Fax Featured Article

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, ERA Real Estate released a list of the top technological innovations that have changed real estate. Pointing to its achievement of being the first real estate franchise to transmit listings cross-country via fax machine, and its milestone of being the first real estate franchise to post listings online, ERA proudly reiterated its commitment to utilizing the latest technology on the market.

“For 40 years, innovation has been an integral part of ERA Real Estate's DNA,” said Charlie Young, president and CEO of ERA Real Estate. “As we look to the next 40 years, we will continue to monitor the business, technological and social landscape for new ideas we can leverage to drive value to our customers and propel our business forward.”

In 2000, ERA points out, paperless transactions began to overtake paper transactions, and this change led to the complete online management of real estate transactions. In 2004, the invention of Facebook (News - Alert) allowed many realtors to solidify the business relationships that they had formed between themselves and their consumers.

The company also points to YouTube (News - Alert), started in 2005, which provided a venue for real estate businesses looking to share their stories online. Another boon for realtors occurred in 2011, when the iTunes store launched a variety of augmented reality apps that are changing the way that Americans look at new homes.

Another innovation that changed how we view home ownership was the 2008 deployment of the Smart Grid in Italy. With the advent of the Smart Grid, homeowners were able to purchase smart appliances and smart thermostats, and they were able to start controlling electrical devices, like their overhead lights, from their smartphones and tablets.

Some of the changes brought about by technology were cultural. For instance, the urban dictionary popularized the term “man cave” in 2004, which started a trend in which people looked for homes with spaces specifically dedicated to letting men “do their thing.” Other changes cause us to look into the future. The launch of Virgin Galactic in 2008, which was the world’s first commercial spaceline, brought the world a step closer to space colonization.

Other technological innovations will continue to influence the way that realtors do business. Putting a “For Sale” sign on the moon, however, may still take a while.