October Research, LLC’s latest “Evolving Realtor Relationships” complimentary webinar included two industry experts who discussed their experiences meeting new consumer demands successfully and the future role of the real estate agent in the transaction.
Jim O’Donnell, CEO of Equity National Title, and Veronica Figueroa, CEO of The Figueroa Team (brokered by eXp Realty), detailed ways consumer behavior and expectations are changing, the trend of real estate agent specialization and the latest changes to workflow and processes. The webinar was moderated by Jamie Kump, Qualia’s director of high growth accounts.
O’Donnell said he sees two major trends that deviate from the traditional business model in which the Realtor refers a consumer to the title-settlement provider.
One shift is the birth of “super agents” who are more full-time and engaged Realtors, he said.
“They’re more significant in what they’re going to represent in terms of referral business to a title company and less on the decentralized and highly fractured models,” O’Donnell said. “I think you’re going to see more of that – the big will get bigger.”
O’Donnell added real estate transactions are also becoming more and more digital.
“We have to understand that it’s not just a digital transaction – meaning a closing – but the digitization of all of our business that’s being applied in the mortgage lending process,” he said. “It’s being applied in the real estate transaction, and it’s being applied more and more in the title side. It’s less digital in the closing experience. The closing experience is still very traditional. Maybe there are hybrid closings where we’re electronically signing most of the documents and wet signing the notarized documents.
“But I think the tomorrow of our business is going to be almost completely digital. And if we as title agents don’t adapt to that reality, I think we’re at risk, frankly.”
Figueroa said successful real estate agents tend to view themselves more as experts in helping consumers navigate the home buying process vs. a traditional Realtor who would wear every single hat.
“I built out a business where I had someone who specializes in transaction management, someone who specializes in marketing and someone who specializes in data base management, while I focused on being the news source for my community and for my agents,” she said. “The agents that are winning in the industry today who have massive market share have figured out we are more than just real estate agents opening and closing doors.
“We are community pillars. We are the ones with the information, and how we deliver the message is what’s going to determine our success. We are giving consumers more options to sell a home and to buy a home than the traditional ways we were used to seeing in the past. A lot of the agents dominating in the marketplace have figured this out.”
Visit RESPA News to view “Evolving Realtor Relationships.”