Clicking a mouse to buy a house? Not quite, but technology is changing way real estate is sold.

It is no secret that real estate has come a long way from the kitchen table. Today's real estate sales agent studies trends, prospects, manages leads and devotes a great deal of time and energy to marketing their listings and themselves. Real estate has become a very serious, competitive business. And like most businesses, it is tapping into technology, specifically the Internet and multimedia software.

Things are moving quickly. The first real estate listing appeared on the Internet in 1994. Last year there were about half a million listings to be found on the Internet. Currently there are approximately two million. By the end of this year it is expected that 90 percent of all active real estate listings will be on the Internet.

It appears that the real estate agent of tomorrow will be pounding the keyboard, as well as the pavement in order to assist prospective buyers.

Century 21 Real Estate Corporation recently unveiled what it termed a "total technology solution," comprised of, among other technological tools, a new multimedia CD-ROM presentation that highlights for consumers the many programs and services that a Century 21 sales agent will use in working with a client, and the Century 21 Web site, where consumers can review listings of homes for sale from Century 21 brokers around the world, get real estate tips and information. Add this to Century 21 Communities on America Online, launched in August of last year, the new digital cameras and, of course, the handy laptop.

"There's a whole new set of tools," says Nick Wolff, a Century 21 broker of in White Plains, NY. "It used to be if you wanted information on a specific community you had to go to the local Multiple Listing Service, or broker in that area. Century 21 Communities and the new Communities Plus software function as a 'national MLS.' We can access information on nearly any area immediately. There is no waiting for materials to be sent through the mail; no looking at black and white photo copies of an MLS book. It is a faster way of getting and sharing information, and it is ultimately less stressful for the buyer."

On the selling end, the Internet gives immediate national exposure to properties, and not just the exterior view as has been the case in the past. Digital cameras are now being used to take images of homes inside and out. These photos are inexpensive, quickly viewed and can offer a full screen tour on computer, anywhere in the country. "We have the technology to put the seller's best foot forward," says Wolff.

"A technological revolution started in real estate back around 1992," says Andrew Mensch, a broker of from Century 21 Birchtree in Syosset, NY. "It didn't really take flight until about 1995, and the most dramatic changes have been seen over the last 12 months. Online marketing has made the Internet a national real estate magazine and a national Multiple Listing Service. This consolidation is ideal for the professionals within the Century 21 system, because we have offices in every area of the nation."

Most recent statistics show that there are currently over 25,000 entries per week made to Century 21 Communities on AOL. For consumers who are not yet on-line, demographics, entertainment, climate, crime and a host of other details can be retrieved on the sales associate's PC, or better yet, at the client's home on the agent's laptop. With the new Century 21 Communities Plus software, a consumer can even key into a specific address to determine a price range for that particular property.

"In addition," says Bill Severyn of Century 21 Professionals in Depew, NY, "the sales associate can use the Internet and serve both ends of the transaction, no matter where their client is buying. The sales associate no longer hands the buyer a business card for another office in the area they wish to move to, and sends them on their way. The agent can help the buyer get information immediately over the Internet, before they are referred to an office in their destination area. Geographical issues are all but removed from the research process."

Will we someday be able to purchase a home with the mere click of a mouse? Wolff is doubtful. "The house hunting and house marketing aspects of the process are changing rapidly with technology," he says. "But when it comes to the actual buying, the transaction itself, that is where the expertise of the sales associate cannot be replaced by software. The financial details, appraisal, closing - these are steps that require the personal touch, and guidance of an experienced real estate professional."