The issue of open standards

by Amy Lemen   What happens when different people use different transaction platforms? Will they all still be able to communicate? What sorts of problems might this cause? The issue of open standards has been a sticky wicket in the world of technology long before the idea for a real estate transaction platform ever existed. Extensible Markup Language, or XML, is the common language used for today’s Web pages, because it’s a flexible way to share both format and data on the Internet. But get ready, because there’s a whole new host of acronyms for the world of real estate.

Efforts for standardization began in February 1999 with NAR’s Real Estate Transaction Specification (RETS), and were followed by the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, or MISMO. In November 2000, at NAR’s annual conference, a consortium called the Alliance for Advanced Real Estate Transaction Technology (AARTT) announced its Comprehensive Real Estate Transaction Markup Language, or CRTML.

"Without cooperation between providers, data transmission between platforms and automated closings is very difficult," says Nick Karris, an analyst from Gomez Advisors. "I think the REALTORS® are going to want a choice and the ability to access information through open standards. Will there be one platform or several? It’s an important point to consider."

Buyers & sellers, visit www.texasrealestate.com.
REALTORS®, visit www.tar.org.