salt Lake August 21-23. Attendees included representatives from ERA Franchise Systems including COO Dave Collins and Christy Torian, Stephanie Reyna, Tony Lombardo, Joe Pesa, and Shannon Conover and leadership team members from brokerages across the country, the event was a great success.

Dave Baird, broker for the Salt Lake office hosted the event. He commented, “It was great to have all of these people from all over the country here in our office. We opened a year ago and it was fun to share with them our experience with ERA and learn from their years of experience with the brand.”

Diane Jensen, broker for the Lehi office participated and added, “I’ve been with ERA 20 years, and there is always something to learn. Having the opportunity to visit with so many people from so many different organizations was lots of fun, and I took away some great ideas.”

“We saw this event as an opportunity to put our business plan on the table and look for ways our peers could help us strengthen our value proposition. We are excited about the initiatives we have launched and where we are going, but this really helped us focus on some opportunities we are not leveraging as well as some of our peers in other markets across the country. We are grateful for the opportunity and honored to host the event this year.”

The event was a balance of sharing and learning along with experiencing a late Utah Summer. The YLN group went to Snowbird and enjoyed the evening after discussing real estate technology, marketing, research, education, and agent support.

About ERA Brokers Consolidated

ERA Brokers Consolidated is a brokerage infused with proprietary real estate technology.  ERA Brokers Consolidated includes 9 offices on the I-15 corridor from Salt Lake City, UT to Las Vegas Nevada.  With over 400 agents and staff, ERA Brokers operates a proprietary technology platform, ARTI®, publishes monthly market research, and manages over 1,600 property management units for its clients.

The real estate industry is evolving at an accelerating rate.  New capital investment and advances in technology are improving the real estate experience for both clients and agents.

ERA Brokers Consolidated has long been part of this change.  In 2015 the company announced all listings would have professional photography.  This offering was enhanced with 3D virtual reality solution, Matterport, in 2017.  ERA Brokers Consolidated is the only firm in the intermountain west to offer its clients both solutions at no cost to the client or the agent.

In the spring of 2017, the firm entered into an exclusive agreement to license ARTI®, an industry leading real estate marketing and transaction management platform.  The platform has been featured at RealogyFWD in New York City, Real Estate New Technology (RENT) in Paris, and multiple mentions in Inman News.  ARTI® allows agent, clients, and partners to seamlessly manage the marketing details and transaction components in a shared transaction window.  The real time activity feed and notifications keep everyone informed.  The transaction progress indicator shows how the transaction is progressing.

In 2019, ERA is launching three new products.  First, Unlisted, an exclusive offering for those who want to sell quickly or with extra privacy.  Second Boost Your Home Social Media advertising for listing clients.  Third, new property websites with the capability for buyers to execute an offer in seconds.

Unlisted is for those who want to sell quickly or with extra privacy.  When clients choose Unlisted, there are no showings.  There is no need to renovate or explain to neighbors what is happening.  The purchase of your property is handled in-house to avoid the feeling of having your personal life on display or the uncertainty of a failed transaction.

Boost Your Home is a social media marketing campaign run by ERA Brokers Consolidated on behalf of its clients and agents.  The marketing campaign is set up and paid for by the company.  The leads and activity accrue on behalf of the client and the listing agent.

In cooperation with ARTI®, new property websites are launched integrating Matterport 3D virtual reality, video, and a legally binding offer form.  The latter is the first of its kind to be built into a property marketing website.  ARTI® property websites are anything but a standard virtual tour platform.

Neil Walter, CEO of ERA Brokers Consolidated said, “2019 is going to be a great year.  We are continuing to find better ways to serve our clients and help them have a better real experience.  The Unlisted product, the Boost Your Home social media campaigns, and the ARTI® property websites are important ways we are working to innovate on behalf of our clients.”

About ERA Brokers Consolidated

ERA Brokers Consolidated is a brokerage infused with proprietary real estate technology.  ERA Brokers Consolidated includes 9 offices on the I-15 corridor from Salt Lake City, UT to Las Vegas Nevada.   It is a subsidiary of Brokers Holdings, which operates commercial and residential brokerages in Utah and Nevada.  With over 350 agents and staff, ERA Brokers Consolidated was recognized by RealTrends, RISMedia, and Swanepoel as a top brokerage firm in the United States.  In addition, it manages approximately $350 million in real estate assets for its clients.

