Smart Phones Are Changing What Real Estate Agents Do

Smart phones are changing what real estate agents do. What do real estate agents do? I hear and read about the comparisons of how technology will change real estate like it did with travel industry. I cannot see the future, but I do know that what I do as a Realtor in 2013 is different than what I did in 1995. Last decade, real estate agents, doctors and other “important” people had pagers. Remember those? Large belt buckled black with text and you could send messages to each other at lightning speed. Prior to pagers it was cell phones. Before cell phones it was car radio phones. I remember my parents installing a thermal paper printer with electronic message capability. We could print out the days “hot sheet” with the device.

Does that mean that real estate is an early adopter of technology? Yes. Does it change what agents do? Yes… to a degree. Let me tell you a story.

Early in my real estate career, my Dad taught me the phrase “See the people”. People are the real estate business. Real property and technology are merely along for the ride.

The relationships we have with others and the trust we build is the real estate business… period. My observation about people in 2013 is that we “trust” our smart phone more than humans. After I finish this blog post I will go to my bedroom and place my iPhone on my bed stand. (Where is your phone now?) Sometimes I check to make sure that Dee is charging hers overnight. Why? Because I want to connect with my wife during the day tomorrow. I check the weather, the ball game score, use my flash light to see in crawl spaces, bubble level on crooked floors, … on and on it goes. Regardless of all the apps we use. I have a relationship with this tool and it is a constant companion. If I want to talk with my daughter most of the time I am connecting through her device. When she asks me about going on a walk or traveling, I ask her to take her phone. Life360 will at the minimum give me the device location.

We have a relationship with our technology and it can tell stories with sound, and video that far surpasses the ability of fax and pager. The literal “gatekeeper” to a person is this device. Real estate agents will learn how to connect with customers through this personal technology, because the real estate brokerage business is All about relationships. The relationship with our smartphone forces us to change how we relate to others.

Smart Phones Are Changing What Real Estate Agents Do.