Sailing along with typical tech-tools.
Our local real estate association (Salt Lake Board of Realtors) hosts an annual technology trade show for the benefit of our Realtor members. As veteran of almost 20-years in our profession, I regularly attend this trade show because I like to keep abreast of the latest tech-trends that will help me bring more value to the table with my clients.
As many real estate professionals, I too have long since gone essentially 'paperless' in both presentations and contract negotiations. For several years, all agents in our office have been strictly using laptops at the client's kitchen table to determine property valuations while working with sellers and buyers. Furthermore, we've had the capacity to do automated property searches via the internet which are then emailed automatically to our buyers.
These items are a few of the tech-tools that we've been using for quite some time, and I'd been resting on the proverbial laurels thinking that I was keeping up with the market. Well, at least that was what I thought - until last week. That was when the Tsunami hit me as I turned around.
The initial FaceBook wave.
Several months ago, one of my best friends returned from summer vacation with his family, bearing a load of photos, and asked that I sign up on FaceBook that he might share their photos with our family. I'd assiduously avoided getting involved with online social networks as I considered them toys for bored housewives and teenagers. Ultimately, I relented and signed up to placate him.
The surprise came within a few minutes thereafter when I suddenly found myself somewhat inundated with friend requests from several mutual friends, as well as many neighbors - mostly housewives and teenagers - who were already avid FaceBook users. (I was rather ignorant of the fact that the program was gleaning email addresses from my Outlook contacts.) Fearing that I might offend people, I simply accepted the friend requests. Within 24-hours, I had over 250 FaceBook friends - people who I know very well, though I had no interest in knowing that they were playing Mafia Wars or Farmville.
Stay Tuned for: Real Estate and The Social Networking Tsunami (Part 2 of 2)
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