Change is inevitable. People ask me all the time, “What do you think is going to change about our business in the next 25 years?” I believe that the digitization of content, interpersonal communication technology and automated transaction management will likely accelerate in the coming years. The widespread proliferation of artificial intelligence and predictive analytics will make what has happened in the real estate industry over the last 10 years look tame by comparison.
Technology Will Thin Our Ranks
Technological acceleration will result in a thinning of the real estate agent, lender and title professional ranks in the years ahead. The more routine the transaction, the more likely it will be completed directly between a buyer and seller using an app on their smartphone. The broker-owner who is suffering in the face of commoditization today likely has more of the same to look forward to tomorrow.
A Better Question To Ask
A more interesting question to ask is, “What is going to stay the same?” There will always be a market for skilled professionals to help and guide people as they navigate their real estate investments. However, the skills and capabilities that make the best of us successful today will not be the skills and capabilities that will keep us successful tomorrow. The bar will continue to be raised.
Relationships are what matter most — now and forever. I believe that a referral-based business mindset will always be an advantage. Relationships will continue to be infinitely more valuable than transactions. To succeed in future, real estate professionals must continue to offer greater and greater value and expertise, much of which we may never be directly compensated for.
We Each Excel By Doing What We Do Best
Twenty-five years from now, there will still be great strength in the intentional identification, and exercise, of the unique talents and abilities of everyone we work with. We will always do better when everyone is free to do what they do best. This is the only way to ensure each other’s long-term success.
For instance, I like to think I am a pretty good real estate agent and advocate for my clients. My clients appreciate me and I appreciate them. I am eternally grateful for their referrals and their business. At the end of the day however, I will never be what I consider to be a world-class real estate agent. I am simply not wired for it. I am, however, a really good broker and I think I can become world-class at this one day. I have to believe that hard work, curiosity, ambition and dedication will never become obsolete.
My job as a real estate broker is supporting agents and their clients. Regardless of which way the wind blows or what the future brings, I am certain that this job description and that responsibility to agents, brokers and franchisees will stand the test of time. The job of a broker is to:
• Make their company the most-referred real estate brand in the land.
• Help their agents keep their clients for life.
• Be the only partner their agents will ever need.
• Lead the industry in average agent productivity and income.
• Support the most profitable broker0owners and franchisees in the business.
The Danger Of ‘Shiny Object Syndrome’
The gravest danger to all of us in the real estate community is “Shiny Object Syndrome.” When we are distracted by the next new thing, we tend to shy away from the basics of the business, including focusing on our clients and further developing our unique abilities.
There is no question technology has empowered legions of homebuyers and sellers to facilitate their transactions with a better understanding of their local markets and how the business works in general. However, these same buyers and sellers still count on their agents for help in assessing fair value, giving advice for making offers that will be accepted, negotiating price and terms and getting to the closing table. I doubt I will see the day when an artificial intelligence can do that.