For Agents’ Eyes Only…
Each Thursday we will be posting a blog to help real estate professionals understand how they can better assist their buyers and sellers navigate the current real estate market. Hope you find the information helpful. – The KCM Crew
The business of real estate has changed forever. The agent’s primary function is no longer as the arbiter of industry information. The internet has given birth to dozens of websites (ex. Trulia, Zillow, and Realtor.com) that aggregate the same listing and sales data that consumers would have needed a real estate professional to provide in the not-too-distant past. In today’s new market reality, the agent is expected to provide much more than just information. They are depended on to give expert advice on that information.
The buyer no longer visits a real estate professional to find out which homes are currently for sale. The seller no longer visits an agent to find out what houses sold for over the last six months or what houses in the market are currently selling for. They can get that information on the internet in the comfort of their own homes. Today’s real estate consumer needs an industry professional to explain where the housing market is headed. The buyer will want to know where prices are headed over the next six years. The seller needs to know where prices are headed over the next six months. Both will want to know where mortgage rates may be headed.
As professionals, we need to confidently provide the best advice we can on these and other issues important to our clients. We must be committed to finding the answers to the questions today’s real estate consumer will ask us. Questions such as:
- Which direction do the experts think prices are headed in the next few years?
- What impact will short sales and foreclosures have on prices in the short term?
- How long are experts projecting interest rates to remain at historic lows?
- Will the 30-year-mortgage survive new industry regulations?
Answers to these questions, and other questions like these, are what today’s consumer is looking for. The real estate professional who can effectively answer these types of questions will differentiate themselves from other agents in the market. They will be the ones who will dominate because they truly understand the new market reality in which we are now operating.
