Real Estate and the Internet
by Jim Scott

It is common these days for real estate agents to be asked about the value of the Internet in buying and selling homes. Like most net-savvy people, I use the Internet daily. I have purchased new and used products and have sold laptop computers over the net.  But what about houses?  Is it a suitable and effective medium for real estate?  First, some basics.

The Web Site
     
My company has a web site, www.sqre.com.  There you can find a hopefully pleasant blend of self-promotion, information and marketing.  As such it differs little from my competitors.  The site generates visitors and telephone calls. I find other home listing services which display color photos of listings helpful, particularly to my active roster of buyers.  They find it a convenient way to track listings and to help participate in the house searching process.  But more importantly, it empowers buyers with information that formerly was not available to the public.
     
Web surfers can easily access the sales history of any home in the United States.  While there are occasional errors, the services are remarkably accurate.  One of the best you can find is at Yahoo (drop to the bottom of the home page and look for “Other Guides“ and then click on “Real Estate“).  Buyers are now free to conduct their own price analysis without trudging down to 1600 Pacific Highway and staring at grainy microfiche.
     
Listings are also available, albeit without address in most cases.  The sites operated by the professional trade associations I belong to still want to steer consumers to their member agents.  Information is power and real estate agents have long held a grip on this data.  Now it is readily available to the public at no charge. Does this mean there is some change in the wind?  

The Nature of the House Sale
     
Real Estate is bought and sold in the same manner and for the same cost as it was in 1900.  Not much has really changed.  All of us are wired and wireless, but all that has achieved is an decrease in expenses. Consumers are still charged the same fee for the same service. There is certainly less emphasis on the neighborhood real estate agency as computers and the democratization of information has broken down the barriers many local trade groups have thrown up in the past.
     
As I mentioned above, the basic nature of the business is relatively unchanged.  But buying real estate is far different than purchasing a laptop battery. The consumer may have more information, but old habits die hard.
     
Licensed agents survive, and will survive, because of the nature of the trade.  Real estate is expensive and it seems far cheaper to hire and expert than go it alone.  While it is true agents will remain, the nature of what they do and how they are paid in the future is far more problematic.
     
One major effect of Internet commerce is more price competition.  It is entirely possible in the future that home sellers will ‘list’ their homes directly on the Internet.  Agents, and possibly attorneys, will be facilitators that are compensated by some new fee arrangement other than the traditional 6 percent. One end result is that the price of housing in the long run will cost less if the expense of sale declines dramatically.
     
Consumers and sellers will still need experts. I am not arguing that it is beneficial to sell homes without real estate professionals.  It is just that the methods of conducting the business will have to change. All businesses have been under attack and revision since globalization began in earnest in 1980. Real estate agents have been spared the pain thus far.  But change will come and in a far more substantive way that just having your our website address splashed on your sign rider.
     
I am not trying to talk my way out of a job.  Please call me if you need to buy and sell!  But I am keeping an eye out for the future of my business and I plan to adapt and change to whatever new environment presents itself. My goal has not changed since 1982—to provide the best quality service at the lowest possible price. And that philosophy will not change in the future. That is my personal guarantee to any client. Real estate professionals who survive in the new millennium will be those who can compete on price and service and can adapt to the post-net world.  
    
You can reach Jim Scott at his office at 1111 Fort Stockton Drive. Jim’s direct line is 885-9511.  Jim has been a homeowner in Mission Hills since 1976.  Scott & Quinn is the oldest full service real estate company in Mission Hills.  The 12 associates serve the beach and metro areas.  There is also a professional property management team on staff.