BY JANET BESHEER
The real estate industry has been an exciting
roller coaster ride over the past 10 years,
as the Great Recession, major shifts in the
ownership structure of the industry, and new
technologies available to clients and agents
have redefined opportunities and competitive
advantages.
While the substantial economic impact of
these factors cannot be overlooked, significant
upheaval has occurred in the last decade for all
real estate players–just based on technology
developments alone.
Here are four of the most noticeable changes
we have seen that are driven by technological
advancements:
• Clients are better informed.
Most clients now begin a relationship with
a realtor through online inquiries rather than
making a phone call or stopping into an office.
Gone are the days of going to an office
to view a printed book of homes or sitting
with an agent at a computer in order to see
the MLS listings.
Clients usually have done some homework
by visiting a brokerage website or by using an
online tool such as Zillow or Trulia. Agents and
brokers must stay on their toes knowing that
the consumer is armed with more information
than ever before.
Success is reserved for those real estate
professionals who have their own “data mining
toolkit,” who can customize marketing information
that delivers to clients exactly what
they seek, according to their individual needs.
• Agents can harness data-rich profiles to
jump start client relationships.
To the benefit of both buyers and sellers,
technology-savvy agents can now understand
their customers’ needs better and deliver higher
quality, targeted information about listings.
Depending on the sophistication of an agent
or their brokerage’s systems, it is now possible
to know in advance of a client meeting about
their profession, income level, number of kids
at home, outstanding mortgage balance and
lender, etc. This makes the buying process
more efficient.
• Virtual showings are possible 24/7.
In terms of the marketing implications of
this faster-paced, technology-driven environment,
any agent who doesn’t understand the
importance of photography and feature-rich
writing will lag behind. Similarly, agents must
have cutting-edge video tools and understand how to use them.
Words, photos and videos build a listing’s
online portfolio, and create a “walk-through”
experience for the buyer before he or she ever
takes a step through the door.
• Transactions are completed more efficiently.
In the final transaction process, both buyers
and sellers (and agents) now save enormous
amounts of administrative time due to online
transaction management and digital signature
technology. This improves client relations
and reduces brokerage expenses in terms of
the staff production time required to prepare
for closings.
For instance, today, Equitas uses an online
transaction system for all document storage
and communication for all agents. We are a
completely paperless office. Digital signatures
are used in over 30 percent of the transactions
and that comfort level is growing annually.
As a realtor for the past 16 years, and owner
of a growing brokerage since 2008, I’ve found
it imperative that the brokerage lead agents
through the dense forest of online marketing/technology options and evaluate them relative
to ROI value.
With online real estate search sites like
Zillow/Trulia and Realtor.com in a heated
competitive battle and new technologies rising
up monthly, it is incumbent on the brokerage
to stay on top of these competitive changes.
Agents don’t have the time or background
to act as industry analysts. We must do it for
them.
Indeed, it is the existence of these services
that helps fuel the trend toward a growing
number of independent brokerages. Brokers are no longer required to set up shop within
the expensive confines of the traditional
franchise system.
The net result of this ever-changing real
estate environment is that brokerages have
the opportunity to think through and deliver
solutions to agents on all of these technology
fronts. Indeed, we see the future of real estate
as a merger of industry professionals’ real
estate expertise with the processing power of
technology.
Besheer is the owner of Equitas Realty, with
offices in Saratoga Springs and Glens Falls.
Photo Courtesy Equitas Realty