Smart Property Solutions
Case Study
First American Financial Corporation – Streamlining Real Estate Transactions with Data Solutions
First American Financial Corporation is a leading American financial services company specializing in title insurance and settlement services for the real estate and mortgage industries. Data Template partnered with First American to develop a comprehensive Residential Property Data Store, integrate Employment/Income Verification Services, and optimize data extraction from external services. These efforts were aimed at improving operational efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing the overall customer experience in the real estate industry.
The Vision
Building a Residential Property Data Store that would allow realty agents to compare different properties in the same locality against a particular property for better decision-making. Integrating Employment/Income Verification Services provided by industry leaders like Equifax and Veritax to streamline the verification process for their clients and reduce dependency on external third-party services.
The Challenge
Property Comparison: Realtors needed a centralized repository to store and compare residential property data within the same locality.
External Dependencies: Employment and income verification services were outsourced to external vendors, increasing costs and potential inefficiencies.
Data Extraction: The mortgage team relied on Fraud Guard to obtain property information, leading to substantial recurring costs.
Scenario
Optimizing Property Data Management and Verification Processes
To facilitate smoother real estate transactions, First American needed an efficient way for their mortgage and realty teams to access and compare property data across different locations. Additionally, the company relied on external third-party services for Employment/Income Verification, leading to unnecessary expenses. The task was to streamline this entire process, build internal data stores, and integrate new services into existing systems.
What we did
Building and Integrating Key Data Solutions
Building the Residential Property Data Store :
We designed a Data Store for residential properties that allowed realty agents to analyze and compare properties across a particular locality. The system was developed on Amazon Web Services (AWS) using AWS EC2, AWS Redshift, and AWS Data Pipeline. The data store provided an easy-to-use interface for comparing property details like pricing, location, size, and amenities.
Employment/Income Verification Services Integration :
We integrated Equifax and Veritax's employment and income verification services into First American's existing systems through the development of Web APIs. These APIs were designed to seamlessly integrate with multiple applications at First American, providing a streamlined verification process across all relevant platforms.
In-House Data Warehouse Development :
To reduce dependence on external services, we built an in-house Data Warehouse using Amazon DynamoDB, MongoDB, and Redshift for data storage. This data warehouse eliminated the need for third-party solutions, providing First American with greater control over their data and reducing long-term costs.
Data Extraction from XML Files :
We implemented a solution to extract property data from XML files using Node.js and store this information in DynamoDB. This solution helped First American automate the extraction process and move away from manual data entry, increasing accuracy and efficiency.
Building APIs for Integration :
We developed Node.js APIs to facilitate the integration of external systems with the newly developed data warehouse. These APIs enabled the seamless flow of data between systems, ensuring that First American's real estate and mortgage teams had access to the most up-to-date and accurate information.
Cost Reduction through Fraud Guard System Replacement :
To replace the expensive Fraud Guard system, we proposed and developed a new in-house data extraction and storage solution. This significantly reduced costs associated with obtaining property data, while improving the overall speed and accuracy of the data retrieval process.
Key features of the experience
The Impact
Building and Integrating Key Data Solutions
Data Template's engagement with First American Financial Corporation successfully streamlined property data management, reduced dependency on external services, and integrated cutting-edge verification technologies. By leveraging AWS, Node.js, and robust data warehousing solutions, we helped First American build a scalable, cost-efficient system that empowers their real estate and mortgage teams with faster, more accurate data for better decision-making.
Cost Savings
By eliminating the reliance on Fraud Guard and outsourcing employment/income verification services, First American was able to significantly reduce annual costs while improving operational efficiency.
Faster Access to Data
Realty agents and mortgage teams now have faster, more accurate access to property data, enabling quicker decision-making and more effective property comparisons.
Scalable Data Infrastructure
The new in-house data warehouse provided First American with a scalable, self-sufficient infrastructure, reducing their dependency on external third-party services and improving overall system performance.
Improved System Integration
The seamless integration of Equifax and Veritax services through APIs provided First American with a unified, efficient verification process across multiple applications.
Operational Efficiency
The automation of data extraction from XML files and the creation of APIs for system integration improved the speed and accuracy of real estate data management and reduced manual labor.