How Real Estate Agents Used Tech to Adapt in 2020, And Why It Worked

If this year had been a roller coaster, it would have put every theme park in North America to shame. Its ups and downs affected everything about our lives: from business decisions to how we shop for food and everything in between.

For many industries, the only way to adapt in the face of the pandemic was to cut back, or even shut down altogether. But not real estate. Real estate showed a true evolutionary spirit, finding ways to adapt a new reality that decidedly lacked the face-to-face aspect everyone expects.

Let’s reflect on all the accomplishments this year, and how real estate agents across the industry adapted and grew through such a difficult time.

1. Keeping real estate not just afloat, but thriving.
Adapting to remote work was a hurdle for many and a wall for some. Real estate has always been remote in some ways—agents spend more time afield than at desks. But remote work where you can’t go meet up with the client? That was something new.
Agents stepped up to show us all how it’s done. Tens of thousands of them in the U.S. alone reacted quickly to the change and moved to technology that helped them keep up business as usual as much as possible.

Why It Worked: Two reasons. First, this was a major shift that gave agents a way to keep working through what could have easily been devastating for the market. And second, rather than being a hindrance, it actually worked in favor of agents—helping them close more deals than ever, in some cases showing major improvements year over year.

2. Boosting the real estate client experience.
2020 has been a lot of things, but a good year for client confidence isn’t one of them. Buyers and sellers alike shied away from the market, unsure of what they’d find and afraid of what may or may not have changed.

Real estate agents were able to attract clients back to the market because of how quickly they adapted to technology that helped solve the problems that clients were worried about.

Just to name a few, agents used:

– Marketing tools to communicate changes and new practices, so clients knew what to expect

– Virtual tours and 3D photos to showcase properties without anyone having to leave their bubble

– eSignature tools to legally sign offers and contracts without meeting up with clients in person

Why It Worked: Each of these things showed clients exactly how quickly real estate could shift to make sure their needs were met, and exactly why they didn’t need to be afraid of buying and selling.

3. Doing it all without sacrificing their bottom lines.
It’s one thing to start using new technology, and quite another to do so in the middle of a pandemic, when you yourself aren’t sure of how the market will go from one day to the next. Agents across the nation proved resourceful in accomplishing all of this without adding all kinds of extra tech costs.

For example, the tech so many of them adopted to help keep up business in a remote reality? That was the transactions solution they receive as a national member benefit. And the tools they used to create and communicate change for clients? All accessible for free through said member benefit.

There’s a lot this year and next may have in store for us, but if this year has shown us anything, it’s that we don’t have to worry about real estate agents; they have the skills and the tools to come out on top.

Erin Green is the communications specialist at Lone Wolf Technologies. As a professional writer and editor with experience in a wide range of fields, including journalism, architecture, engineering and construction, and software marketing, Green is dedicated to exploring the trends and issues that affect real estate today—and how real estate agents and brokerages can adapt and grow through changing conditions. For more information, please visit www.lwolf.com.