By David Thompson, Chief Marketing Officer, Auction.com
I’ve been reflecting lately about the power of Internet technologies to restructure entire industries and bring buyers and sellers together from anywhere in the world. I’ve also been thinking about how the fears these technologies initially provoke hardly ever materialize.
When I helped launch WebEx 15 years ago, I heard people express concerns like “Clients won’t want to see presentations remotely” or “People will be scared to share applications” or even “Won’t the computer just take over and give my presentation?” It’s hard to believe that these fears were so prevalent, now that WebEx and web conferencing are so widespread in remote sales, marketing and support. Thanks to tactics like webinars and live online demos, people are closing more deals and reaching further and further afield to find new customers.
As Auction.com keeps getting bigger and more successful at moving more real estate transactions online, I hear brokers and agents express similar fears that “online auctions are going to put us out of business.” Just as with the concerns once expressed about WebEx, nothing could be further from the truth!
The Internet has allowed Auction.com to build the world’s biggest online real estate marketplace. With the tremendous reach of our digital advertising and sales efforts (often using WebEx!), buyers and sellers all over the globe participate in real estate transactions on our platform in real time.
As I write this, I’m sitting in a meeting with Centaline, the largest real estate firm in Hong Kong. We’re brainstorming about partnerships that could help plug Hong Kong buyers into our inventory. The potential for companies like Centaline to expose their investor client base to investment opportunities like those on the Auction.com platform is only possible because of the ease and convenience with which these potential buyers can learn about and bid on these properties—with their brokers.
The Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) introduced us to Centaline. With their incredible wealth of U.S. market knowledge, AREAA’s members could partner with the agents at Centaline to provide invaluable advice and guidance to Hong Kong investors who want use Auction.com to invest in U.S property. Our broker co-op and VIP buyers programs are specifically designed to encourage them.
The future of real estate is going to be a “hybrid” model – a combination of the human touch, personal trust and deal curation that a Realtor® can deliver, along with the global reach, transparency and efficiency that the Internet brings. As real estate moves online, deals will go faster, become more transparent for everyone involved in the transaction, and be easier to close. That’s the future of real estate, and it’s nothing to fear.
