No one would blame you if you were worried about your future as a real estate agent. But for those who can adapt, success is more assured.
A lot has happened in the past two decades to disrupt the real estate industry and challenge those whose livelihoods are dependent upon its health and stability.
Events that readily jump to mind include the housing market crash of 2008, the rise and fall of iBuyers, the introduction of blockchain technology, and the dramatic COVID pandemic. More recently, the commission lawsuit has turned the industry on its head, and many are variably enamored by or uneasy about the evolving, mind-blowing applications of AI in both real estate and, frankly, practically every other field.
The COVID 19 pandemic separated the wheat from the chaff among real estate agents.
Even expected developments—like fluctuations in the market and interest rates, the entrance of new competitors, the consolidation of brokerages, and the introduction of new business models—have arguably been remarkable in their degree and have resulted in greater consequences that seem out of proportion when compared to similar events in the past.
Understandably, these changes have caused many people intimately connected to the housing market to ask, What is the future of real estate? and, more specifically, What is the future of real estate agents? There doesn’t really seem to be a consensus. On one side, industry outsiders gossip about agents’ growing irrelevance and eventual demise. On the other, industry champions like Ryan Serhant remain confident in the unique value they offer to consumers while also calling for deep changes in how brokers support them.
In this first of a two-blog series about how real estate agents can effectively adapt to these and other changes, you’ll read about technological advancements that are shaping the future of real estate. In particular, you’ll discover seven critical technologies that residential real estate agents, if they haven’t already, need to start using now—not necessarily to succeed, but merely to survive.
None of my picks should come as a surprise, but if you’ve been waiting to implement these much-needed technologies, consider this your call to action.
Leveraging innovation to deliver exceptional service
There are aspects of buying and selling real estate that do, and perhaps always should, require human expertise and insight. These include assessing a deal and negotiating a fair exchange, sharing detailed knowledge of the local market that only comes from being embedded within it, and advocating for clients in a manner that requires intimate familiarity and understanding of their unique circumstances. It would be difficult to argue that these facets of the business don’t benefit from having an experience, trusted, and live agent at the helm.
There are aspects of buying and selling real estate that do, and perhaps always should, require human expertise and insight.
However, in an economy fueled by everything bigger, better, and faster, a failure to keep up with advances in technology will put an agent at a severe disadvantage. Those who are tech savvy with access to big data and innovative tools will leap ahead with more informed decisions, heightened efficiency, better lead generation, an improved customer experience, superior marketing, and lower costs.
Few agents, though, will have the budget, bandwidth, or, frankly, the need to install all the latest modernizations. In truth, most will have to be selective. The examples discussed here are ones you should prioritize as they will either give you the biggest bang for your productivity buck or be high on the list of clients’ expectations.
1. A fully integrated CRM system
If you’re still using Excel to track your activities and client information, it’s time to level up.
Among the routinely recommended CRMs are Wise Agent, Realvolve, Follow Up Boss, Top Producer, Market Leader, and Ylopo.
I didn’t intentionally rank the items on this list, but having a CRM system at the top makes sense. It will allow you to manage your contacts with greater efficiency by organizing their data, tracking communications, customizing campaigns for different types of leads, and automating said campaigns. A robust system will also integrate with third-party lead sources and track your social media engagement.
In short, a CRM system is indispensable to growing and managing a professional, scalable, full-time real estate business.
Among the more routinely recommended CRMs are Wise Agent, Realvolve, Follow Up Boss, Top Producer, Market Leader, and Ylopo. Do some comparison shopping, and select the one that best suits your current needs and can grow with your business.
2. Automated marketing
Automated marketing will ensure consistent brand awareness while liberating you to prioritize high-impact activities that convert leads into clients, implement strategic initiatives that will keep your business lean and mean, and acquire the education and training essential to maintaining a dominant position in your market.
At a minimum, you should be using social media and email scheduling tools. But to fully realize the benefits of automation, look for a solution that not only schedules your communications but also writes, designs, prints, mails, and posts your content while tracking and reporting key metrics.
