Brad Inman of InmanNews put together a group of industry influencers at the Disconnect 2019 conference in April to hash out influencer predictions concerning the future of real estate. According to Inman, the major take-away from this conference is that there were two fundamental ways of looking at the industry…a “bright” way and a “dark” way.
Choosing to look at the “bright” way of forecasting the future of real estate, influencers sided with the fact that consumers are taking charge of the industry and are creating a “Consumer Model for Real Estate.” Inman believes that “if done right,” real estate professionals will develop a better consumer experience “with more transactions and a more vital/competitive industry” via innovation, customer care and a positive response to new pressure from industry disruptors.
In a two-part series of posts, let’s take a look at the elements of this “Consumer Model for Real Estate.”
The State of the Market, Trends and Consumer Choices
Industry influencers believe that the housing market will remain strong if wages rise, unemployment remains low and if companies continue to expand. Two other caveats…low interest rates for the next couple of years and pent-up demand from both buyers and sellers.
New ways of buying and selling are expected to emerge in response to “Amazon ready to respond consumers.” Innovation will benefit the buying/selling process as well as the financing proces
Swifter Transactions are Coming
Innovative technology will become the new on-demand, certain and seamless standard. Mortgage, title and escrow functions will become entirely digital to offer consumers a more “integrated, seamless, faster and less expensive transaction.”
Innovative technology will require changes to agents’ duties so that agents are better aligned with iBuyer models as well as instant offers models.
Shifting Roles and New Business Models
Influencers predict that MANY brokerages will adjust their respective business models to deliver on-demand experiences for their customers. It’s anticipated that iBuyers, on-demand services and consumer-direct models will take on and expand their market share as more tech companies build their businesses around the almost here on-demand marketplace.
Industry titans predict that more real estate agents will become employees rather than “free” independent contractors particularly as more court cases will erode that independent contractor model. As employees rather than fee agents, influencers believe that the level of agent performance will go up.
In Part 2 of A Consumer’s Model, the Future of Real Estate, we will discuss partnerships, mergers and acquisitions and accelerated consolidation; the expanding role of platform; data ownership fights; single listing databases; and roadblocks.