New tech is entering the commercial real estate market that will change the way we transact for years to come. Consumers are asking to be involved in a more transparent real estate process facilitated by additional transaction structure. This is paving the way for faster purchase and sale timelines and a better overall experience for clients and market participants in a commercial real estate transaction.

The largest recent venture capital play in commercial real estate is Softbank’s $4.4b investment in WeWork, a company redefining shared workspace. Compass Real Estate, based in New York has received $1.2B in venture capital to date, also significantly from Softbank, for its luxury residential model and expansion into commercial real estate. Technology companies, like Costar Group and new arrival CREXi, are facilitating nationwide listing display and research. Last, we are seeing significant investment in traditional real estate brokerage models, such as Corcoran Group, Purple Bricks, and Opendoor.

Even with all of this capital investment in business models and technology offerings, the human interaction component in real estate is much the same as it has always been. These technologies improve the process, but buyers and sellers of commercial assets still want a trusted advisor to market their property, problem solve, and ensure a successful transaction.

New transaction management software is bringing the client closer to the deal and providing increased transparency for buyers and sellers. Real time notifications, client access, and technology enabled shared workspaces are improving transaction decision making.  Better integration of these platforms with related transaction participants including lenders, title companies, attorneys, and appraisers will improve information sharing.  The natural evolution of these platforms will be a reduction in transaction cycle time and higher probability closings.

The basic framework that enables this process is conversion to electronic filing systems, standardization of processes, and integration of marketing and client communication systems.  While some commercial real estate brokerages still manage transaction details and processes via paper and file cabinets, the transition to electronic files is accelerating the adoption of a broader array of technology solutions.  As brokerages continue to move into fully enabled tech platforms, such as ARTI, the consumer benefits, and brokerages professionals improve efficiency.

Examples of this transaction evolution are already playing out in the marketing of commercial real estate.  Today, it is common to find a property online and view dozens of high-quality photos in addition to standard marketing materials.  Interested parties might then review a Matterport 3D virtualization of the property in high definition allowing them to walk through the property at their own pace and see every inch of the property. As interest builds, they may sign a confidentiality agreement and enter a deal room where additional due diligence materials are available including financial information, additional building documentation, surveys, environmental and geotechnical engineering, title research, and even financing proposals.

From there, it is a simple step to execute an integrated purchase contract or letter of intent, all enabled by technology.

While technology has shortened how long it takes to search and discover what is available, the time from contract negotiation to close commonly takes 30-120 days or more depending on the transaction type.  Currently the process of appraisal, loan underwriting, property inspection, title research, and other due diligence are all human elements that can result in renegotiation of the transaction every time additional information is discovered.

To accelerate due diligence and increase closing probability, these items will more often be completed in advance of contract negotiation or in some cases automated.  Where due diligence information is immediately available, completing due diligence prior to contract negotiations removes the uncertainty of the transaction and increases the speed.  It reduces cost and uncertainty for both buyer and seller.  A single technology platform is not likely to accomplish all of these steps; however, integrated solutions will enable significantly accelerated transactions in some instances.

Finally, it is worth remembering that many of the most significant impacts to real estate won’t be the technology that changes how we transact real estate, but rather the way technology changes the way we use real estate.  The recent shift nationwide to favor industrial and distribution over regional malls and other retail outlets significantly impact the use and development of both industrial and retail real estate.  The office market has similar exposure as more people work remotely, collaborate in cloud based platforms, and adopt a decentralized approach.

Technology innovation is fueling the growth of cities like Austin, San Francisco, and Salt Lake City that are transformative.  Consider the impact Amazon HQ2 had not only on New York and Virginia, who were awarded sites, but on all of the cities who competed for the potential jobs and economic development. Self-driving cars may change the way retail centers, parking structures, and freeways are redeveloped.  3D printer technology could localize manufacturing and alter distribution.  5G connectivity will rapidly change the speed at which we interact with technology that could have far reaching real estate implications.

