Hate it or love it, technology is not going anywhere anytime soon. It seems like when you purchase the latest and greatest thing, that by the time you learn how to use it something new and better has been invented. Technology is rapidly changing and has really changed the way people buy and sell real estate.

Today, real estate agents are equipped with the right tools to help speed up the buying and selling process. They normally will utilize e-signature apps, cloud storage systems and other marketing tools right from their phone or tablet. 

Here’s how technology is changing the game....... Imagine you’re house hunting and you wake up on a Tuesday morning and check your phone. You see there was a new house listed overnight that matches your criteria. That email was sent to you automatically because your Realtor was able to set you up with an online portal. Through the portal you can go in and make notes on the property. Once you leave notes on the property, it then immediately notifies your agent via text text and email. From there they can read your comment and even set up a showing all online from their phone. 

You get to the house, and begin having questions about the schools and about the room sizes. Don’t worry, with a quick search, your agent finds the answers to your questions before the showing is done. At the end of the showing, you decide you want to write an offer. No Problem. Your agent takes out their ipad and begins typing it up. Once the offer has been prepared, they can email it to you for electronic signatures that you can sign from your phone. From there, they will forward it over to the list agent and go from there.

A lot has changed. I could only imagine trying to have someone follow me back to my office at 8pm to write an offer up and then fax it over! That’s crazy. Here are some other ways technology plays a role in the buying and selling process.

Online listings I was not an agent before the internet was created. I do talk with several agents who tell me how they had to do it “back in the day”. Today, you can find all of your listings online. As soon as a Realtor publishes their new listing on the MLS, it will get syndicated to several other websites (IDX Feed). After about 24 hours, if you google that address, it should pull up on several sites. Having listings online gives you as the consumer instant access to these listings. This will speed up the process when you are home hunting.