Six years ago, we published an article that predicted what a day in the life of a U.S. real estate agent would look like in 2020. (Read the original post here.) We imagined a life where our daily routines were interconnected and assisted with the newest technology.
Well, no one could have predicted what actually happened in 2020, but how much did we get right about the life of a real estate agent in 2021?
We Thought Smart Home Technology Would Be Commonplace.
In 2015, smart home technology was becoming more popular, and we imagined how it could ease us into our daily routines. Lights, shades and coffee makers would all be automated, and you would wake up gently to the smell of your morning brew.
Happily, this is possible in 2021. Many consumers and real estate agents are enjoying these automated features and more as part of their day. Now, our smartphones and apps give us the ability to control our thermostats, turn on/off lights, open doors and gates, and even monitor and feed our pets virtually from wherever we are!
We Thought Voice-Activated Electronic Personal Assistants Were Going to Be a Key Part of Our Day.
They certainly are! Voice-activated, electronic personal assistants like Alexa, Siri and Google have fully integrated into many of our lives. They can update calendars and add to to-do or shopping lists. They can read you the local news, give you the weather report and tell you what’s on today’s agenda. They can even play games and read your kids a story! You can send voice messages to your clients or anyone connected in your contacts to remind them about showings or documents that need to be signed. It’s probable that voice-activated technology will continue to gain popularity and we’ll find new ways to integrate it into our daily routines.
We Thought We’d All Have Electric, Self-Driving Cars.
Not yet. Many real estate agents have made the switch to hybrid and electric cars, and we’ve seen a lot more on the road lately, but self-driving cars are still not the norm. But with Tesla, Apple and now Volkswagen manufacturing their own self-driving cars, it’s likely that this will become more widespread in the near future!
We Said We Wouldn’t Need a Brick-And-Mortar Office.
At the time, we had no idea how true this would become! The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift to cloud-based, virtual, and mobile technologies, reducing our need for a physical office. We are able to do much of our job on the go!
We Knew Social Media Would Be a Key Part of Keeping in Touch With Clients.
We certainly were right about this one. Social media is more important than ever and using it to connect with clients and prospects is a critical part of an agent’s marketing efforts. It can provide you with valuable clues as to who in your network is getting ready to make a big life change so you be ready to assist them when the time comes!
We Predicted That We Would Rely on Video Chats and Virtual Listing Appointments.
Another accurate prediction! In 2015, no one had ever heard of Zoom…but today, it’s a huge part of our workflow! For most agents, video chats and FaceTiming with your team, your clients or your assistant is most likely a daily occurrence.
We Imagined Open Houses Would Be Transformed by Technology.
We were right about this one, but not in the way we thought. We imagined that thumbprint-enabled lockboxes and TouchID visitor registration would become the norm. We also envisioned the possibility of using beacons on a property to determine where in the home visitors spent the most and least amount of time. And we even went so far as to think that biometric technology could be applied to an open house to gauge a visitor’s interest in the home!
These types of innovations have not caught on, but open houses have been transformed. Virtual tours and real estate videos have become so advanced that it’s like having an open house available online 24-hours a day!
We Thought Immediate Follow Up and Personalized Preferences Would Become More Important.
How right we were! Personalizing service and customizing communications to meet your client’s preference is par for the course these days. Agents must be ready to switch easily from email to phone calls to texts and to direct messages depending on each client. And quick follow-up to leads and inquiries is more important than ever!
We Thought There’d Be a Greater Use of 3D Virtual Tours.
We could not have been more right about this one. Over the last few years, 3D tours and virtual tech became an essential part of a property listing – especially during the pandemic. Now prospective buyers can put themselves IN the house and explore it virtually without having to step foot on the property.
We Imagined a World Where Houses Would Be Bought and Sold Completely Online.
The advances in 3D tech, drone photography, virtual tours and remote access make it possible to easily buy and sell a house online. The advent of iBuying and instant offers is another way this innovation has come into play. It’s likely that this trend will continue and become much more common in the near future.
How Century 21 Redwood Realty Uses Tech to Make Your Job Easier.
If the past 6 years have taught us anything, it’s that technology will continue to be more integrated into our home and daily lives. The circumstances of 2020 caused us to embrace these innovations even faster than we might have before.
The real estate industry adapts quickly, and our clients expect us to use the latest and greatest tools to market their home, connect with them and handle the real estate transaction from end to end. They expect modern, interactive and sleek marketing materials and cutting-edge technology.
At CENTURY 21 Redwood Realty, we support our agents by giving them access to best-in-class systems and tools.
Easy-To-Use Backend Systems
accessRedwood is our intuitive backend system that houses all of the systems and tools available to our Redwood agents. It’s easy to use and has everything you need in one place.
#1-Rated Real Estate CRM Software
Redwood CRM includes an AI-powered smart element to assist our agents in nurturing their database, cultivating leads, collaborating with clients and selling more houses! The platform includes: highly customizable agent websites, cloud-based CRM, an open house app that seamlessly integrates into your database and more!
Redwood Marketing Studio 2.0
Our new, exclusive marketing tool helps our agents seamlessly create their own social media graphics, listing presentations, videos, brochures, postcards and more, and it also provides MLS integration! It can automatically pull listing information into your marketing pieces – which is a huge time saver.
Boost! Social Media Ad Creator Tool
This tool helps you easily create social media ads to market your listings and generate leads.
Cloud-based CMA
Our agents can create customized listing presentations using pre-designed templates. They are interactive and support links and video. Easily pull in information from the MLS to populate your presentation and generate comparable market analyses.
These powerful tools are available free for Redwood agents as just one more way Redwood can help you thrive and grow your business in an increasingly fast-paced and tech-driven industry.
