Carolyn Campbell Virtual R.E. Broker Bozeman Montana

This morning I went out to feed the horses and dogs, and as usual it was pretty cold and raining. I had a stack of mail to put in the mailbox, so I stuck it inside my jacket so it would not get wet. I walked out to the mailbox and I got the newspaper.

Later, I’m finishing my breakfast with my husband and started to unzip my jacket after finally getting warm and all the mail fell out. My husband looked over and saw this event, embarrassed I asked him “Got Mail?”. He then asked, what’s wrong with your brain?

That’s when I realized my brain just doesn’t boot up as fast as it used to. Especially dropping the caffeine doesn’t help. Just like a computer when you have information overload, maybe it’s time to defrag…

Years ago, when I was just starting in real estate in Florida. I had one of those clients, who, how can I say… was mentally challenging. She was an Italian lady “Maria” from New Jersey who was looking for a home to retire to. She was a tiger, I showed her a new model home and as we were touring the home, she would ask a question, and as I was answering the question she would be asking another question. Have you ever had someone like this? It was like we were running through the home. Warp speed. I tried my best to keep up with her.

A few days later, I went back to work and for some reason I anticipated Maria having a bit of buyer’s remorse. Sure enough, she came in to my office and said, Carolyn I am so sorry about your father, and I’m sorry to have to tell you but I can not buy this home. I replied to Maria, why? She said, I had a dream, my mother, god rest her soul, was in my dream and she told me to not buy this home. I said Maria, I had a dream too, and it was my father telling me to tell you DON’T LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER. She was shocked and said I am serious, and I said so am I.

She bought the house. To this day, I don’t know what made me say this. But, deep down I feel it was my father’s spirit telling me what to say.

Thanks Dad

If we all just had a crystal ball that worked. Unfortunately, none of us are able to peek into the future to see what will happen next. We all just have to exist with what we know now. I think we all would agree that the last several years have been brutal, and it may not be much better for a little while. As such, we all all have to cope with less income.

The Internet, though, seems to be on its own warp speed. Most of us can barely keep up with all the new things that technology can now do. If this is what we know now, it seems that the real estate industry will evolve along those lines and will be headed in that direction. I can see that the real estate companies that have not already, will soon be going to the 100% commission models.

Agents will not be able to survive otherwise. Brokers will understand that the brick and mortar offices will sail into retirement as a way to keep the office overhead manageable. Most of us have already been using our virtual office- even if you haven’t realized it. We will become increasingly dependent on web sites, social media, and things like the new QR codes. If you are not using these new avenues of marketing, or worse, if you do not know what these are, you are already playing catch-up. Technology will work best if it helps you do something better, or faster, or both.

The successful real estate brokerage companies of the near future should be savvy enough that they understand the necessity of tech support for their agents- and lots of it. Brokerage support should now be focused on creative ways of marketing using the power of the virtual world. Helping agents set up, use, and integrate the pertinent types of available technology will be a key advantage to a brokerage company. Companies that offer these benefits will live on and prosper. Others probably won’t. And if what we know today has any bearing on the future, you might want to get on board. I can almost see the train leaving the station as we speak.