The Growing Relationship Between The Internet And Real Estate In The 2010s

It can be argued that the biggest challenge facing real estate professionals isn’t whether technology will make them obsolete. It has more to do with how they can help consumers in the new, tech-driven marketplace.

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The arrival of the internet changed everything and put the customer in charge. In the past, real estate professionals held vital industry information close to their chests, leading prospective buyers and sellers to actively seek them out. That centuries-old control of about 90 percent of any industry transaction is over.

Things began to change in the 1980s when realtor boards automated regional multiple listing services. Member brokerages could access listings, recent sales, tax information, and other property details online through dedicated computers.

However, the public still preferred classified ads in newspapers and industry magazines up to the ‘90s. But the arrival of Craigslist got the industry realizing that online exposure was much more effective, broader, and economical. The faster speeds and increased availability of the internet in the new millennium caused a major paradigm shift in the real estate industry.

Real estate listings moved from offline ones available only to real estate professionals to online listings on major Internet portals. These portals generated a massive amount of traffic. Dedicated industry sites like Realtor.com then saw the advantage of all-in-one service provisions. It has now outpaced even the internet portals.

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Today, the first step for any buyer, seller, or investor is to look for online listings. And with a more powerful internet, features like 3-D virtual tours are becoming more common. In the 2010s, users can now have satellite views of properties they are interested in, including nearby amenities and road access. All this while relaxing at home in their pajamas.

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