When the Smoke Clears For Tampa Real Estate Agents

During the seven years the real estate industry has under gone massive changes with even more to come. The industry has long been thought to be heading the way of the travel and insurance industries. The economic melt-down of the past few years has hastened some of the changes and technology has had a huge share in the changes as well. The Tampa Bay Area is a microcosm of the overall real estate industry.

Throw into the mix the fact that consumers today are better informed and are more involved in doing their own research of areas and properties for sale before they contact an agent and you have quite a recipe for change.

The need for actual bricks and mortar offices has definitely decreased. Many agents from brokerages all across the country are now mobile agents, that is to say, they do not have an assigned, physical office space. The tools needed to remain in contact with clients and provide up-to-date information no longer requires a desk, a computer, and a land line. It can be done from a $200 smart phone any where.

Most agents are either out in the field, with clients or working from home, everywhere they go their office goes with them in the form of a smart phone, iPad or laptop. The ability to connect and conduct business in this manner will only increase as technology improves over the next few years. Virtual offices are here to stay.

While “floor time” used to be important to real estate agents, there seems to be a lot more emphasis on networking now, both in person and online. Combining these trends together, it just doesn’t seem like agents will be hanging around the water cooler at the office much in the future.

Who can blame agents for wanting more autonomy and not wanting to pay high commission splits and franchise fees to their brokerage? And with the rise of virtual offices, social networking, blogging and the field leveling power of the Internet, smaller brokerages and individual agents with the right know-how are able to keep pace or even overtake the big franchises in technology and visibility.

I believe that the “big box” brokerages will morph into huge training institutions that cater to brand new agents who need the big brand to train them, motivate them and cover for their lack of experience. Heck, HomeXpress has a training program for new agents as well.

There will always be a need for new agent training and the big brokerages help to fill that need. Never has there been a period of opportunity such as this individual agents to break out above the crowd and the status quo in the real estate industry. Where will you be when the smoke clears?

The folks at HomeXpress Realty would love to be a part of the future for you as a real estate agent and we would love to help pave the way. This is low-hanging fruit and it’s yours for the taking. All you have to do is pick it.

Please give me a call or send us an e-mail. Confidentiality is assured.