The Silicon Valley mentality

All of these companies started out with one mission, realized that their models needed to change and have done just that. Redfin tried salaried agents, ZipRealty tried rebates and both have realized while it may be a great idea theoretically, to change a way an industry works is just not sustainable. Its about finding the balance of traditional services, cutting edge technology and client care. The majority of the country is not located or even has the mentality of Silicon Valley. so to oust all agents everywhere in revolt that just isnt going to happen overnight.

While all this is going on, most successful agents are still out there selling homes and working with consumers. They have kept up enough with technology to be able to text, know the main sites that consumers are searching, and have a facebook page, but their main priority isnt the radical change happening around them, its their clients.

The consumer now knows about the big sites to search, and after that, they research how to buy homes, make their lists of what they think they want/need, go to some open houses and then call an agent who (hopefully) knows the areas, home styles, prices and all the rest of the intricacies of buying or selling a home. But once this experience is over, most consumers turn off the real estate radar and probably wont be too concerned about real estate again for another several years and then, they will check to see what the newest search sites are.

But why are we agents still in existence in 2012? Hmmm.

Calm down, agents arent going anywhere

Perhaps the original intention was there to change everything, but from where I sit, today there are a lot of amazing people making huge advances to the real estate business but not making anyone extinct. The agent isnt going anywhere. Calm down. There will always be consumers who can do it themselves, and why not let them? If they have the motivation, skills and knowledge, why not? Its never going to be the norm because the average person doesnt have the time, cant keep up with trends or laws or just has no interest in taking on one more thing in their lives.

Laws change, marketing changes, contracts change, photo quality changes, technology changes, and consumer behavior changes. But for most people dealing with a home purchase a mere 4-5 times in an entire life, keeping up with these changes is not feasible. Broken pieces get fixed or enhanced and the real reasons for helping people find a home in which to live continues to remain. There always needs to be a common thread. There will be a future in real estate, and the agent will continue to be there. Perhaps in different roles, but still there.