Two interesting reports have recently come out that deal with the current state and trends in real estate technology and marketing. These include Inman’s “State of Real Estate Marketing 2007” report and the NAR’s Center for REALTOR® Technology 2007 Survey. Inman’s report is based on a survey of 770 real estate professionals done through their website (hence it have a strong technology slant), while the NAR’s 2007 Technology Survey solicited responses via mail from 468 real estate professionals.

NAR 2007 Survey – Technology Trends:

• 54% of real estate professionals have spent more than $1000 in 2006
• 80% of sales agents/associate brokers highly valued the technology supplied by their broker
• 65% of sales agents/associate brokers wanted more technology from their broker
• 66% of respondents have their own real estate agent business Web site
• Top 3 Sources of Leads: Referrals, repeat business and the Internet
• 79% of respondents are not satisfied with the amount of web leads they got from their sites
• 69% of respondents who have participated with lead resellers were dissatisfied

NAR 2007 Survey – Using Technology in Business:

• 28% used Internet-enabled Smartphones, 30% plan to purchase
• 19% used PDAs, 4% plan to purchase
• 72% used Cellphones, 10% plan to purchase
• 92% uses Digital Cameras, 26% plan to purchase
• 63% used Notebooks Computers, 27% plan to purchase
• 79% used Desktop Computers, 12% plan to purchase

Inman 2007 Report – Marketing Trends:

• 58% of new agents (<5 yrs in business) plan to increase marketing spending
• 47% of all brokers and agents plan to spend more to promote their services in the next year
• 31% of agents are getting involved with social networking websites (like Activerain, MySpace, i.e.)
• 27% of agents who closed more than 20 deals in the last year had a blog
• 34% of agents who plan to spend $5,000+ on online advertising/marketing in the next year hire an Internet marketing specialist

Conclusions:
Looking at the numbers and trends the following conclusions can be reach:

• In general, little has changed as far as the overall numbers are concerned. Technology usage and planned spending has remained fairly consistent and trends upwards.
• There is a strong trend among brokers to provide enabling technology to their agents. This trend is being welcome by the agents themselves. It also probably reflects competition among brokers to attract and retain top talent.
• We see this trend here at vFlyer by the number of brokers who are starting to purchase Corporate vFlyer Accounts for all of their agents or who negotiate discounts for agents who wish to use vFlyer on their own.
• One third of realtors STILL DON’T HAVE A WEBSITE – if you fall in this category get one – if you don’t know how, consider using a service like our vFlyer Domain Plus to get a web presence up quickly and easily!
• A Website alone is not enough! 79% of respondents with websites were still not happy with the leads they got – you may need to use other techniques (blogging, advertising, i.e.) and services to generate leads!
• The Internet continues to be an important source of leads, reinforcing the value of services like vFlyer and others. Agents serious about Internet marketing are hiring external resources to help them in their efforts.
• At vFlyer, we see this trend in the growing importance of virtual assistants who use, and are becoming experts on our service. The Southeastern Virtual Assistant Group, for example, recently provided free vFlyer training to their members. Agents are also using vFlyer’s to recruit Internet talent (See example – Blog SEO Writer Wanted)
• Lead resellers are probably not the answer – 53% of respondents found lead programs useful in 2006, but only 16% participated in them while in 2007 - 69% of respondents were dissatisfied with them.
• According to Inman, 60% of tech savvy agents still aren’t involved in social networks like ActiveRain – GET ONLINE AND GET INVOLVED. The numbers here (and elsewhere) show that consumer prefer tech savvy agents! Tech savvy agents also generally generate more leads via the Internet.
• Despite what some people are calling a weak housing market, a major of brokers and agents are planning to spend more on promoting their services.

Documents and Sources:

• NAR 2006 Survey – PDF Link
• NAR 2007 Survey – PDF Link
• Inman: State of Real Estate Marketing 2007 Report
• Realty Thoughts: Inman’s “State of Real Estate Marketing 2007” Report
• Transparent Real Estate: All About Inman Week

Technorati Tags: Realtors, vFlyer, Inman, Real Estate transparentrerealtythoughtsReal Estatehousevaluestrends