Last month, I chimed in on Mashable.com, along with Keith Humphries (chief economist for Zillow) on 5 Ways Big Data Is Changing Real Estate.
Naturally, Zillow and our brokerage are very different companies, including the big difference that while both have powerful websites, Lake Homes Realty is also a multi-state brokerage with real agents.
At the same time, both our businesses have embraced that consumers want information. They want lots of information. They want information so much that they will even accept that some information is wrong provided it is the exception, not the rule. And the pool of information available online keeps growing and growing.
This represents a huge shift in the real estate industry. For years, the real estate brokerage office was critical for business. Before cell phones and GPS systems, the office was where the phone rang and those knowledge about the community could be found.
If you were interested in buying or selling a home, the brokerage's office was the center of knowledge for real estate. This was its primary function, and in its day, it was very successful in this mission.
There were of course many secondary functions: Training for agents, file storage, and a place for clients and agents to meet. Many of these secondary functions are how brick-and-mortar offices are used today. But let's not kid ourselves. These secondary functions have now become the primary reasons to still have brick-and-mortar office.
Whether or not it is readily admitted by all, in the real estate industry the primary function of the physical office has moved to the web. Consumers now start on the web to learn about real estate markets, to research agents, and to find homes for sale. The office might be where the agent asks to meet a client, but many clients now are so compressed for time, they would just as soon start at the house they have already researched online.
The more information on the website, the more consumers flock to the site. The web is now the center of knowledge for real estate, including providing the means to connect buyers and sellers with great agents.
Data is the new real estate office. It is not even the future, it is the now. Some brokers and agents may disagree, but it is not their call. The consumers have already decided.
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