The more things change, the more they stay the same.  I’m reading my real estate agent/broker magazine today, and the entire issue is devoted to new technologies, cloud stuff, virtual broker stuff, stuff in the cloud stuff.   But not a single part in the same article, is the connection we are supposed to have, which is person to person.

Here’s the irony, the entire article was pivoting around completely virtual real estate offices.  Meaning, no brick and mortar, it’s all “log into the web” and cloud your way around the office.  Need to talk to the managing broker, click here……..talk to another agent in the office, click there.   One of the companies that espouses this concept…….you gotta get ready for this motto which is………”value personal connectdness”.  What the huh?

Some how, somewhere, personal connectedness went from me to you, eye ball to eye ball, to me and you, in a virtual world, avatars and all I guess.   I’m fine with re-branding, but this is truly ridiculous.  Our realtor brethren who think a text message is connectedness, who think a virtual office is connectedness, who think quality real estate happens in the cloud, are out to lunch.  And folks, if your broker is the kind that you can only text and facebook, run for the hills, because they have no clue on what a deal really looks like for you.

I’ve been doing my craft for 25 years.  I’ve managed a ton of agents, and the agents that spend all their time at home being a virtual agent, even before and now for sure, with the Internet abound, produce very little for themselves, and their clients too.  I’m not saying you need to be in the office 8 hours a day, no way at all, but what I’m saying is this business is boots on the ground in the final analysis.  People need to stop texting each other as the only means of communication, need to meet in person, and use technology as a tool, not as a means.

I’m not going to rain on anyone’s parade, we need the cloud (pardon the pun), but what the consumer needs more is agents talking to each other, and working in relative means to get the job done. Otherwise, the loser is the consumer, and isn’t the consumer who realtors serve every single day?