{"id":18006,"date":"2015-10-06T14:11:27","date_gmt":"2015-10-06T18:11:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/10\/technology-shapes-industry-changes.html"},"modified":"2015-10-06T14:11:27","modified_gmt":"2015-10-06T18:11:27","slug":"technology-shapes-industry-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/10\/technology-shapes-industry-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Report: Technology Shapes Industry Changes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"janet\n<\/div>\n
Janet Besheer, owner of Equitas Realty, with offices in Saratoga Springs and Glens Falls\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

BY JANET BESHEER<\/p>\n

The real estate industry has been an exciting
\nroller coaster ride over the past 10 years, as the
\nGreat Recession, major shifts in the ownership
\nstructure of the industry, and new technologies
\navailable to clients and agents have redefined
\nopportunities and competitive advantages.<\/p>\n

While the substantial economic impact of
\nthese factors cannot be overlooked, significant
\nupheaval has occurred in the last decade for all
\nreal estate players–just based on technology
\ndevelopments alone.<\/p>\n

Here are four of the most noticeable changes
\nwe have seen that are driven by technological
\nadvancements:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Clients are better informed.<\/p>\n

Most clients now begin a relationship with
\na realtor through online inquiries rather than
\nmaking a phone call or stopping into an office.
\nGone are the days of going to an office to view a
\nprinted book of homes or sitting with an agent
\nat a computer in order to see the MLS listings.<\/p>\n

Clients usually have done some homework
\nby visiting a brokerage website or by using an
\nonline tool such as Zillow or Trulia. Agents and
\nbrokers must stay on their toes knowing that
\nthe consumer is armed with more information
\nthan ever before.<\/p>\n

Success is reserved for those real estate professionals
\nwho have their own “data mining toolkit,”
\nwho can customize marketing information that
\ndelivers to clients exactly what they seek, according
\nto their individual needs.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Agents can harness data-rich profiles to
\njump start client relationships.<\/p>\n

To the benefit of both buyers and sellers,
\ntechnology-savvy agents can now understand
\ntheir customers’ needs better and deliver higher
\nquality, targeted information about listings.<\/p>\n

Depending on the sophistication of an agent
\nor their brokerage’s systems, it is now possible
\nto know in advance of a client meeting about their profession, income level, number of kids at
\nhome, outstanding mortgage balance and lender,
\netc. This makes the buying process more efficient.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Virtual showings are possible 24\/7.<\/p>\n

In terms of the marketing implications of
\nthis faster-paced, technology-driven environment,
\nany agent who doesn’t understand the
\nimportance of photography and feature-rich
\nwriting will lag behind. Similarly, agents must
\nhave cutting-edge video tools and understand
\nhow to use them.<\/p>\n

Words, photos and videos build a listing’s
\nonline portfolio, and create a “walk-through”
\nexperience for the buyer before he or she ever
\ntakes a step through the door.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Transactions are completed more efficiently.<\/p>\n

In the final transaction process, both buyers
\nand sellers (and agents) now save enormous amounts of administrative time due to online
\ntransaction management and digital signature
\ntechnology. This improves client relations and
\nreduces brokerage expenses in terms of the staff
\nproduction time required to prepare for closings.<\/p>\n

For instance, today, Equitas uses an online
\ntransaction system for all document storage
\nand communication for all agents. We are a
\ncompletely paperless office. Digital signatures are
\nused in over 30 percent of the transactions and
\nthat comfort level is growing annually.<\/p>\n

As a realtor for the past 16 years, and owner
\nof a growing brokerage since 2008, I’ve found
\nit imperative that the brokerage lead agents
\nthrough the dense forest of online marketing\/
\ntechnology options and evaluate them relative
\nto ROI value.<\/p>\n

With online real estate search sites like Zillow\/
\nTrulia and Realtor.com in a heated competitive
\nbattle and new technologies rising up monthly, it
\nis incumbent on the brokerage to stay on top of
\nthese competitive changes. Agents don’t have the
\ntime or background to act as industry analysts.
\nWe must do it for them.<\/p>\n

Indeed, it is the existence of these services
\nthat helps fuel the trend toward a growing number
\nof independent brokerages. Brokers are no
\nlonger required to set up shop within the expensive
\nconfines of the traditional franchise system.<\/p>\n

The net result of this ever-changing real estate
\nenvironment is that brokerages have the opportunity
\nto think through and deliver solutions to
\nagents on all of these technology fronts. Indeed,
\nwe see the future of real estate as a merger of
\nindustry professionals’ real estate expertise with
\nthe processing power of technology.<\/p>\n

Besheer is the owner of Equitas Realty, with
\noffices in Saratoga Springs and Glens Falls.<\/em><\/p>\n

Photo Courtesy Equitas Realty<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Janet Besheer, owner of Equitas Realty, with offices in Saratoga Springs and Glens FallsBY JANET BESHEER The real estate industry has been an exciting roller coaster ride over the past 10 years, as the Great Recession, major shifts in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[58,108],"class_list":["post-18006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-reports","tag-business-reports","tag-real-estate"],"yoast_head":"\r\nBusiness Report: Technology Shapes Industry Changes - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/10\/technology-shapes-industry-changes\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Business Report: Technology Shapes Industry Changes - 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