If you work in real estate, you know that technology dictates much of your business strategy. And you also know that millennial buyers are driving this trend. Millennial buyers now represent the biggest core of buyers in the market. As such, your path to success in this market landscape is to maximize your digital footprint. You need to speak the language of your clients, which is increasingly digital. With that mission in mind, we’ve outlined three digital trends every Realtor® should use.
EMBRACE NONBANK E-MORTGAGES FOR SPEED & EASE
One big digital trend you should know is the e-Mortgage. Your millennial homebuyers want nonbank mortgages because they are easier to work with. By easy, we mean online. Because they are online, they typically offer a faster path to mortgages. They are also open to a wider variety of customers who are more digitally savvy. Like your Millennial buyers. Focused on mortgage lending, their websites and apps are more intuitive to homebuyers. As well, they tend to better meet expectations of speed, flexibility and digital customer experience. Two very popular online mortgage lenders with a high rate of customer satisfaction are Guaranteed Rate and Rocket Mortgage.
E-CLOSINGS & FULLY DIGITAL CLOSINGS
A second digital trend every Realtor® should use is e-Closings. We can thank the pandemic for the accelerated use of fully digital closings, called “eClosings.” As it turns out, eClosings provide many benefits that go beyond social distancing. They are convenient, efficient and allow for a quicker turnaround process. These fully digital closings can be facilitated by using eClosing software like Notarize. This enables all aspects of the mortgage closing, including notarizations, to happen completely online. As such, online clients participate from anywhere with an internet connection. This saves a lot of time and provides a convenient and better quality signing experience.
VIDEO CONFERENCING & VIRTUAL TOURS
You can greatly enhance your customer service by providing personalized home tours using virtual tours and video conferencing. This is a digital trend you should already be practicing. With more people moving between states, your buyers undoubtedly begin their search online. And they do much of their touring online as well. This is particularly true given the current housing shortage in key markets. In addition, the competitive buying experience that has marked the last two years has added fuel to the fire. Never has there been such an emphasis on being first out of the gate to see a new property. As such, virtual tours are a great way to offer this time-saving feature.
DIGITAL BUSINESS PRACTICES ARE HERE TO STAY
We all know that technology will continue to define, refine and dictate business practices going forward. And nowhere can we see that more than in real estate. As you know, in-person practices are still an ideal way to conduct business. But, more and more the customer expectation is that you will have all the digital tools at hand to facilitate a buying and selling experience that will take place online. Knowing this, you will need to embrace technology and make it as unique to your business model as you are.