Every technology development has a real estate implication.  Understanding how these technology innovations impact the way we consume real estate will be at least as important as understanding how these solutions will impact the way we transact real estate.

Matt Walter, Jon Walter, and Neil Walter are founding partners of the technology platform ARTI and operate real estate brokerages in the West. 

ERA Brokers has announced the release of 3D walkthroughs of the real estate agency’s office locations in Utah and Nevada. Designed as an online viewport to an in-store experience the 3D immersion is rare in any brick and mortar establishment.

Delivering this technology in 8 locations and over 35,000 square feet of office, the 3D walkthroughs use a combination of lidar, the same technology used for self-driving cars, and six cameras set at different angles to scan each area.  A typical 2,000 square foot residential home takes around 40 of these scans to build a floorplan, 3D dollhouse model, and interior walkthroughs.

“Our mission is to provide a better real estate experience and this is a great way to showcase the technology we use in the organization to benefit our clients. We’re currently hosting about 300 3D models of our current listing inventory and have scanned over 1,000 homes for our clients,” said Matt Walter, CTO for ERA Brokers Consolidated.

The technology product used is called Matterport which launched in 2014.  While most agents have been very slow to adopt, ERA feels this is an important part of their value proposition delivering the service, along with their professional photography, at no cost to clients or agents.

About ERA Brokers Consolidated
ERA Brokers Consolidated is a brokerage infused with proprietary real estate technology. ERA Brokers Consolidated includes 9 offices on the I-15 corridor from Salt Lake City, UT to Las Vegas Nevada.  It is a subsidiary of Brokers Holdings, which operates commercial and residential brokerages in Utah and Nevada. With over 300 licensed real estate professionals, Brokers Holdings closed nearly 3,500 transactions worth approximately $1 billion in value in 2017, and it manages approximately $250 million in real estate for its clients.

About ERA Real Estate
ERA Real Estate is an innovative franchising leader in the residential real estate industry with more than 40 years of experience in developing consumer-oriented products and services. The ERA network includes approximately 37,000 affiliated brokers and independent sales associates and 2,350 offices throughout the United States and 33 countries and territories. Each office is independently owned and operated. ERA Real Estate is a subsidiary of Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), a global provider of real estate services. ERA Real Estate information is available at: ERA.com.

Salt Lake City, UT, St. George, UT and Las Vegas, NV — ARTI®, the industry leading marketing and transaction management experience for real estate was featured at RENT (Real Estate New Technologies) in Paris, France on October 3^rd.  Herve Parent, organizer of Europe’s largest real estate technology conference, invited Neil Walter, CEO for ERA Brokers Consolidated, to talk about how ERA Brokers was innovating with the platform.

Francois Gagnon, President of ERA Europe, introduced Neil while simultaneous translation in French was provided by RENT for the presentation.  The presentation focused on marketing and lead generation tools, listing display, and client engagement in the United States that could be applicable for agents in France.

Of the event, Neil Walter commented, “I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of RENT this year.  Thank you to Herve and Francois for inviting our firm to come to Paris and be part of such an impressive technology event.  Offering the best technology solutions to our agents and to our clients is extremely important to our firm, and we believe effective use of technology is critical to the value proposition agents will offer clients going forward.  We expect to continue to be a leader in this space with our platform ARTI®.”

“It was exciting to have Neil demonstrate the capabilities of our platform at another industry leading conference. While we have experienced significant interest in the product over the past year, we are still committed to providing the exclusivity of the product to our agents as we continue to deliver more structure, speed, and transparency in the real estate process”, added Matt Walter CTO for ERA Brokers.

RENT was significantly oversubscribed with vendors wanting trade show space and over 1,000 attendee registrations from Europe. The best real estate technologies in France were on display along with many others who were providing support across the continent.

ERA France has been an important contributor to the organization and support of RENT since its inception.  ERA France has over 300 offices in the country with ERA Europe’s office count reaching over 1,000.

