I’m old enough to remember a time when real estate agents did not use mobile phones, when our desks did not include a computer and when our customers used to visit our office to inquire about properties.
Today, it seems, technology has removed many of the human touches agents of my generation remember. But it seems most people like the changes created by the internet.
For example, almost all tenants these days search for available rental properties on the internet – they no longer look in the local paper and very few come in to our office to make an inquiry. At our offices they can find a property on the internet, book an inspection online to view the property at a time to suit them and have the whole thing confirmed by email and by text message in less than a minute. How’s that for service!
And buyers are quickly catching up. Most buyers like the convenience of searching for properties online when they come home from work. These days most property listings include more than a few photographs. Some properties (ours, at least) include a video showing each of the rooms and the backyard. With so much available at the click of a button buyers can “see” homes from the comfort of their lounge room without having to visit an agent.
And our use of real estate websites is increasing every day. According to Alexa.com, the internet information site, Australia’s most visited website is google.com.au. The most visited property site is realestate.com.au (No. 24) followed by domain.com.au (No. 43) each with thousands of visitors every day.
So, with internet usage increasing, especially when it comes to real estate sites, most property consumers will welcome the advent of the National Broadband Network (NBN) which will provide much faster search speeds and better access to a growing amount of property related information. It has not yet arrived in my area, but I cannot wait.
