The French author Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr is credited with coining the phrase, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” In this day and age, with everything at the push of a button, has the home buying process really changed all that much?
When my parents bought their first home in the 1970s, I know they saw a sign in the yard, called the number on it and made an appointment to go and see it (or knowing my father, they just knocked on the door and asked how much they wanted for it). They made an offer, got a mortgage at 10.5 percent, and they lived happily ever after.
Today’s buyers and sellers have everything at their virtual fingertips. Newspaper and TV ads are slowly disappearing and are viewed as especially prehistoric to the 25 to 40 crowd – a crucial demographic for the industry. These potential real estate clients instead are glued to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr, and believe it or not, they are posting about homes – trying to find them, sell them, fix them and make living in them better. They see a home that their “friend” liked on Facebook. They can be “virtually” invited to an open house at that home, request more information via Realtor.com, Zillow or any number of other real estate-related websites, and be qualified for a mortgage all while drinking their morning coffee.
For home buyers or sellers, checking a Realtor’s social media activity is an excellent way to see how connected she/he is to the local real estate market. The agent’s Twitter feed and Facebook page may yield good tips, links to noteworthy articles and photos of highlighted listings in your neighborhood of interest.
But here is where the process is not unlike what happened in the 1970s. The home buyer needs to go and see the home, so they make a phone call and go and see it. They meet the real estate agent and realize that they need representation from someone they can trust to help them with this life-changing decision and guide them through the process. They also realize that as much as they can be “pre-qualified” for a mortgage with an Internet mortgage lender, a live person would help, and they find that person so they can have some help in the process. From the offer, to the inspection, to the appraisal, to closing day where they get the keys and get to live happily ever after, the goal is still the same whether it is 1976 or 2016. The tools may have changed, but the end goal is still the same.
Jerome Bleger is the 2015-16 president of the Durango Area Association of Realtors and a broker for The Wells Group and can be reached at Jerome@wellsgroupdurango.com and 970-375-7004.