About ERA Brokers Consolidated
ERA Brokers Consolidated is a brokerage infused with proprietary real estate technology. ERA Brokers Consolidated includes 9 offices on the I-15 corridor from Salt Lake City, UT to Las Vegas Nevada.  It is a subsidiary of Brokers Holdings, which operates commercial and residential brokerages in Utah and Nevada. With over 300 licensed real estate professionals, Brokers Holdings closed nearly 3,500 transactions worth approximately $1 billion in value in 2017, and it manages approximately $250 million in real estate for its clients.

About ERA Real Estate
ERA Real Estate is an innovative franchising leader in the residential real estate industry with more than 40 years of experience in developing consumer-oriented products and services. The ERA network includes approximately 37,000 affiliated brokers and independent sales associates and 2,350 offices throughout the United States and 33 countries and territories. Each office is independently owned and operated. ERA Real Estate is a subsidiary of Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), a global provider of real estate services. ERA Real Estate information is available at: ERA.com.

ERA Brokers pushes the envelope with real-time dashboards, advanced syndication controls, and proprietary market research.

St. George, Utah and Las Vegas, Nevada

On August 15^th and 16^th, ERA Brokers Consolidated held its Mid-Year meetings for all its affiliated real estate professionals and staff.  At the meeting, there were three major announcements. Its technology arm unveiled real time dashboards for agent productivity and goal setting as well as syndication controls for listing distribution.  In addition, after publishing monthly residential real estate housing trends and market data since 2012, the company released its first semi-annual report covering single family investment metrics as well as a comparative analysis of twelve markets from Salt Lake to Las Vegas.

Real Time Dashboards: Real estate agents struggle with having data spread among as many as six or more systems.  Managing the activities in all of these systems can be an extraordinary challenge.  ERA Brokers proprietary technology platform ARTI allows affiliated real estate professionals to have all of their transaction details, documents, marketing systems, client communications, and now all of their key metrics and goals in one place.  The addition of the dashboard is not a third party vendor product bolted on to a MLS feed, rather it is a native solution fully integrated to the existing platform.  The new functionality reinforces the ARTI value proposition of transaction transparency, structure, and speed.

Syndication Controls: One of the most challenging marketing problems in real estate is the loss of control of listing data.  Because most firms rely on MLS data feeds to distribute listing data, the ability to control that data is given up to the MLS provider.  NAR has spent years working on an initiative called Upstream to address this problem, but they continue to face challenges.  In the Mid-Year meetings today, ERA Brokers announced a proprietary solution that is native inside the ARTI platform.  It allows syndication controls for listing data and open houses throughout the ARTI marketing channels, the ZAP platform and ERA Franchise systems marketing solutions as well as the most visited real estate portals in the United States, Zillow.com, Trulia.com, and Homes.com.  This addition is seamlessly integrated with the other marketing, transaction management, and client engagement features within ARTI.

The Review, Residential Market Research:  While many publish housing statistics like median home price and days on market, finding data to support investors and their financial models is much more challenging.  ERA Brokers announced today the first issue of The Review.  It contains statistics like single family rental lease rates and vacancy rates as well as a comparative analysis of the markets served by ERA Brokers from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas.

This one of a kind publication will be extremely valuable in the real estate investment community who are looking at single family homes, townhomes, and condos as a potential investment class.

About the announcements, ERA Brokers Chief Technology Officer, Matt Walter said,

“This has been a four-year initiative.  We built the structure, we assembled the data, now we are rolling out the features.  The real time dashboards and the syndication controls are some of the coolest we have delivered on, right along side the transaction window which brings all of the transaction participants into a shared workspace.”

Jon Walter, COO for Brokers Holdings, which operates ERA Brokers added, “The Review, our residential real estate research publication will become a fixture among real estate decision makers in the communities where we do business.  It has information you can’t obtain anywhere else, and its presented in a format that is easy to use and valuable to decision makers.  It fits as a perfect complement to our commercial market research published by NAI Excel and NAI Vegas.  The combined coverage gives us the ability to report on trends from Salt Lake to Las Vegas spanning single family residential, multi-family, office, retail, and industrial trends.  Together, the reports are the most comprehensive coverage of real estate markets in the intermountain west.”

