The New Real Estate Paridigm - For Real Estate Agents
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We touched on the transition that the world of real estate sales is in the midst of in this article. Now we have found via our new friends over at Bloodhound Blog a great article by Michael Price of Mike’s Corner. Mike outlines the processes that a real estate agent will need to be successful tomorrow.
The central theme that we are going to see in real estate is change over the next few years. The boom that was felt nationally allowed two things to happen. The long time real estate agent was allowed to get complacent and the new technology is being built underneath the radar screen of those very same agents.
So the long term agent through up a web page and an email address and said I am on the internet. They were so busy and sales were so easy that they gave up the competitive edge they own to the new boys (and girls) on the block who spent part of their time getting ready for the next generation.
Going back to Mikes article, he has a great point on who and who not be successful in the future selling homes.
Want to go to the Real Estate 2.0 soiree? If you’re spending all of your time thinking up ways to defend why and how much you charge for your services, you’re not on the list. If you’re spending your time coming up with ways to bash and belittle people who don’t do business the way you think they should, you’re not on the list. If you’re spending your time creating stories to explain why old business models should be preserved for the greater good of an industry, you’re not on the list. If you’ve spent the better part of your career letting other people do the heavy lifting for you while you “networked”, you’re not on the list. If you’ve ever defended yourself by saying “That’s way it’s always been done” you won’t even be allowed in the neighborhood.
I think he nailed it dead on. The real estate game will not be done the old way. Sure, you can sell homes to your Rotary and golf circles, but the homes sales to the younger and more mobile buyers are never going to know you exist.
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They will be with the brokers that let them browse the homes from their initial dream stage, not call me when you are ready to buy.
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They will buy their homes from agents that return emails and provide additional information to them online. They will love you if you target the information to them. But remember, don’t spam them, target to them specifically.
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They will buy homes from those that do not sell the old way, they will arrive in town with their own list of homes that do not have commission structures in them. These buyers are not concerned with your commission, they are concerned with buying their home.
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And last but not least, they will buy from an agent that communicates with them how they communicate. So if you are smart, think of how a buyer would want to buy, not how you would like to sell.
And at the end of the day, if you build your business around the buyers and sellers, you will be selling many, many homes. And you know what, the commissions will probably be lower, but you will also have all the technology that will make the transactions go faster and much more efficiently than your other agents. So at the end of the year, you will be making more per hour.


Pingback by Friday morning real estate links . . . | BloodhoundBlog | The weblog of BloodhoundRealty.com in Phoenix, Arizona on 15 September 2006:
[…] The Real Estate Bloggers address The new real estate paradigm — for real estate agents, citing the Mike’s Corner post I mentioned the other day. On the point, if you haven’t read it, take a look at my own entry on this topic, Seven essential skills of the 21st century real estate agent. […]
Comment by Stan on 15 September 2006:
Sir,
I must take exception with your remark:
“These buyers are not concerned with your commission”
EVERY buyer is concerned with commissions because it is the BUYER who pays ALL commissions and everything else at the closing table.
I respectfully ask you elaborate on your comments as they can be inperpreted as insulting and arrogant and I don’t believe that was your intent.
Thanks for the chance to contribute to the dialogue
Comment by Tom on 15 September 2006:
Stan
I did not mean it as you intended. Of course the customer buyer is concerned about the commission, but when buying a house the buyer is not concerned about how the commission split is broken down, or which homes are paying an extra commission to get it sold quickly.
If they are taken to a home based solely upon the commission opportunities by their buyers agent, they will feel betrayed.
They are concerned about finding their new home and paying a fair price. The point I was trying to make is that when technologically skilled people are looking to purchase a home, they are doing a good deal of the leg work that in the past real estate agents have done. When we bought our last home, we did all the leg work and directly dealt with the sellers agent. My wife and I knew the market well enough that we were able to negotiate a strong deal, and to be honest ended up with the real estate agent pressing our case.
Thanks for the comment and giving me the opportunity to express myself in a hopefully better manner.
Tom
Comment by Stan on 15 September 2006:
Tom,
Thanks for the clarification, I appreciate you taking the time.
As I read your statement I was trying to decipher your intent. I would suggest doing a little editing before someone grabs ahold of it; but it’s your site and I’m the guest.
I agree, as a buyer, it is of little concern to me how the commission is split.
Getting an extra commission from a seller is fine as well.
Would you disclose, to the buyer, the extra commission that comes with a particular listing?
Thanks,
Stan
Comment by Michael Price on 22 September 2006:
Thanks for the kind review. I’m very impressed with responses and evaluation I have been getting, not so much because people agree, but their willingness to look at a new way of doing business that actually has the potential to generate more revenue and provide participants with a well rounded set of skills that could be ported to just about any career.