Technology has had a profound effect on the real estate industry during the last decade. Our industry has become a revolving door for new licensees who cannot gain traction quickly. Successful agents have learned to both work with, and to leverage technology, so that it works for them.
Big players will always be with us, however, small players and niche players are learning to use technology to compete increasingly well with the giants. When looking at the industry in terms of productivity per agent one will find high volume agents at both the big companies, but increasingly in small niche or boutique firms.
Consumers now go to Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com for information and to see listings, not an agent or company website.
Social media, YouTube, and Google are quickly changing what works in terms of building brand awareness. From the beginning we hired professional social media experts to create and manage our presence on Facebook and Twitter. We are expanding our strategy to include Instagram to target first time buyers and LinkedIn for recruiting purposes.
Real estate agents no longer control access to listings. Every listing in the MLS is available everywhere on the internet.
Real estate has always been an 80/20 business where 20% of the agents do 80% of the business. The agent who embraces the new technological reality while working by referral has an opportunity to do incredibly well right now.
The great recession has also changed what people think of as the American Dream. The loss of equity and the need for mobility has kicked homeownership off many bucket lists.
More people are choosing to rent than buy – 34.6% at last count. Many will not rent their entire lives, eventually opting to buy. Attitudes toward renting vs buying continue to evolve while the rental market begs to be served. There is tremendous opportunity to professionalize the property management business, improving the service level as the intermediary between tenant and investor and generating significant income for the broker.
Demand for property management service is rising. The challenge is serving the needs of the tenant while ensuring that the owner’s investment is earning well. Incorporating property management into the traditional brokerage model is an opportunity whose time has come.
The tsunami of echo boomers & millennials moving into the housing market as both tenants and first time home buyers presents an immense opportunity. The related opportunity to serve the needs of landlord owners as capital floods back into back into the housing market after the crash is equally immense.
Not only will tenants pay for this experience but real estate investors require this level of service in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
That’s Chris’s State of the Industry Address. state of the industry address – Next week, The Broker Owner Experience: Broker Profitability Matters