Is the Realtor becoming irrelevant in the Internet age? That is the question Bradly Inman will be asking at Real Estate Connect in NYC on Monday. I don’t think so and here’s why…
I would like to share a quote from my post on real estate agents and technology.
Technology appears to be the buzz word for the year 2000. But how does it relate to real estate and will it mean the demise of the Realtor? Absolutely not! Technology is an essential tool in acquiring information and with information comes power. A Realtor without this tool, will be a Realtor without power. It is our conclusion that real estate agents will not be replaced by technology - however agents not embracing it, will most certainly be replaced by those who have.
That is from Sutton’s 1999 annual report, Message from the President. It is even more applicable today than it was 8 years ago. Today the consumer has vastly more access information than they did a decade ago.
Consider this story:
Zeke and Luke were hunting bear again. While they were taking a beer break, a bear came crashing out of the underbrush, heading straight for them. Zeke and Luke started running away, but the bear was rapidly closing the gap. “I don’t think we can outrun the bear,” Zeke panted.”That’s all right,” Luke shouted over his shoulder as he pulled in front of Zeke. “I don’t have to outrun the bear.”
“Why not?”
“I just have to outrun you“
Too many in the real estate industry are thinking like Zeke, trying to outrun the Internet, when is a lot easier to outrun their clients. Consumers may have a lot more access to data but interpreting it is another matter. Anybody else see a huge opportunity for agents?
If you’re an agent here’s how to start running faster:
- Do you read real estate industry blogs? You should start here: http://www.zillow.com/wikipages/Directory-of-Real-Estate-Blogs
- Know what RSS is? Use an RSS reader? You should start. It’ll make reading those blogs a lot easier.
- Do you blog? You should. You can start for free:
- Blogger - Free. Used by popular real estate blogs like Rob’s Greater Vancouver Real Estate Blog, Vancouver Housing Market Blog and many others.
- LiveJournal.com - Free. Very popular as well.
- WordPress.com -
Not freeFree. Blog hosting service for the Wordpress software which is free. MostlyGeek uses Wordpress. - Ubertor - Not free. They make real estate websites with blogs. Here’s their blog.
- And many more… just google it.
- Do you use your local Craigslist? You should. See why newspapers are scared.
- While you’re at it, check out Google Base and Yahoo! Classifieds as well.
- Keep an eye on what these websites are doing (most are US based): Trulia, Zillow, HomeGain and RealEstate.com.
- Read MostlyGeek.com
Great Stuff, I like your ideas.
[...] Out running the bear…: “ [...]
Ben-
Thanks for mentioning the directory of real estate blogs on the Zillow wiki. We hope both real estate professionals and consumers find value in being able to find a good collection of RE blogs in one place.
It’s been useful to me already — I wouldn’t have found your blog otherwise!