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How to Handle Real Estate Data Overload

December 27, 2007

This morning, I was reading a blog post from Chris McKeever, Center for Realtor Technology in which he stated:

…as a consumer, part of how I would choose an agent is that they can outperform me on finding the perfect property by having access to more area knowledge, refined searching techniques and experience I just can’t gain through even the best website. Just cause I use one website to search, doesn’t mean that is the broker/agent I have decided to use.

In his post, Chris makes a good point that an individual agent, or broker, is going to be hard-pressed to compete on technology with the big boys with deep pockets. On the other hand, the big boys with deep pockets are aggregating data on a national level. Real estate is, and always will be, a local issue.

So, it doesn’t really matter what website works for your personal search for Atlanta real estate. Ultimately, if you choose to work with an Atlanta Realtor, you want someone whose knowledge and expertise moves beyond the aggregated data.

You also want the Realtor to incorporate technology into their business model to enhance the exchange of that knowledge at a personal level. Do they respond to email in minutes, the same day, weeks later or never? Can they text listing information in a mobile format? Do they have an online network of specialists, vendors and colleagues who are also technologically proficient?