The Other Side of the Industry: How Are Professionals Taking Advantage of the Internet?

Most of the topics my blog has addressed up until this point have involved the ways that technology is shaping real estate. The industry continues to change, and as the picture to the left points out, it is increasingly becoming one based around the computer. One issue that I addressed earlier in my blog was how homebuyers are taking advantage of technology, mostly through the use of the Internet. As a contrast to that topic, I have decided to focus on the other side of this issue: how real estate professionals are using technology to keep up with the evolving industry. Rather than make my own post, I have once again decided to feature a couple of posts from other blogs that I found to be very relevant with this topic. The first post was written by Richard Nacht, the CEO of Blogging Systems, a company that, according to their website, “provides real estate professionals with marketing and communications solutions using leading-edge blog technology.” Nacht mostly focuses on how the majority of agents are failing to keep up with the changes in the industry. The second post is from RealtyMadeEasy.com, which is a prominent online real estate classifieds website, and has no author listed. The company questions whether or not real estate professionals are savvy enough to keep up with the evolving industry. My comments to both of their arguments can be found on their respective blogs, and can also be seen below.

“Homebuyers Are Using the Internet; Agents Are Not”
Comment #1:

It seems to me that every real estate professional would be eager to take full advantage of the different opportunities that the Internet and other technologies have given them. Fully utilizing the Internet would give professionals a greater reach in advertising, and would also give them a way to offer easy to use services to a lot more people. You brought up in your post through a quote from another agent that this could be due to the number of real estate professionals using the industry as a second means of income. Do you think the Internet will separate out those people? I would think that in a few years, the industry will revolve heavily around the Internet, and those not involved in it will be somewhat obsolete. Also, could these new developments end up hurting smaller companies, who have less resources and capital to enable them to fully take advantage of the new options available to them? I am still in college, but I am planning on going into the real estate industry when I graduate. Personally, I can’t think of a better way to run a successful business and reach new customers than to take full advantage of the Internet. Maybe there is too big of a generation gap, and those real estate professionals that are part of the older generations will never fully utilize the many opportunities available to them through new technology. What do you think about this?

“Are Real Estate Brokers Internet Savvy Enough?”
Comment #2:

I am currently a junior at the University of Southern California, and plan on pursuing a career in real estate when I graduate. I first want to say that I found your post very interesting, and I think it really applies to the path that real estate is currently heading. It seems like real estate professionals as a whole are adapting to the Internet much slower than homebuyers are. Do you think this is true? You said in your post that "a home buyer in today's market wants to go online and do just about all of their work in terms of locating their next dream home." Why do you think homebuyers are so much more willing to use the Internet as a tool? The Internet provides so many great ways that professionals can reach a large number of people, and so many different services that they can offer. I cant think of a better way to run a successful business in real estate, as well as in any other industry. Do you think that the older generations of professionals will be able or willing to learn how to use these tools? I personally don’t think that the industry will fully utilize the opportunities available through technology until younger generations enter the market. What do you think? I would really appreciate your input on this issue.