Today we’re talking about consumer-driven changes in real estate.
Featuring:
Bob Nelson, Eugene real estate investment broker
Marcia Edwards, Eugene residential real estate broker
Marcia Edwards: We’ve been talking a little bit about a shift that many consumers out there think and believe it to be overdue, we need to start looking at what consumers want as realtors and move toward them, our service model, and also our fee structure.
Bob Nelson: Yes. And that’s going to be an interesting maneuver because for the level of services being provided, it requires a great amount of education and a large amount of continuing education in order to stay current.
Marcia Edwards: If you’re doing it right as a realtor.
Bob Nelson: Yeah, that’s a good point.
Marcia Edwards: There’s some of the industry that’s not pulling this off and I think they’ll be revealed. So if you’ve been working with someone who has frustrated you in the process, it might be the wrong realtor for this shift to continue as a relationship as the client.
Bob Nelson: Yep, I would agree with that. Absolutely.
Marcia Edwards: So when you know that as a consumer that you are going to start coming towards you, what is a venue we’re going to do that on? I would suggest Zillow is going to become the realtor’s friend it already has, but we’re going to have to understand that the holder of the keys, the person with the data, is not how you control the service model. Realtors have had MLS, which is an exclusive membership only club that gave depth and breadth to our database on the houses, the residential real estate in Lane County. Now that’s going to be, in essence, opened up to the consumer directly. So finding the home is not the value of a realtor, what is instead the value of the realtor is knowing the process, understanding the elements, having the resources, and putting together a more strategic longterm plan for their client and be an advocate in that process.
Bob Nelson: Well, Zillow is not the only one that I see as on the horizon. Amazon of course with its system of delivery, a system of analyzing, by how you enter the Amazon system they know a whole lot about you. And you’ll notice that as you start to order pickles and whatever, they start sending you pregnancy stuff. Maybe that’s a bad example, but I’m trying to find quickly something that if I do such and such that infers I am of this nature. So forth.
Marcia Edwards: That’s right. So information is out there. Information, data, on its own is not that helpful. Someone like a CPA would be a great example. You can do your taxes on your own, TurboTax or you can hire an accountant. You could do the information in your home with the tax law all available on the internet. But how do you manage that data and tailor it to your advantage as a consumer? That’s why you need a CPA and why you will still need the right realtor.
Join Eugene, Oregon, real estate experts: Bob Nelson, Real Estate Investment Broker with Pacwest Real Estate Investments, and Marcia Edwards, Residential Real Estate Broker with Windermere Real Estate, daily at 5:30 on KPNW for the “Real Estate Today” radio show.
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