NAHREP is hosting its National Convention and Housing Policy Summit on March 16-18 in Washington DC. Almost everyone I speak to these days is talking about how technology is affecting the real estate industry, and especially how it is changing the way real estate agents prospect and conduct the sales process. For years, companies like Zillow and Realtor.com generated traffic and sold leads to agents. This model is being phased out and replaced with a more efficient process where lead generators make initial contact, pre-qualify buyers or sellers, and hand a warm lead to an agent in real time. This is better for the customer and better for the agent. However, it will drastically reduce the number of agents that are needed nationwide. NAHREP will host a session where executives from some of the top online firms will discuss these trends and which agents are likely to succeed the most. For information about the NAHREP convention and other sessions for lenders and agents, visit www.nahrep.org/convention.
Realtors help families navigate the largest and most intimidating financial transaction of their lifetime. They serve as guides, counselors, cheerleaders, and protectors. Many of them remain friends of their clients for life. America is at its best when its citizens are stakeholders.
The usual solutions will not solve the current housing affordability crisis. Any solution that does not begin and end with a sustainable plan to radically increase housing supply is just noise. The barriers to increasing housing supply are complex and require the crucial cooperation of both public and private sectors, and more education.
It has been long understood that a nation of stakeholders makes for a strong union, and for that reason, closing the minority homeownership gap has been a goal and a topic of discussion for decades.