ReminderMedia clients have access to all these features, benefiting from both the commissions earned and time saved by using our automated and personally branded print, email, and social media marketing to consistently keep in front of their audiences. By ensuring that they routinely appear in their sphere’s mailboxes, inboxes, and social media feeds, our clients attract more leads, nurture stronger relationships, and garner a greater number of referrals. And they do all this while eliminating repetitive tasks, streamlining their marketing processes, and getting more out of their marketing budgets.
3. Chatbots and virtual assistants
Chatbots powered by AI are one of the newer yet most powerful technologies trending among real estate agents. They are programmed to interact with visitors through a messaging platform integrated with an agent’s website and provide information, answer questions, and assist with activities related to buying and selling properties. Their ability to simulate human conversation is becoming increasingly impressive, with some able to detect a user’s emotional state and respond with empathy, offering personalized assistance to leads and clients without the agent needing to give any time or energy.
4. Predictive analytics
As another application of AI, predictive analytics uses sophisticated algorithms to review sets of big data in order to predict future events. In real estate, its being used to forecast home prices, identify trends in the market, rate leads, assess investment risks, and predict listings. For residential real estate agents, it’s this last one—being able to predict who is likely to move—that promises the most immediate benefit.
You’ve likely heard that homebuyers and sellers meet with very few agents before choosing one to work with; in fact, a significant majority select the first one they speak with. This makes being able to identify who is likely to need your services before they start to take active steps toward buying or selling a superpower.
A significant majority of those looking to buy or sell a property hire the first agent they speak with.
You can set up a free ReminderMedia account and—at no charge and with no obligation—use our predictive analytics tool, Likely to Move, to discover who among your contacts is predicted to move in the next year. Simply go to your Dashboard and, from the left side of the screen, select Direct Mail, then Branded Posts, and finally Likely to Move. From there, it’s easy to follow the instructions on the screen.
Submit your list, and we’ll accurately predict approximately 24% of upcoming listings. By leveraging thousands of data points, we’ll assign your contacts a score and rank them by who in the next 12 months is very likely to move, likely to move, neutral, unlikely to move, and recently listed/sold. Then we’ll post the results to your dashboard so you can prioritize your outreach and be that first agent a lead talks to (and likely hires!)
5. Generative AI
Real estate agents need to produce a steady stream of content to build brand awareness, establish themselves as trusted advisors, and ultimately generate leads that convert into successful transactions. Such content can include:
- Insights, analysis, and market updates that demonstrate your knowledge, establish your credibility, and help to build trust
- Informative blog posts, social media engagements, and educational videos that address common concerns, answer questions, and establish rapport with those considering entering the market
- Highly-focused information tailored to a specific niche (such as a webinar or e-book to guide seniors through the emotional and logistical concerns of downsizing, or an infographic illustrating the homebuying process for first-time homebuyers) to promote your unique value proposition and attract clients seeking a personalized approach
Share this free resource to attract new leads and nurture prospects.
Few agents have the resources to produce all these types of content, but committing to just one will put you that much further ahead of those who don’t put out any. Luckily, generative AI (also called gen AI) makes it easy.
This powerful branch of artificial intelligence can streamline content creation, going beyond basic automation to take your instructions and data and churn out entirely new content close to what a skilled human could produce. (As powerful as it is, generative AI isn’t perfect, so you’ll want to review the content it produces before using it.) With the right prompts, you can create a variety of content, including blogs, emails, newsletters, captions, images, and more.
6. Virtual home tours
In 2020, Matterport, a company that produces 3D virtual home tours, polled a combined 2,000 homebuyers and sellers. The survey found that 94% of Gen Zers, 83% of millennials, and 63% of Gen Xers, would switch to an agent who offered immersive 3D tours of listed properties. Not only that, but more than 85% of both buyers and sellers also said they would recommend such an agent to their friends. And it’s no surprise. If you were given the option to see an immersive, 3D rendering of a home versus a series of static images, which would you pick?
