The importance of being Internet savvy

Real Estate Weekly, August 9, 2000 by Elaine Misonzhnik

The general sentiment at RealtyIQ's "How The Internet Will Help Move Deals Faster and Smarter" event July 27 was, not surprisingly, "Isn't the Internet great."

Everyone on the panel of guest speakers, which included Bruce Mosler, executive vice president of Cushman & Wakefield, Jeff A. Moedler, a partner at the law firm of Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen LLP, Bruce Z. Weissberg, chairman and CEO of RealtyIQ, and Rick Miller, CEO of OnSite Access.com, stressed the importance of new technology in today's world of excessive choices and instant gratification. In just a little while, the Internet will rule the real estate domain, the speakers assured the audience, so real estate professionals would be wise to prepare for the future.

"There will be 185 million Internet users in two years from now and 3 million websites" Miller said. "You can take all that information and use it in your industry to see what the rates are, which properties are available, and how much you should charge. But if it's not used effectively, it is useless." Miller emphasized the emerging use of broadband applications as the next major change in technology.

"Broadband is going to continue to evolve over the next few years," he added. "The question is: What will that mean for property owners and managers? What it means is that you are going to have to decide which online service provider you are going to use. Time is money and broadband will save you time. You need to make sure that you pair up with the people who are going to deliver products and services to your customers in a timely manner."

Jeff Moedler, who has been a real estate lawyer for a number of years, agrees with Miller whole-heartedly. According to him, technology is becoming a very noticeable presence in the world of real estate transactions. "I am a real estate lawyer by background, but now I spend 95% of my time dealing with the Internet and technology companies," he said. "What I see happening is the largest computer network available. The Internet provides instantaneous access to information. Everything in the business is changing as a result."

As an example, Moedler cited an instance in which the Internet allowed him to complete two complicated leasing transactions in the period of three weeks -- a record-breaking time. "I did two of the largest leases in New York recently," he said, "and we used e-mail to exchange documents with everyone involved. We finished the lease in three weeks, and didn't even have to wait one day for Federal Express.

"It is all about using the growth of information," Moedler said. "That's what the people who are smart are doing right now, instead of transacting business the way it was done 10 years ago." The only objection Moedler has to these wonderful innovations, is instant gratification. "I now have situations all the time, where the client says 'Can't you just email it to us?' In the past, we could say that the document was in the mail, and that would give us an additional day or two to finish what we were doing."

With everyone reminiscing about their Internet-deprived past, Bruce Weissberg couldn't resist the temptation. "I remember those listings that were sent to us every month when I worked for a small brokerage company. To do a transaction, I would have to go through all my files, find the listings, call to see if they were still available, and then give the documents to my secretary to type. Back then I was very proud of how little time that took." But when Weissberg saw how the Internet could simplify things, he was converted for life. "It just blew me away."

So what exactly are the wonderful advantages of the Internet? "It allows you to share any document with your client online," Weissberg said. "It can eliminate the need for face-to-face meetings when you discuss space with the broker, with the architect and the contractor. Mapping is now in the offering, satellite images and real life projections.

"It saves time and money, and makes the document available to everyone."