It is Independence Day, and I get to enjoy the scenery in beautiful Purgatory, Colorado. I worked like a dog on my aircard during the drive here, and the last day and a half of our stay, never failing to get in touch with important business, making sure things stayed on track. I will write several offers over the next few days, but still have the majority of my time for a vacation over the Independence Day holiday. I was reflecting on all of the things I had to do, and honestly there are times I wonder how I juggle so many balls all the time. I am working on dozens of transaction sides on the mortgage, real estate, or both, and sometimes double side the real estate transaction.

I was thinking how much technology has affected the real estate business, and in what ways it is shaping the future of the business. We have small, portable electronics. GPS systems and even cell phones that have GPS systems in them (like my HTC Mogul^TM). PCs with screens that you can sign valid contracts on (combining CTM eContracts^TM software and my HP Pavilion^TM tablet PC). Office management software (I use Microsoft CRM and Outlook with Business Contact Manager on the phone and tablet). There is accounting software (take your pick - MS Money^TM, QuickBooks^TM MS Small Business Accounting^TM...). We have Realtor.com, and any number of other real estate search tools, including our local MLS systems to locate and list properties with. We can publish professional brochures ourselves, print our own business cards, create door hangers (Yes, Avery has stock for these, too) and make virtually everything we need to maekt ourselves and our services.

With digital camera, we can create professional-looking virtual tours that we can publish anywhere we choose, including those mini CDs and DVD disks. I will soon insert photos from our trips through Colorado on my websites and even here on this blog page, once I sort through the thousands I have placed on DVDs. We can do all of this in a relative instant, because we no longer are bound to photo labs to process film for us.

We have changed the very fundamentals of the means by which we can provide service to our clients, and are now very connected. Back in the day ERA Realty^TM had the market cornered on technology. Electronic Realty Associates, Inc., was a company that could put technology to use in helping people around the globe buy and sell property. That was the vision of founder Jim Jackson. What was the groundbreaking technology he used? A fax machine! This is something we now look at as quaint. Back them they were big, clunky, hot, power hungry machines that mace a statement. They were also very expensive. Now they are relatively cheap, a commodity, and one I use only when I have to. My tablet is linked to a desktop computer back at my Office, by Microsoft Groove^TM which allows me to securely view files on my PC at home from anywhere my tablet has internet connectivity. I don't even have to print them, since I can use softcopy for everything; I can even have client sign these "faxes" on my tablet screen.

Sometime I will share with you a handwritten blog article, written on my tablet, once I figure out how to do it. I will show you the versatility of the technology, as it can also convert my scrawl to text. I can talk to my computer, without buying any additional software, and it will type what I say. For my blind clients, I do it the other way around, having the computer say what is typed on the screen (from contracts).

Has all of this technology put printers, photographers, couriers, or a host of other industries out of business? No! In fact, they are still doing a great business. We still use them, and other companies to distribute literature to our farm areas. That is rather impractical for me, as my farm is 5 counties (I had to cut back because of fuel costs. At $4 a gallon the other 5 counties in the 10 I was covering weren't productive enough to justify the costs).

Personally, other than the listing materials I use and business cards, I really don't print much. I try to do my part by reducing the amount of paper I use to virtually nothing. I have been cancelling magazine subscriptions that I cannot receive in digital form. I can make an eBook of any magazine on this laptop, and "clip" articles to email people I want to share them with. For those few people I know without internet access, I send a "traveler" CD. It's like a digital chain letter that these folks share with each other. I also use Microsoft Live^TM technology, and have a special site jut for them, which they can use from any public library.

 So back to the question: Has technology hurt our business? I don't think so. While it is true that some Sellers and Buyers choose to go it without the assistance of a Realtor^TM, we aren't missing much. These people would have advertised a FSBO listing in a newspaper, anyway. They would be the ones content to handwrite their FSBO stuff on a 3 x 5 note card to post at the local supermarket. They are the ones who would expose themselves to all of the liabilities of selling a home. They are the ones who like to "fly by the seat of their pants."  People shop the internet for homes. We all know that. They also shop the internet for groceries, and advice on how to treat a painful, burning itch that they can't identify. I don't see grocery stores disappearing or Doctors no longer practicing, either.

You see, people need other people trained specially to help them reach their goals. The old saw of two heads being better than one really does apply. The Bible says that a wise man considers the counsel of others. Why? An unbiased party can often see things from an unconsidered perspective. This "outsider" can more easily spot flaws or benefits to a certain strategy and can come to the table with valid and valuable insights based on professional training, and thoughtful observation. That is why Realtors^TM are trusted sources of information.

The people I have talked to would not dream of buying or selling without a Realtor^TM and I appreciate that most of them want to work with me. They trust my observations and opinions about the market in their areas and send me unsolicited referrals, because they know how much effort I will pour into locating or selling their real estate for them. I am sure most of the Realtors^TM reading this fell that way about their clientele. I hope all of the clients out there also feel they have a professional they work with, whom they can place their absolute trust in.

Technology may have changed some of the methods by which we ply our trade. That is just the means of the transaction process. The end is to provide high-quality, thoughtfully delivered service and advice to our clientele. Machines will not make us obsolete, if we innovate ways to provide better service through their use. The trick is not to use things irresponsibly. That is like pounding a nail with a screwdriver, or as Indiana Jones said in the latest episode "brining a knife to a gunfight."

The real estate business is still very much a personal business. It is still very "high touch," and because it is still people-based, needs a personal touch. That is an important distinction, because real estate, like law, medicine, and accounting deals with a very important aspect of a person's life in one of the most important investment transactions in their lives.

An advertisement cannot consider a person. A person can consider another person. One to another, we can comfort, counsel, and work together to make the most of this important transaction. Technology by itself cannot. Technology is a conduit for tools and information, but it is not everything there is. At the heart and soul of any transaction are people. That is why Realtors^TM, accountants, lawyers, plumbers, d0ctors and a host of other people exist in various occupations. We actually need each other.