The technology and research initiatives at ERA Brokers are part of a broader effort to enhance the client experience.  The firm has made substantial investments in technology, marketing, market research, and agent support over the past 12 months.  Clients of ERA Brokers agents say that 95% of the time they are very likely to refer their real estate agent to a friend or family member.  This is a significant achievement when contrasted with the national average of 74% as reported in the National Association of Realtors’ 2017 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.  ERA Brokers is working to exceed client expectations and consistently deliver results that outperform industry standards.

About ERA Brokers Consolidated
ERA Brokers Consolidated is a brokerage infused with proprietary real estate technology. ERA Brokers Consolidated includes 9 offices on the I-15 corridor from Salt Lake City, UT to Las Vegas Nevada.  It is a subsidiary of Brokers Holdings, which operates commercial and residential brokerages in Utah and Nevada. With over 300 licensed real estate professionals, Brokers Holdings closed nearly 3,500 transactions worth approximately $1 billion in value in 2017, and it manages approximately $250 million in real estate for its clients.

ERA Brokers announced to its agents on November 16th that the GLVAR policy change would not negatively impact ERA Brokers listings or its clients.

About ERA Brokers:

ERA Brokers Consolidated is a brokerage infused with proprietary real estate technology. The organization operates commercial and residential brokerages in Utah and Nevada. With over 300 agents and staff, ERA Brokers Consolidated closed over 3,000 transactions worth nearly $1 billion in value in 2016, and manages more than $250 million in assets for its clients.

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This past weekend, Outlier HQ hosted their 2nd annual Founders Weekend Pitch Competition in St. George Utah at the Electric Theater.  Among the 22 registered teams screened in the first round, only 8 made it to the 2nd round and were given an opportunity to pitch at the event.  Three finalists, ARTI, Teton Valley Brands, and Heroic, were invited to pitch on the final day.

ARTI, a new real estate transaction experience was recognized as the Judges second choice.  Teton Valley Brands offering traceable sourcing for real Idaho potato chips won audience choice, and Heroic Cybersecurity, a combination of identity theft protection and antivirus protection earned Judges choice.

Matt Walter, CTO pitching ARTI said, “The feedback we are getting about ARTI is phenominal.  Our goal is to solve the information transparency problem for buyers and sellers of real estate.  In the past, clients didn’t really know what was happening in a real estate transaction unless they asked their agent.  Now, with our proprietary transaction window, clients and other industry partners share the same workspace with the agent and can see contracts, marketing, critical dates, progress indicators, and a facebook like activity feed for their transaction.  We are trying to give people what they want, transparency, structure, and speed.”

Neil Walter, CEO for Brokers Technology pitching ARTI commented, “We were really excited to pitch at Founders Weekend.  There were some exceptional firms at the event.  We are honored to be part of the whole process including the speakers, panels, and networking that went on to support technology development across the region.  I would highly recommend anyone interested in learning more about entrepreneurship or technology ventures to come next year.”

Founders Weekend hosted by Outlier HQ is a 2-day entrepreneurial conference located in St. George.  This year there were 215 registered attendees with three presentation streams, keynotes, and the pitch competition.

Outlier HQ is an online publication geared toward the dynamic community of startups and entrepreneurs.  It is dedicated to providing the knowledge, tools and insight needed to propel a company from its foundation to its ultimate potential.

About ARTI:
ARTI is not artificial intelligence or a robot, he has no interest in taking over the world, but he is here to make real estate easier for everyone.  He helps move the transaction process along, keeps everyone informed, and provides insight through a proprietary transaction window.  ARTI brings structure, speed, and transparency to real estate transactions.  He may not be a person, but once you get to know him, you won’t be able to imagine real estate without him.  ARTI is a better way to transact real estate.  www.brokerstechnology.com

About ERA Brokers:
ERA Brokers Consolidated is a brokerage infused with proprietary real estate technology. The organization operates commercial and residential brokerages in Utah and Nevada. With over 300 agents and staff, ERA Brokers Consolidated closed over 3,000 transactions worth nearly $1 billion in value in 2016, and manages more than $250 million in assets for its clients.