A recent survey from ERA Real Estate reveals that consumers and real estate professionals have eagerly adopted technology into the business but that a technology blind spot is developing,
Today’s savvy consumers have seamlessly incorporated technology into their purchasing behaviors. From coupon sites, to service provider ranking sites, to crowd-sourced recommendations, consumers can comparison shop, read reviews, search for discounts all from their phone making it easy to point, click and buy.
But those behaviors don’t always carry over into what is typically the largest purchase a consumer will make: a home. What is emerging in the real estate space are two distinct phases of the process: shopping and buying.
“While our survey revealed that real estate professionals have expanded their communication channels and adopted an “always-on” mentality to meet the changing consumer demands growing out of a technology-enabled shopping landscape, once consumers enter the buying phase of the transaction, they realize the benefit of the personal, face-to-face service a sales professional can provide to ensure a smooth transaction process,” says Charlie Young, president and CEO of ERA Real Estate.
According to the ERA REAL Insights survey, brokers report that in addition to technology-enabled communication, consumers value flexible scheduling and informal meetings as well as personal advice and counsel.
Consumers report a high level of confidence at the onset of their home buying or selling experience, with 84 percent of respondents feeling confident about the process. However, once their search was underway, 43 percent of respondents report that they struggled with lack of market knowledge and not understanding the process. To that end, an overwhelmingly 91 percent of respondents said their relationship with their sales professional was important to them.
“This technology ‘blind spot’ is perpetuated by the ‘swipe and go’ coffee experience, but as we all know, buying a home is far more involved,” said Young. “The good news is that today’s homebuyers and sellers can access a wealth of information from a variety of platforms, whether that be desktop, mobile or tablet. In this technology-assisted environment, well-informed consumers are collaborating with experienced sales associates to work together in achieving the dream of home ownership.”
For more information, visit www.era.com.
