“We’re not sitting around waiting for people to call us. We’re taking initiative and taking our business into our own hands.”
“The real estate industry is changing super, super fast. Technology is evolving right now. Things are coming out that people never really thought were possible.” For example, he says he can take someone’s email address, enter it into a database and find out more about them through their Facebook or LinkedIn profile, or find information such as where they work, their phone number, even pictures. He says it’s making networking so much easier because while email may get screened out as spam, he can connect with people directly through Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networking sites. Plus, everyone is doing it. The latest data shows that across all demographics, all age groups, in all parts of the U.S., the Internet has become the number one resource for house hunting. In 2008, 91% of buyers used Internet as resource for searching for homes, leading Ben to point out, “There’s no such thing anymore as the Internet buyer.”
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. July/August 2009
“Everybody is using these resources. I don’t think it’s a phase,” he deadpans. Which means agents need to get on board. “People have got to start adapting and embracing. And once they start, they’re going to start seeing how much this technology can leverage their time. And they can start getting back to working Monday through Friday, 8 to 5, and getting all their stuff done. Because technology allows them to get so much more done in a shorter amount of time.” Kinney says two years ago he took a look at NAR’s profile of buyers and sellers, specifically at a pie chart that showed where buyers found the home they purchased. The biggest share of the pie came from agents and the Internet, while open houses, yard signs, referrals from family and friends made up smaller pieces of the pie. The least significant piece of the pie—representing only two percent of buyers— was made up of those who found the home they actually ended up buying through a print advertisement.