•Special to Realty/Builder Connection
Real estate will remain a high-touch business even as the industry embraces the latest in technology changes, because that’s what consumers want.
That’s the forecast Jacksonville’s Cathy Whatley, president-elect of the National Association of REALTORS®, made to technology vendors and real estate industry leaders in San Francisco last month at the Real Estate Connect conference.
“I predict that the real estate industry will adopt emerging new technologies that support the underlying premise of the market — which is one-to-one marketing. And despite technology, real estate will remain a very high-touch business,” Whatley told the general session.
“Even technologically savvy buyers today want the high-touch features that REALTORS provide, even when using this tool called the Internet. NAR is now in this business of leading the way. We are committed to bringing about this new information marketplace today, tomorrow, and well into the future. And we will continue to do what we do best, which is to touch homebuyers in ways that technology cannot — to offer our expertise, our advice, and our passion for service,” she said.
Whatley is president and owner of Buck & Buck Realtors Inc. in the Arlington area.