By Rey Post
Associate Broker, Sotheby’s International Realty &
Host of the “All Things Real Estate” Radio Show
September 23, 2018
During the first hour of today’s “All Things Real Estate” radio show, my guests and I marked a special anniversary and how it applies to the practice of real estate.
The show marked the 134th anniversary of when American statistical engineer Herman Hollerith patents his mechanical tabulating machine on September 23, 1884. This event has been named the beginning of data processing, with Hollerith being called the father of information processing. The company he formed was later the entity that actually started the International Business Machine Company (IBM).
This historic occasion is important because information processing—the acquisition, recording, organization, retrieval, display, and dissemination of data—is at the heart of any successful real estate, or business activity.
An article offered this month by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), spoke to the fact that data is a powerful tool, with infinite real estate applications. First and foremost—as the article details—you, as a real estate professional, can use data to evaluate properties, prices, current inventory, and local market trends. After all, whether your clients are buying or selling, their top priority is getting the best price.
However, many other types of data also play a role in shaping your practice as a real estate professional. As a global broker, you can use data and market insights to:
- Pinpoint global opportunities in your market. Data reveals many key facts about international connecting points, each leading to residential and/or commercial property transactions.
- Market your services to a global audience. Once you understand where opportunities exist, it’s much easier to decide where and how to attract new business.
- Promote your market to the world. What’s unique about your area, and how can you use those points to appeal to international buyers?
- Help clients make property decisions. Typically, global buyers need more assistance identifying and purchasing a suitable property, compared to someone who is intimately familiar with your market.
So “Rey’s Real Estate Recommendation” this week is for real estate professionals to recognize that—as the NAR article reveals—buyers and sellers want to work with a real estate professional they trust—a quality that requires more than honesty and integrity. Trust also implies knowledge and competence. To earn your clients’ trust, a real estate pro needs to make sure that they relying on the most accurate and useful resources to help guide their decisions.
I also want to remind you that another place to learn about other home buying and selling elements, is by joining us each Sunday on the “All Things Real Estate” radio show at 12-2pm Mountain Time.
Also, if you go to my website, you can send me your own real estate questions, or suggestions for topics that he will handle on the program (that’s ATREradio.com). I will treat your questions confidentially and will send you answers I hope will help you in your own real estate activities.