6

August

The Role of the Broker and How the Internet Changed Everything.

Cullen P. Watson, Esq.

As covered in a previous blog post, all MLS listings are now online.  Except for some private information, consumers are privy to the same information as agents.  This fundamentally changes the role of a real estate broker.  Real estate brokers are no longer the sole conduit of marketplace information.  In the pre-internet days, brokers had to go to a brick and mortar real estate office and open a book with actual paper to see what listings were available.  Finding a listing in the book did not guarantee there were pictures of a particular property, so agents routinely made trips to preview properties for clients and to make sure they fit certain parameters.  Agents still had to show properties to clients, and only then would the client decide whether it was right for them.  In the pre-internet days, real estate brokers were the vehicle that drove home sales.  If an agent put in the time and effort, he or she could become a market expert.  Brokers were purveyors of very valuable information, and the only way consumers could get an idea of what houses were on the market was to retain a broker.  There was no way the average consumer could know the market as well as a broker. 

Once listings became available online, agents no longer held the keys to the information vault. Information that formerly took agents an arduous amount of time and effort to acquire is now available to consumers with the click of a button.  Online listings are chock-full of pictures, maps, sales data, etc., so nowadays, the average buyer/seller can know almost as much about the market as an agent.  Given that most consumers have some idea of what they like, savvy buyers will know more about what they want than an agent ever could. 

Clearly, this unprecedented access to information has created a fundamental shift in the role of real estate brokers.  Being a market expert is now less valuable to consumers, since virtually anyone can become an expert themselves. Agents have reframed themselves as stagers, designers, photographers, etc.  If you need a stager, though, why not just hire a stager?

The most important roles of present day real estate brokers are contract drafting and negotiating – the nuts and bolts that create a successful sale.  Lawyers are trained to negotiate, spot issues, and draft contracts.  Modern consumers may have more market information than they used to, but the world is a complicated place, and transactions are no exception. Underlying most real estate transactions is a complicated web of lending underwriting, zoning restrictions, HOAs, Historic Districts, special assessments, transfer taxes, etc., all waiting to delay, or even derail, that highly anticipated purchase .  When consumers find the perfect place, they need qualified brokers to represent their best interests and help navigate the often treacherous closing process. Qualified brokers can ensure a transaction goes as efficiently as possible, without sacrificing their clients’ interests in the process.

Finding the perfect place is only beneficial if you can actually buy it!  Ask one of your friends, and you’re sure to hear a story or two along the lines of – we overpaid, we didn’t know we couldn’t build an addition, the loan didn’t work, or the sellers were awful to deal with.  At Lawyers Realty Group, we think the focus of the brokerage should be to help the client when it matters most.  Let us help you buy or sell your home as efficiently as possible.  The perfect house is out there – let us help you land it!

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