The digital revolution is in full swing here in 2021, and there’s really not any aspect of our day-to-day lives that hasn’t been affected by it. It’s no secret that pretty much every would-be homebuyer is using the World Wide Web to find and cross-reference properties they’re considering making offers on, but one thing that’s become very clear over the last year and some is that the role of technology in real estate is truly more prominent than ever before.
This of course benefits home buyers and home sellers in very obvious ways, but it’s just as much a great thing for the real estate agents who are helping them with those aims. We’ve gone on at great length about how the real estate market in Canada has shown itself to be plenty resilient in the face of the economic negatives of the pandemic, and looking at it on a more micro level we can agree that technology has played a part in all of that.
Most specifically, we can generalize the role to say that it’s made it easier for buyers who’ve remained as qualified ones to access and view properties in ways that wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for certain digital technology advances. Internet marketing was ‘new’ a long time ago, but even our online real estate lead generation system for realtors in Canada here at Real Estate Leads can be mentioned with the same subject here. It’s built on the same basic principles to help realtors get much more in the way of direct and measurable results from their online marketing efforts.
But back to topic, and let’s look specifically at how technology has played a role in keeping Canada’s real estate market going at a solid clip.
The E-Homebuying Process
We can now conclude that Canadians are remarkably comfortable with the electronic homebuying process, and the convenience it has provided may well be driving sales higher. For evidence of that we don’t need to look any further than Proscriptions. Ones on open houses and in-person meetings have had the effect of making home purchases more convenient, and even a little leisurely if that’s possible. It is, but not if you’re a first-time homebuyer. That’s for sure.
What we’re talking about here is how a virtual property tour can be enjoyed from the comfort of the person’s own living room couch—and with tech like DocuSign they can even close the deal without leaving their home deals are closing faster.
It’s becoming increasingly common for the whole home buying process to be fully digitized with virtual tours and virtual walk-throughs, client meetings on Zoom, and the entirety of the marketing materials for the home for sale being created and sent out electronically.
Big-Time Sales Driver
While it is true that for multi-family residential developments you do still needed an actual physical sales centre, for detached home sales and original owner sales of townhomes and the like there is becoming less and less of a need for people to be meeting face-to-face. The connector in all of this is how sales have upsurged exactly when technology was directly and clearly attached to the physical experience of buying a home.
The experiential nature of that had to remain the same, and the good news is that it has for the most part. The key has been in finding the right mix of technology, and being very selective with how and when it’s applied. For realtors this is a learning process on their end too, and especially for older realtors who – while very successful in the business – aren’t nearly as digitally savvy as some of their younger counterparts in the business.
Trend Reinforces Buyer Enthusiasm
There may also be a lesser affect here in the way that having homes selling as quickly as they are all across the country is making it so that buyers are familiarizing themselves with these related technologies much more enthusiastically. And that’s primarily because they don’t want to be at a disadvantage compared to others who might have that savvy when it comes to competing bids on a home.
Under the duress of high pressure sales tactics and the threat of another buyer waiting in the wings, people can feel rushed into purchasing. That could partly explain buyers’ enthusiastic adoption of technology.
Successful realtors will know they need to move in step with this. If you’re one who struggles with technology then it really does make sense to get yourself at least sufficiently up to speed with all of this. Either that or pay someone to take care of these new sales tactics and client accommodation practices.
It’s a pivotal time in the industry right now with would-be buyers having the opportunity to shop on their own schedule and without having to leave their homes. Plus, another major advantage to digitizing sales is people from outside of Canada can purchase homes here before they even arrive. It’s difficult to imagine that tangibility will ever be removed from the process of buying a home, but COVID may well be changing how people shop for them and the changes are likely permanent.
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Sign up for Real Estate Leads here and receive a monthly quota of qualified, online-generated buyer and / or seller leads that are delivered to you. But more to the point, they’re delivered to only you. That’s right, you’ll be the only one to receive these leads and they will be for individuals, couples, or families that are living in the same area where you’re practicing real estate. They’ve shown a genuine willingness to make a move in the market, and as such they’re ready to be contacted by a quality real estate agent like you.
