8 WAYS REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY CAN RUIN YOUR BUSINESS

Real estate technology can also be called Property technology which can be shorten as pro-tech.

Real estate technology simply means application of information technology to real estate market to make the work more efficient.

Most things have both advantages and disadvantages.

Let’s look at how real estate technology can ruin business.

1) Unwanted Communication

Bzz bzz! Hear that? That’s your phone after entering your information on a third-party real estate website.

It’s possible you were minding your own business, browsing homes on your smartphone, and then…boom! You’re now on a contact list you never wanted to be on. We’ve all been there.

Hundreds and thousands of agents pay to be listed on that website, meaning your information was just shared with a lot of agents you may never get the chance to speak to.

When you work with a Realtor, they will set you up with a home search with listings that fit your criteria and are still available. That way you don’t have to worry about being contacted day in and day out by someone you don’t know that probably doesn’t have a clue what you are looking for.

2) Clients demand instant gratification because of real estate technology

Everything moves at lightning speed these days, and technology has made us all hungry for instant gratification.

Potential clients can find properties and then reach out to you literally with the push of a button.

If you don’t respond quickly enough for their tastes, they’ll move on to the next agent quickly.

3) Falling prey to social engineering

This involves manipulating employees into giving up confidential information — and it’s something real estate brokerages are vulnerable to, said McDowell.

For example, you might receive an email from the bank that your brokerage uses asking you to log in and address a problem — then a maintenance screen opens up asking for a name and telephone number.

Then you receive a phone call from someone who says, “We see you’re having problems — please try to log in again using the link we just sent you,” and it’s all over.

The same applies, of course, to social media. “Think through what kind of information you’re displaying out there online,” advised Grant — if the color of your first vehicle is a security question on your bank account, have you considered removing the Facebook photo capturing your surprise on your 16th birthday?

And when you’re going on vacation, it’s probably best not to advertise that information to the world, he added — it means your home (or business) could be unattended.

4) Bad photos and videos can hurt your real estate business.

Photos and videos really are worth a thousand words (or more).

With so many online real estate portals beckoning potential clients, pictures are everything.

The days of ‘adequate’ photos are totally gone.

5) Your online reputation lasts forever (or at least a really long time).

No doubt social media and online marketing are critical to your real estate success in today’s digital-crazed world.

Still, when your life is an open book online, the story you tell can hurt your real estate business.

6) Over-reliance often leads to big problems

Many real estate agents are using programs and applications that quicken the process.

For example, agents commonly use electronic signatures for convenience and to speed up closings.

However if you’re not careful, the convenience of it can really come back to bite you.

7) Easy usually comes with a catch

Setting up automatic listings is a really easy way for you to share properties with your real estate clients.

Clients, too, will often set up their own automatic listings to make sure that they don’t miss properties.

However, the more properties that they are aware of, the more they want to view. And that can be problematic for your real estate business.

8) Zillow and other sites can really complicate matters

Websites such as Zillow and Trulia have continued to grow in popularity in recent years.

You can bet many if not most of your clients are checking those websites out before and during the time they work with you.

The problem is that much of the information on these sites is outdated or inaccurate.

8 WAYS REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY CAN RUIN YOUR BUSINESS