Getting your player ready...
Inside Real Estate News: Lane, you recently returned from the “Gathering of Eagles” conference hosted by Steve Murray, principal of Real Trends. (Real Trends is a real estate consulting, communications, and analytic firm based in Castle Rock.) Can you share some the things you took away from that real estate industry conference, which brought together representatives of many of the nation’s largest real estate brokerage companies?
Lane Hornung: Steve is probably as knowledgeable about the real estate industry as anyone out there. He has been an observer of the industry for more than 30 years. It’s interesting to hear his opinions of the trends that will drive the industry over the next decade. But what I think is really interesting is to think in terms of how the trends will affect the consumer – the homebuyer and the home seller, and the real estate professionals who service them.
IREN: What challenged do the homebuyers of the future have to look forward to, and what will they expect and demand from their Realtors?
Lane: One challenge will be financing. It will be harder for them. They are going to have to squirrel away some nuts before they buy. The financing environment never will get as loose as it once was, at least for a very long time, if ever. They are going to have to buy the hard way. More buyers are going to be putting 20 percent down.
IREN: Other challenges?
Lane: They are going to face, potentially, the industry not keeping up with what they want and what they expect and deserve. And they are going to have an unprecedented access to data. They already do and they are going to have access to even more data in the future.
IREN: So with this wealth of real estate data, will they still need a Realtor?
Lane: Absolutely. They are going to need a professional they can trust. A professional who doesn’t blow smoke. Professionals who actually base their opinions on data. Essentially, they are looking for professionals who tell it like it is. It’s like going to the doctor. You do not go to the doctor and just expect the doctor to give you a rosy picture. You expect doctors to give their professional opinion, whether it is good or bad. That means the Realtor needs to have the skill and expertise to give them an expert opinion that has weight behind it. It means our industry is going to have to dig down and really know and understand the market.
IREN: Thanks, Lane.
Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com.
