Realtors and Robots

By now we have all heard how robots will be supplanting humans and taking everyone’s job in the near future.  What about realtors?

Rich Barton had thoughts on the topic this week:

NEW YORK — Robots may be taking over the world. But they won’t eliminate real estate agents — at least not anytime soon.

That’s the message from Zillow co-founder Rich Barton, whose 10-year-old Seattle company transformed the real estate business by unlocking massive amounts of data about individual homes. Could artificial intelligence — AI-powered robot agents — be the next wave in real estate?

“I choose to believe that all (artificial intelligence) is an enhancement, not a displacement. Just pick your industry,” said Barton, speaking at the Inman Connect real estate conference in New York this week. “We do like to see the end of the world in every new technology that emerges, but, in fact, the truth is every new technology that has emerged has enhanced humanity, and created new kinds of jobs that are much better and safer than the factory jobs or whatever jobs were being displaced.”

http://www.geekwire.com/2017/robots-real-estate-theres-nothing-see-zillow-co-founder-says-agent-jobs-safe/

He chooses to believe it when he is speaking in front of a large group of realtors and his Zillow is king of the hill.  We’ll see what he says once the Broker Public Portal is launched, and realtors try to deny Zillow access to listings, which is inevitable – the only other choice to compete with Zillow is to spend the same $100 million on advertising, which we’re not going to do.

My guess is that Zillow will develop their own AI, or buy a company that does it, and then sell it to their top-spending agents.  We’ll have a realtor civil war – Zillow Teams (Zillow & big-spending realtor teams) vs. BPP/Big Franchises.

The big-box franchises will have to side with the BPP in order to keep their lower-producing-agents-with-the-most-favorable-commission-splits in business.

But I digress.

Would it be so bad if robots replaced realtors?

For the vast majority of old-school agents, the job of being a realtor is to properly complete a fill-in-the-blanks contract.  Those who are proficient at it then call themselves ‘great negotiators’.

This week I saw a newer house that has been on the market for months, and from the photos, description, and price, there wasn’t an obvious reason why it wasn’t selling.  I called the agent – she didn’t answer – so I left a detailed message asking questions about its salability.  The next day she sent me a text that said the house was still for sale, on lockbox, and if I showed it, to lock all the doors when I left.  All of her comments were stated clearly in the MLS – her only attempt at selling her listing was to regurgitate what was already obvious.

A robot could have done it better – the robot could have at least responded within a minute with the same information, instead of the next day.

I know it’s demanding to expect realtors to process actual sales skills, but we’re not going to have much choice in the future – agents are going to need better skills to survive.  Filling out forms isn’t enough any more – a robot could do that, and frankly, robots might be an upgrade.

When you list with me, you can count on me to properly engage with other realtors, and give them several reasons why they should sell your house.

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My Speech

Donald J. Trump is president, and his 140-character tweets seem to be his preferred method of communicating with the public.  Millennials prefer texting over phone calls, and could live without a phone if needed:

According to research released by Open Market in June 2016, 75 percent of about 500 millennials polled could live without the call function on their device as long as they were still able to text. Seventy-six percent prefer texting to talking, because it is convenient and fits with their schedules better. Sixty-three percent responded that texting is less disruptive to their daily lives than voice calling. And a startling 19 percent never check voicemail.

The world is fast-paced and attention spans are lower.  Have you tried to have a conversation with a millennial lately?  It probably didn’t last long.

But it’s not just the millennials who are in a hurry – everyone is having to process more data faster than ever.

Whether you are buying or selling, or both, you will most likely find yourself making snap decisions that could end up lasting you a lifetime.  Those who lead a busy life want and need someone they can trust to assist them.

I am here for you, and I want to help you make the best decisions!

Celebrity Real Estate Sales

From the wsj.com:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-hide-a-celebrity-home-buyer-1484838701

Excerpts:

Code names. Clandestine meetings. Camouflage. High-end real-estate agents are increasingly turning to devices found in Hollywood thrillers to shield the identities of big-name clients.

When he’s taking a well-known client to a showing, Tony Sargent of Manhattan-based brokerage Core said he won’t tell the listing agent who the prospective buyer is—or he’ll offer a different name. In Hawaii, Matt Beall of Hawai`i Life Real Estate Brokers, whose firm has worked with Julia Roberts and Neil Young, will borrow his wife’s car for select showings, as paparazzi can recognize the autos of real-estate agents. During house tours, some agents impose a no-cellphone rule, or have the homeowner’s staff vacate the property. And in other cases, home inspectors, listing photographers and other vendors sign confidentiality agreements.

Some prominent sellers throw in the towel from the get-go and decide to use their fame to bring attention to a listing. That can potentially lead to a quicker sale and a higher price.

Read full article here:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-hide-a-celebrity-home-buyer-1484838701

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Short-Sale Scam

From C.A.R.

While we all are concerned about cybercrime and identity theft, it appears taking someone’s money the old-fashioned way has reappeared in a short sale scam in Southern California.

The alleged scam appears to follow the same basic format.  A short sale agreement was entered into four to six months ago.  The buyer made an initial deposit in the $5,000 to $15,000 range into the listing broker’s non-independent broker escrow.  As with most short sales, the process takes several months and the selling agent is assured that the listing agent is working towards lender approval – it is just taking more time.  Then the communication slows down, the selling agent begins to get concerned and calls the listing broker’s escrow.  There is no answer, no return call, no other number to contact, and the earnest money deposit is gone.

(more…)

Trump and Local Real Estate

The inauguration is almost here – Trump will be your president on Friday!

How will he affect our local real estate market?

His detractors are aghast over his tweets, but Trump keeps them coming.  In spite of their bombastic nature, I think we are already numb to his tweets, or at least getting used to them being part of the landscape.

At this point, I don’t think the Trump Effect will have much, if any, impact on us – positive or negative.  If rates stay under 5% (today’s 30Y is 4.12%), buyers should shrug it off and keep buying.

I also think sellers and agents are getting smarter about price, which will help tremendously.  As you saw in the previous post, they might screw it up a bit once they hit the market, but eventually buyers and sellers should both be happy with a modest appreciation rate of 2% to 4% this year.

The #1 thing that should keep our market stable is the buyers’ focus on getting the right house for the long-term.  Before the 2007 downturn, buyers thought they could always sell for a gain, and, as a result, any house would work for the short-term.  But after our so-called ‘crisis’, we recognize prices can go down – but it only hurts if you sell.

Sales and prices may bounce around, but with the focus on the long-term as a foundation, our market should keep cooking.

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