Big topic today…
How to future-proof your real estate business. I got the idea to share this info from genius real estate marketer Dean Jackson.
So, back when I had a J.O.B., I remember when we got a payphone at the construction work site. Believe it or not, that was a huge technological advance back then. Eventually we got a trailer that had a fax machine(!) — we were rolling then! Oh man.
Well, obviously, technology has radically changed every industry including real estate.
I’ve heard realtors talk about how they didn’t have an online MLS — they used to have a book that would come out every two weeks. And the only way anybody could find out any information about housing back then was by contacting a realtor because only realtors had the book. So, the realtors had a monopoly on all of that information.
Fast forward 40 years, every piece of information on any property you could ever want is available from your cell phone… Redfin, Zillow, Homesnap, tons of apps that help our investing business.
On Homesnap, you can take a picture of a house and it recognizes where you are located and automatically gives you information about the house — who owns it, if it’s listed or not, who the realtor is. Amazing.
So, technology has changed our industry over the years… but think about what has not changed:
- average number of days on market
- percentage of the discount from the original list/asking price
- average days to close
- difficulties when getting financing
Why have those not changed?
Well, because that’s the last 100 feet in a real estate transaction — whether you’re doing traditional real estate or wholesaling, that last 100 feet can’t be digitized, technology can’t improve it… because it’s people.
People can be irrational. You have to negotiate. You have to talk to people, you have to talk to sellers, you have to negotiate the value of a property or the price of a property or the amount of repairs… and that stuff requires skill.
That’s why I’ve always said that sales is the million-dollar skill. Technology cannot help with your sales negotiating skills. Period.
All this advancement in technology just can’t take the place of sales. The art and skill of talking to a seller, building rapport and trust, talking about price, negotiating, going back and forth, playing hardball when you have to, playing nice when you need to — tech can’t replace that.
So, knowing this, how do you future-proof your business?
Well, when you’re looking at your wholesaling operation or your lease option business, figure out what is going to be disrupted and embrace that technology AND think about what parts of your business that technology won’t change.
Because both are going to happen…
Think about what websites and CRMs and VAs have done to evolve our business, making it easier…
Then add in the parts of a transaction that will still require actual people skills.
To succeed going forward you have to lean in to tech and make sure you are really good at the stuff that technology cannot help you with.
That’s how you future-proof.
Remember, sales is the million-dollar skill. Learn it from practicing, from coaches and mentors, from books, YouTube and podcasts.
Check out Claude Diamond. He’s a mentor friend of mine. He’s been teaching sales for a long, long time. Go watch his videos. Go look at Grant Cardone. Ryan Stewman. There are a lot of guys out there who teach sales and some of their stuff is free.
Technology is awesome, but you can’t outsource sales to a software program or app.
You need both: tech and sales skills. Beef up yours.
