Recently, I went to a real estate training seminar that focused on emerging technologies and their impact on the real estate profession.
The room was full and quite a few people seemed to be intently listening to the speaker and taking down notes. But almost as many were not. Plenty in attendance seemed downright befuddled with talk of social media, online marketing and how to use technology and the Internet to be an effective real estate agent. More than a few shared grumblings about how real estate is a people business and all of this technology stuff has become a hindrance.
I don’t agree.
Fact is, times they are a-changing and the real estate business is not immune to those changes. In fact, technology is dramatically changing the real estate business.
Estimates are that over 90 per cent of people searching for homes are using the Internet. Placing ads for open houses and new listings is all fine and good, but the statistics show that home buyers and sellers want much more information – and it’s out there, online.
When you’re interviewing an agent, ask them to detail their online marketing strategy. Do they have a Facebook profile page that they use to connect with their network, and a Twitter account for the same reason? You might even check out their Klout, an online scoring system for an individual’s outreach success on given subjects – like real estate.
Bottom line: if you believe in technology and you’re using it to find homes… shouldn’t your REALTOR®?
Food for thought.
