The Internet’s impact on many businesses is profound, with many not understanding what their opportunities are.  Member realtors tell their story below.  How has the Internet changed your business? Post your thoughts and read other in the comment section.

www.ChangingTheWayWeDoBusiness.biz

It comes time to pack up the family and move for that new job.  You want to sell your current home and purchase that new home you have always wanted.  What are your first steps?  Do you grab a yellow pages book and search for a realtor in your area?  Probably not.  Do you call your neighbor and ask if they know of any realtors in the area?  Usually no.  Do you hop in the car and drive around your desired neighborhood searching for houses with signs in the yard?  That is ridiculous.  Do you sit on your sofa and scroll through the Internet looking at homes?  …Absolutely.

“In 1978 when my husband and I decided to buy our first home together in Fridley, we registered for a community education class,” says Chamber staff member Kathy Swenson, “A realtor came into the class and taught everyone the basics of buying a home… and then of course he became your realtor.”  That’s the way it was done 30 years ago.

Changing the way we do business

In 2006, 80% of home buyers started their home search on the web, and less than 3% of home buyers began their search looking for a realtor.  “A lot of it has to do with the ability to search freely” explains Pam Schlemmer, a member realtor with Prudential Sundial Realty.  “People like the anonymity factor,” states Schlemmer, “you can search for homes on the Internet without anyone knowing who you are or what homes you are looking at.”

Tom Bye from member Keller Williams Integrity Realty agrees, “the majority of the time people scroll through homes online, and they prefer to remain anonymous and not leave their name and phone number,” he explains, “it’s like having an empty lead.  You know someone wants to do business with you, but you have no information on them.”

“The Internet has changed just about everything,” comments Dave Ryan from member Coldwell Banker Burnet-Fridley, “Coldwell relies on the Internet extensively for advertising and communications, to both buyers and sellers.” 

So, you want to be anonymous and therefore go to yahoo.com to begin searching for your new home.  Where does your information go?  Prudential Sundial Realty.  “Prudential Realty has an exclusive relationship with yahoo.com; it is really helpful,” exclaims Pam, “Since Yahoo is one of the main search engines, it is great to get all those leads from people searching for homes there.” All Yahoo inquiries are sent to Prudential’s home office and then distributed to whichever sales office is closest.

To embrace changes pushed by the Internet, Coldwell Banker Burnet has also started doing visual tours.  Dave’s office has a visual tour for each listing no matter how the listing is priced.  “An agent takes the photos and uses a software package to put them together-giving the agent complete control over the perspective the house is presented in,” explains Dave.

“Buyers no longer need realtors to start their search for a home, instead realtors are now serving more in a consulting role,” remarks Bye.  However buying a home without a realtor can become very confusing and overwhelming.  People tend to find a realtor when it comes time to dig into their search from viewing homes that meet their criteria to writing an offer to closing on their new home. The computer can't replace the personal services, knowledge and detail the Realtors provide for their clients.

The basics: supply vs. demand

It appears that everyday you read a story in the newspaper about the poor housing market, but in reality is it all that bad?  Not really, according to Tom Bye.  “2004 and 2005 were record breaking years as far as number of homes sold,” Tom comments, “it is hard to compete with record breaking numbers every year.”  According to the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, mortgage rates are better now than they were at this time last year, not to mention that Minnesota has one of the best economies in the United States.

Nevertheless, the supply vs. demand scale is off kilter, so realtors in today’s market have adjusted to the buying patterns driven by information availability on the Internet to become creative in order to sell homes to prospective buyers.  “Last year I offered a three-year lease on a BMW with the purchase of a home,” Bye laughs, “the most bizarre thing is that the car wasn’t ‘nice enough’ for the person who bought the home!”

Realtors are also more willing to set-up and help out the seller in order to get the home sold.  “Sometimes it is just easier to go out and buy the item needed in order to make the house more appealing,” explains Pam from Prudential, “A few weeks ago a woman really liked a home, but it didn’t have a vent above the stove.  I decided to just go out and buy one and install it for her… and then she bought the home.”  Tom’s list of over-the-top gestures for his clients include: helping his clients load a dumpster for yard cleanup, painting a client’s deck, and sheet rocking a basement.  “You do what you have to do,” says Tom.  Simply stated.

BLOG IT!  How has the Internet changed the way you do businesses?  Tell your story and read here in the comments section.