FAN’s own Aaron Davis was at it again recently! This time, he joined an All-Star panel at the ALTA/MBA/MISMO Digital Boot Camp to discuss the state of tech in the greater real estate industry. Based on the turnout and engagement during his own session and throughout the event, there is no doubt that mortgage lenders and title businesses alike are very much fixed on using technology to battle the anticipated volume decline and margin compression we’ve been discussing for some time.

Except, this wasn’t the same old tech show. And there was little talk of things like “end-to-end” solutions or global fixes. The silver bullet we’ve all been seeking was not present at this conference. And it still doesn’t appear that Zillow, Amazon, Google or Tik Tok will be swallowing the biggest players in the industry and imposing a one-size-fits-all technology to save the day. (Thankfully.)

Finally, it would seem that the various CEOs and COOs, operations managers and tech buyers are learning to plan for tech stacks in order to achieve optimal results. They’ve tried, and failed, many times to make the major investment in an alpha production system, only to find their frontline workers using 3^rd party phone apps and sticky notes to work around these “global solutions.”

By the way, this is not a knock on production systems. There are a lot of great ones out there. It’s just that few can solve every unique problem or challenge from a one-size-fits-all position.

The decision makers of our industry are realizing that the “best” technologies in the industry may not always be the best fits for their own unique operations. A multi-state title agency focusing on refinance business rarely has identical needs to the family-owned agency that’s built up a two state, multi-office system over four decades of purchase business. So why do we expect the same technology to have the same results for each of them?

We believe that the “traditionalism,” or “conservatism” or just plain stubbornness that once characterized this great industry when it comes to adopting new tech, is giving way to something else: practicality. Planned well, combinations of the right tech—even if it’s all single or simple use solutions which coexist and collaborate—can move mountains.

And that change of collective receptiveness? Well, it not only bodes well for our industry when it comes to new tech. It also portends good things for the adoption of existing tech. Like, say, RON or eClosings.

2022 may be a very good year in many ways. If this trend bears out, it could be a landmark year for us.