After attending the real estate conferences I did at the end of May, I started thinking more about the state of our industry and where it’s going, and I can’t help believe that there is change coming and it will effect how real estate is done. How real estate is traded has not seen much change in the recent past, despite how many other industries have seen disruption. The Idea of disruption is met by resistance by many in real estate, yet welcomed by others, just like in every other field, but why are some resistant while others are not? 

Many Agents have a fear of change because, despite what many people argue, we have it quite good. Realtors are paid well, even those who don’t do a great job, and the first person to say that is an Agent. No matter how we justify it, we are one of the few industries where an individual can make six figures in a matter of months and still be seen as ‘not doing well’. Is this a bad thing? No, not necessarily. I truly believe that good Agents who provide great value and service deserve what they earn and charge, but this is why there is a lot of fear with disruption and change. With change comes more competition, more options and essentially more work for those who have not needed to focus on providing more value or improving their services. 

If you think about it, it’s very easy to fight change. To argue that technology and new companies are ‘ruining’ the industry with their ideas and different models is much easier to do than it is to actual look at your own businesses and see what you can do to elevate your services. But no matter how much one decides to badmouth a new company, change is inevitable and resistance is futile. 

Originally posted by scipunk

All this being said, my advice is that rather than fighting what is going to happen anyway, focus on what you provide and focus on creating more value. As realtors we have an upper hand, we have experience, established networks and trust on our side. We should use those to our advantage and understand what we can do to help improve our clients experiences overall. There’s a reason why we pay more for a high end hotel over an airbnb or go to a store over buying everything on Amazon. It’s the experience and the human interaction we get that makes us useful. Don’t worry about what is going to happen, instead focus on what you can do to make yourself and your business invaluable. 

Will a service or company come in and disrupt our industry? Yes. It’s not a matter of IF but WHEN. Should you be worried? I would say that if your business relies on any of the following, you should be:

•  Holding information from your clients.
•  discounting fees over creating value 
•  ‘traditional’ methods of creating business 
•  generic, basic services
•  impersonal relationship management

Those who don’t adapt, change and elevate their own businesses will probably wake up one day and realize that the companies and technology that they have fought are now the norm and what they used to do for a ‘premium’ is given for free. You can avoid being left in the past but to do so you need to work really hard on a DAILY basis to discover ways to improve your business, and if you take that mindset and never stop doing that, you may have a chance of outpacing the inevitable.