REALTORS SEE POWERFUL HOME-SELLING TOOL IN COMPUTER NETWORK : RIGHT HOUSE COULD BE JUST A SCREEN AWAY.

Byline: Terry Kanakri Daily News Staff Writer

The Simi Valley-Moorpark Association of Realtors has signed on to a computer network that is expected to make it easier for residents to buy homes in other communities and to sell their homes to out-of-town shoppers.

The Computerized Real Estate Information System Network, or CRIS-Net, will enable thousands of Realtors in other Southern California communities to have access to home listings in the Simi Valley and Moorpark area via computer.

Realtors say joining the system will give local homes far greater market exposure and at the same time give residents interested in buying homes elsewhere the ability to shop in other communities from their local real estate office.

Previously, Realtors were required to be members of other cities' Realtors associations.

``We have all come to an agreement to put in to a common dissemination service so that all of those associations can access the information, and it's going to be a real boon to the local real estate industry,'' said Vicki Gemette, president of the Realtors association. ``There's never been anything like this before.''

The automatic exhibit of a seller's home to thousands of agents in communities that include the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita Valley, Antelope Valley, Burbank and the Conejo Valley will have a big impact, local Realtors said.

``Exposure-wise, it's wonderful,'' said Debbie Rodgers Teasley, district manager of Coldwell Banker Town & Country, which serves Simi Valley and Moorpark. ``The property will have thousands of agents who will have access to it, while before, it was restricted.''

Prior to CRIS-Net, local Realtors could only list local homes for sale through the multiple-listing computer service in communities where they had membership in the local Realtors association.

Starting Friday, that was no longer necessary.

``It's definitely advantageous for sellers because of more exposures to the property,'' Teasley said. ``More agents will have access, and to the buyers, it opens up the arena for all properties that are available, and hopefully that will result in more sales.''

Local homes put up for sale now will be just a computer screen away from some 7,500 agents, and that will result in faster sales because of the greater market, Gemette predicted.

Home shoppers in other communities whose Realtors are hooked up to the CRIS-Net now will be able to check out homes in Simi Valley and Moorpark, Gemette said.

``They'll have a whole new way of shopping for a new home,'' she said. ``They can sit in a Realtor's office in Burbank or North Hollywood and they can see a picture of the interior and exterior of homes because it'll come up on a computer.''

Chris McClintock, president of the Conejo Valley Association of Realtors, which has been using CRIS-Net since 1995, said the computer system is another tool that will help Realtors address increasing consumer demands.

``The bottom line is our expenses for marketing are rising astronomically, and with the need for computerization, we're attempting to get economies of scale, meaning by putting all the information into one computer base, we hope to be able to have use of it at a (lower) price,'' she said.