When you consider the many advantages of a 3D house tour, only some of which I list below, you’ll soon understand why they are quickly becoming a must-have tech tool for agents.
- They provide context that photos can’t. Virtual home tours portray the complete layout of a home, revealing every angle and perspective and allowing visitors to explore the flow and size of the spaces as if they were walking through them.
- They allow you to reach more prospects. People with mobility issues can easily navigate a home with a virtual tour; you can show properties to prospects anywhere in the world as long as they have internet access; and interested buyers whose jobs or other commitments don’t lend themselves to easily schedule a showing can view a home at their convenience.
- They offer buyers time to “feel out” property. As any marketer will tell you, people make purchasing decisions based largely on emotion, justifying them after the fact with logic. The more time a potential buyer has to view a property and sit with the idea of living in it, the greater the odds are that they will form an emotional connection with it. Depending on the size of the home, a live showings typically lasts 15 to 45 minutes, but a virtual showing can last as long as someone wants to keep looking. In addition, interested buyers can revisit the tour as many times as they wish.
- They reduce unnecessary showings. “There’s no harm in looking,” a buyer may say. Well, that depends on whether they consider wasting their and your time harmful. A 3D house tour permits potential buyers to assess a property in detail before deciding if they want to see it in person. It will also allow interested parties to determine whether the kitchen is large enough, whether a bedroom will fit a king-size mattress, or if a bathroom will suit their teenager.
7. Smart contracts
Real estate professionals, homebuyers, and sellers are all familiar with the numerous intermediaries, extensive paperwork, and bureaucratic delays that are the hallmarks of traditional real estate transactions. Their cumbersome nature leads to higher costs and prolonged processes, but smart contracts—implemented as code on a blockchain platform—minimize these challenges, bringing much needed efficiency, transparency, and security to the industry.
Smart contracts and blockchain are only two examples of how technology is quickly transforming the real estate industry.
I’m not an expert on smart contracts, but fortunately, I found a simple explanation of their nature and use offered by Bhavis Berwal, a real estate agent in India and LinkedIn contributor. He wrote:
Automating real estate transactions with smart contracts is like using a computer program to handle the buying or selling of a house. Instead of relying on people to manage paperwork and money, smart contracts use secure and automatic computer code to make sure everything happens correctly. Once both parties agree on the terms, the smart contract takes care of tasks like transferring money and updating ownership records. This makes the process faster, cheaper, and more reliable, as it removes the need for middlemen and ensures that the agreement is carried out exactly as intended.
Removing third-party escrow services and banks as well as eliminating manual paperwork and the need for notaries, smart contracts can be used to:
- Automate aspects of real estate transactions, such as property listing and verification, payment and escrow, and title transfer and registration.
- Verify the identity and credentials of parties using digital signatures and encryption.
- Facilitate the payment and escrow of funds using cryptocurrencies or stablecoins.
- Update records automatically and securely.
You don’t need to be an expert to appreciate how the widespread use of smart contracts will transform the real estate industry.
The future of real estate is now
Imagine a seasoned residential real estate agent, perhaps yourself, who has consistently closed deals and achieved impressive sales figures. They’re like a skilled archer, accustomed to hitting the bull’s-eye with remarkable accuracy. However, as the housing market and related conditions have evolved, the challenge of living solely off of commissions is becoming more difficult.
Just as the archer takes a deeper breath, assessing the sudden breeze before aiming at a faraway target, the confident agent pauses in the face of current circumstances. Their usual bravado might be tempered by a flicker of uncertainty. They don’t lose their confidence entirely, but they recognize the need to alter their approach.
Real estate is a relationship-based business that will always require a human touch, but the industry is undergoing a transformation that will compel agents to learn and adopt new technologies. In this blog, I’ve discussed seven such tools that deserve focused attention. Embracing them will help you to hit your mark, even as the wind continues to shift and the future of real estate evolves.
