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| Jeremy Conaway* |
The text below was excerpted from an article written by Jeremy
Conaway, a real estate consultant. Addressed to Realtors, and published in the December 2005 edition of the "Houston
Realtor", it points out how the role of the Internet has changed the traditional Real Estate model and emphasizes Realtors NEED
to be Internet enabled ---- because Buyers are!
It contains factoids about the "new" Buyer and changed Buyer behaviors,
compiled by NAR (National Association of Realtors).
Using the Internet to locate "the" property to purchase has increased
exponentially since 2005 ... your property's "e-presence" is even MORE IMPORTANT TODAY!!
"......2005 was the year that the Internet's role in the
real estate transaction finally became clear. Interestingly enough, it wasn't the role that was predicted. The Internet
did not become that famous "disintermediator" that many pundits predicted. The Internet is not removing agents from competition.
On few occasions in the history of the real estate industry has so powerful a force pointed to
such a clear source for success. In fact, the path for success is so brightly illuminated that only those who wish
to fail could miss the mark and the message. The statistics and sources that
are clearly marking the path of the internet success in real estate are many. The following bullets can be used to mark your
trail or your demise:
NAR tells us that as of the beginning of the year that more consumers
find their property on the Internet than through an agent
In its latest profile of the real estate consumer NAR tells us that the gap between how much information
the consumer gains from the Internet compared to the real estate agent has narrowed to only 7 percentage points. Given the
age of this data it is completely possible that at the present time the Internet has passed the agent as the primary source
of information for the real estate consumer.
We know that Internet-empowered consumers are earning more money and buy more expensive properties
We know that Internet-empowered consumers require about half as much effort when dealing with a real
estate provider
REAL Trends (Gathering of the Eagles) tell us that consumers spend an average of 17 months in their
search going through dream, research and action phases.
We know exactly what information the Internet-empowered consumer is searching for.
We know that the vast majority of brokerage web sites continue to be "broker centric" and fail
to provide the consumer with the information they are seeking thus requiring them to use other and often non-Realtor sources.
We know that Internet-empowered consumers will not engage with a real estate professional until a point
about 14.5 months after the beginning of their quest.
We know at that point (14.5 months) the consumer will e-mail a request for follow-up from 5 real estate
service providers identified during their search, that most will pick an agent within 72 hours and more than half will pick
the first agent that contacts them.
We know that most consumers expect a response to their e-mail within 4 hours.
We know that most of the serious real estate service provider Internet players are attempting to respond
to consumer e-mails within 15 minutes.
We know that more than 70% of e-mails from consumers to agents go unanswered
after 3 days.
NAR tells us that almost 50% of listings fail
to meet the consumer's expectations for photographs and information......
Will the impact of these bullets be fatal? Will the apparent failure of the traditional real estate provider
to follow this obvious course of success become a historic turning point? 2006 may be the year these questions
are answered. Whatever happens, one thing is clear. The Internet can never be accused of removing the brokerage and agent
from the transaction. That distinction will always belong to those who failed to dodge the bullets. It's time to target your
success and hold your year end business planning meeting."
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Printed in eFormat & Print Format: HAR.Com/ December 2005 / "Houston Realtor"; Page 33
* Jeremy Conaway is a keynote speaker, conference facilitator, and consultant to the Real Estate Industry.
He is President of RECON Intelligience Services and can be reached at (231) 938-7326, www.reconis.com or jeremy.conaway@reconis.com
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* = Per Seller Information such as measurements, square footage and descriptions of materials,
fixtures, or other components of the improvements may not be accurate and should not be relied upon, but should be independently verified by Buyer prior to purchase.
Copyright © 2012 by SMARTePLANS® United States Patent(s) 7,733,351B1 and 8,010,906B1
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