The Myth of the Tech Savvy Agent
I’m worried for the real estate industry. There…I said it.
A couple weeks ago I was giving an interview about real estate agents, brokers, and technology. The woman with the questions was like an old-school reporter, she knew her subject and knew what to ask. We talked about the real stuff, the struggles the industry is facing from a technological point of view, my concerns for the great Realtor learning curve divide, the data hoarding, and where could we possibly go from here to make it better? About halfway through the interview I realized I sounded like I needed a happy pill.
Then last week I was on Trulia and saw a post in the Q&A section from a Massachusetts broker who has been around for quite awhile and owns a couple of real estate offices that are fairly well known. He was asking the general audience how he could get all his agent listings to show up on Trulia and other sites like it. Based on his question one can only assume he isn’t too familiar with IDX, Broker Reciprocity, syndication standards, rules and regulations of his multiple listing service (MLSPIN), blah blah blah. About halfway through thinking that through I needed a couple happy pills…and a shot of vodka.
OK…so admittedly I can be a negative nelly. But Realtors we have a big problem, this is a 911 to anyone who will listen.
I’ve been out of the blog life for a little bit, but I’m back. I tend to have this attitude that once everyone is doing something, I don’t wanna do it anymore. In ’05 I thought of nothing but WordPress and how to leverage it as a marketing power tool with home sales statistics, neighborhood commentary, and most importantly, LISTING DATA. During the last 5 years, blogging and social media in general has certainly “caught on” as a marketing concept and at this point Realtors are being told if you don’t have at least a facebook page and a blog you’re like the kid no one wants to eat lunch with. I believe this shift in thinking is largely in response to a mob of consumers demanding we wake up and smell the Internet. At some point along the way the industry started confusing social media with technology. The so-called Tech Savvy Agent concept was born. But are real estate agents and brokers really fooling anyone? Let’s be honest, my niece had a smartphone, a facebook profile and a blog by the time she was ten…but I wouldn’t wanna list my house with her!
Is the real estate industry just perpetuating a myth, the myth of the tech savvy agent?
Hi, I'm Jake...and that's my dog! By day I'm founder and Chief Geek at MyUntangled Media, LLC and Executive Director of Business Development at Barrett & Company Real Estate . By night I am part struggling musician, frustrated writer, wanna-be chef and obsessed dog owner. I started this site mainly to learn WordPress, work on my design and writing skills, and showcase some folks with all kinds of talents and great stuff to say. (Read the long version if you dare) and please introduce yourself over on my Google+ Profile!
