Why are Real Estate Brokers Relevant in the Internet Age?
Copyright © 2014- 2019 AUTHOR: Paul R. Marino, REALTOR®, e-Pro®
In the year 2019, the manner in which real estate is identified, bought, and sold is far different from what it was in the pre-Internet era. Now I realize I might be dating myself here, but back in the "old days", back in the late 1980's for instance, buyers interested in purchasing a property had to rely almost exclusively on the real estate broker community for information about available housing inventory. In the old days, brokers tightly controlled access to the inventory of housing. Three pound, three inch thick printed Multiple Listing Service (MLS) listing books were the industry standard. Gaining access to these coveted books was closely guarded by the broker community. In fact, if a broker was caught lending out one of these books to a member of the general public, the penalties were severe.
So, back in those days, the only way for a prospective buyer to know what was on the market was to cozy up to a real estate broker, and ask to get a peek at "The Book". There was simply no other way of knowing what was currently on the market, other than to randomly stumble across a property with a FOR SALE sign on the lawn. Times were good for brokers, because they knew that if you were serious about buying property, you would have to physically get in your car, drive over to brick and mortar XYZ Real Estate office, and ask to see "The Book". This of course was all designed to draw prospective buyers into the offices of real estate brokers, so that a relationship could be formed that would hopefully lead to the purchase of a parcel of real estate.
Folks, the business of real estate is all about lead generation. What better way to secure buyer leads than to put up a brick and mortar real estate office, control access to "The Book", and wait for leads to appear in the form of customers, driving up to the office in their car, hoping to get a peek. It was kind of like going fishing. The buyers were the fish. The bait was the MLS book. And that bait could only be gotten inside the confines of a real estate office. My, how times have changed. There is so much property information on the Internet for public consumption these days that it's all become a blur.
Hundreds of real estate search websites exist for the sole purpose of displaying housing inventory. The list goes on and on. Sites like Realtor®, Zillow®, Trulia®, Homes®, Homefinder®, etc. are just the beginning. Landfall Properties, LLC for instance, has syndicated relationships with 90+ property search websites, all of which display housing inventory and attempt to convince you they are the "go to" website for showing you what's available. If you're a home seller, having your property seen on hundreds of websites creates a huge advantage for you. Plus, if you list with Landfall Properties, LLC (anywhere in CT, FL, MA, ME, NH, or VT), you can do it all for FREE.We have turned the Flat Fee MLS business on it's head. If you can perform the simple task of uploading your house data and photographs, we'll take if from there. You'll be seen across hundreds of websites within 24 hours. All for $0.
It's important for you to know how all these real estate search websites get this data. It's simple. They're all getting it from the same place. They merely vacuum it up from the various Multiple Listing Services (MLS) scattered across the country. Some websites are better than others at grabbing this data, repackaging it, and posting it up on their websites. The better ones like Zillow® and Realtor® have your data live on the Internet within 15+/- minutes of a broker hitting the "enter" key in their local MLS database. Less efficient ones take several days, but it will get posted, even if there is a slight delay. What this all means is, buyers have access to the exact same inventory of housing as brokers do. OK...so a broker might have a 15 minute jump, but beyond that, everybody is looking at the same data. This modern day system is in stark contrast to the old days of the printed MLS book. Buyers benefit because they know what's available for sale the minute something is introduced to the market. Sellers benefit because their property now has massive exposure to hundreds and hundreds of brokers working a particular market segment.
Now that you know that buyers can see the exact same inventory as brokers, you have to ask yourself: "Why do we need brokers?" Good question. Internet technology is perfectly capable of presenting a vast array of housing data to buyers, and at the same time, affording sellers the opportunity to have their house seen by the masses. The only problem? Buyers want to buy low, and sellers want to sell high. Hmm...what could go wrong? Folks, I'm going to make a prediction here, and you're probably all going to laugh at me. My prediction: Real estate brokers will never disappear from the landscape. Reason: They provide a necessary "buffer" between a buyer and a seller. That's right, a buffer. Because when buyers (looking to buy on the cheap), and sellers (reaching for the Moon) are put in direct contact with one another, you have the potential for disaster. This is not to say that civilized buyers and sellers can not sometimes sit down across from each other and hammer out a deal. But in a very high percentage of transactions, emotions are simply running too high, and some event (sometimes even the slightest insult or affront) sends the transaction off a cliff. Brokers hold deals together. They're good at it. It's what they do. The Internet will never solve the problem created by human emotion. It's as simple as that.
