Two years ago I took part in a large realtors' conference in New Orleans. Wow, what a city! It offers a captivating blend of music and alcohol, masks and mystery, magnificent cuisine and a carnival on every corner. I suggest marking it on the map and visiting in the middle of the week, at the beginning of Mardi Gras. Don't forget to bring your green vaccine passport.
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Then came the fall. The city lifted me up, and the property brought me down. It was there that I realized what the weak link is and who the technology is going to devour first.
I immediately got a sense of déjà vu. In 2006 I was summoned to a brainstorming session at Israel's leading newspaper. They weren't sure how to combine their print notice boards with their digital listings. After all the important people present had expressed their learned opinions, I said softly: "The print board is now taking its last breaths, and I suggest you help it along with a mercy killing." The rest, as they say, is history.
It is extremely hard to give up something or someone who's been good to us. It's hard to change a business model that still works and bet on the next one. Yet at that conference in New Orleans I knew I was done with real estate agencies. I realized that realtors and property sellers had to find a new home for their own businesses, develop advanced work methods, and soar on the new winds of technology, which would very soon have us all buying and selling apartments online.
Do you see why I'm optimistic? In this new world there's no need to call a realtor, who transfers half his income to a real estate agency, which transfers half its income to the local realty network, which transfers half its income to the American realty network.
In this new world, there'll be no need to see photoshopped pictures and read glorified descriptions of run-down apartments, then visit 20 apartments in godforsaken places, most of which we would have ruled out immediately if we could visit them remotely. The new world won't be fake! On the contrary – what you see will be what you get.
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In this world we'll be able to truly, yes, truly see the area and the neighborhood, enter the building, tour the lobby, take the elevator down to the parking garage, go back up and see the apartments we like, tour the rooms, and see the real view out of every window.
Then, with the push of a button, we'll fly to our next destination, till we find the apartment of our dreams. Tell me it isn't a dream. I'm sure that now you're optimistic, too.
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