The job profile of selling real estate for
a living really has not changed much through time. There may have been some
change in the rules or some increase in paperwork depending from place to
place, but by and large, the procedure has remained the same.
Originally agents used to sit in an
office and there was a concept of “Floor time”. Moreover, they used to publish
some ads in local and newspapers and homes magazines. At times they also
offered advice to their buyers and sellers personally or via postal mails.
Then came the advent of the internet
and all the listings
of homes were being displayed online. It took some time but slowly, real
estate agencies took to buying URL’s to set up websites of their own. In the
year 2005, the American National Association of Realtors had reported that
almost 70% of the real estate customers over the country were looking for
houses online.
It did not take long for the figure
to cross 90%, wherein the customers would first look online and then speak to
their agents about it. Likewise, sellers also go online and consult agents who
will best market their property for them.
Keeping all of this in mind, here are
a few possible predictions of what the future of real estate will look like:
1.
The concept of “floor
time” will fade out as more and more agents will take to working from their
homes.
2.
Personally sharing
information will be replaced by sharing of information online, especially any
transactions that are in progress.
3.
The control of the
market will be in the hands of those agencies with the best websites.
4.
And finally,
agencies will shut down their physical shops.
The future of real estate will see
“Floor time” as a waste of time majorly because of the decrease in the number
of people who will visit them in person. All of these agents will choose to set
up work stations at their homes and schedule all of their working commitments
around their family responsibilities. Moreover, they will also find themselves
free of the usual office banter and interruptions giving them a chance to
focus.
Given the needs of the younger
generation, most people would prefer the latest file sharing options which
gives easy and fast access to everybody. In fact, customers and clients will
not need to personally see the agent at all, till the time comes to view the
house before listing it.
Having said all this, one thing that
will remain unchanged is that customers will still look for information and
they will still feel the need to be acquainted with their agents before actually
entrusting them with properties and transactions of such high values.
The biggest thing about the future is
that the agencies with the best websites will be the ones with the lion’s share
of the business.
So what would define the ‘best website’?
Best websites are those that will be
able to offer the buyers and sellers with all the information that they need.
Not only will it be easy to navigate through the website for information, but
the site will also offer the customers and sellers some very useful information
on real estate.
The best websites will also have
virtual tours for prospective buyers to have a look at the house within the
comfort of their homes. They will be able to “see” each and every room in the
house apart from the grounds, the neighborhood and the entire view from the
house. There will also be intricate details about the house such as the taxes
and local assessments, the association fees, the measurements of each room as
well as the floor plans.
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