Real estate isn’t what it used to be! Technology has given sellers the ability to get an appraisal, list their home, and market it online, while enabling buyers to search for homes, get pricing comparisons, and check out neighborhood statistics.
Thankfully, technology is also helping real estate agents, giving them faster and more efficient means of taking care of business so they can focus on providing unmatched customer service to their clients. But that’s getting ahead of ourselves; first, let’s take a look at the three challenges that are facing agents.
1. An Influx of Inexperienced Peers
The ability to easily take courses online along with low entry requirements for agents has led to non-committed individuals using real estate as nothing more than a side hustle, closing one or two deals per year (on average, only about 70 hours of coursework are required to qualify for a license; Texas has the most at 185 hours with Vermont and New Hampshire tied for the lowest at just 40 hours).
When an individual isn’t fully dedicated to being the best real estate agent they can be, they may be unprepared when it comes to handling a transaction—putting the seasoned professional in a bind. Their lack of experience and knowledge can also reflect poorly on Realtors in general, threatening credibility among all agents. Therefore, many professional real estate agents are making it their duty to share their experience and skills with unseasoned agents—not only to make the current transaction a smoother one but to make the industry stronger as a whole.
2. Growing Digital Competition
Customers used to have to hang on every word of their real estate agent; after all, buying and selling a home was complicated, confusing, and scary—plus, agents had a secret weapon: the MLS. But today, real estate has become much more transparent, and consumers have access to an abundance of information online. Market comparisons? Online. Crime stats? Online. School ratings? Online. It also used to be that if you wanted to check out a property first-hand, you’d have to attend an open house; at a minimum, there were some photos to peruse. Today, drones are giving buyers a bird’s eye view of potential properties, and virtual reality (VR) technology offers the ability to tour potential buildings and homes from the comfort of their computer.
To capture attention in this crowded new digital space, successful real estate agents need to make their listings come alive online and embrace technology and new means of marketing themselves, including social media, blogging, search engine optimization, and more.
3. Increasing Compliance Demands
The devil is in the details, they say, and that’s certainly true when it comes to real estate. Navigating compliance can be a difficult and time-consuming task. Regulations are on the rise, affecting all structures, from commercial to residential, retail to institutional. Compliance can vary by size of the property, and by city and state.
For example, a home may require retrofitting for water conservation or to strengthen against possible seismic activity in California before it can be sold, while in Florida more stringent building codes may have been applied to protect against hurricanes and windstorms. Staying on top of all this can be a full-time job in itself!
And the Opportunity We Promised…
We always keep our promises! The opportunity is Digital Transaction Management (DTM). DTM eliminates many of the hassles associated with buying and selling in today’s evolving real estate industry by automating and simplifying every step of the transaction process. It empowers real estate agents and their peers, offering faster, more accurate audits; compliance tracking; form initiation and e-signature acquisition; and business analytics for smarter decision-making.
A true DTM offers an abundance of features that can also help agents rise to the three challenges above by:
Helping less experienced agents learn faster while offering tools to keep them on track; analytics also allow brokers to monitor agents so they can easily see those that could use a hand. Streamlining workflows so agents have more time to focus on growing their clientele and better marketing themselves online.
Offering effortless compliance, keeping a digital footprint of each interaction along with customized checklists that ensure files are closed with all required documentation. Seamless integration across all your applications, from CRM to accounting.
Help your agents tackle today’s challenges with technology! Consider Digital Transaction Management for your brokerage.
