The Role of Real Estate Agents in this Economy

The Real Estate industry is shifting from traditional broker and typical customer relationship that previously provided for individual home ownership to more of a real estate servicing mode that involves working for a different customer base. The downturn in the housing market has affected the careers and subsequently the incomes of many real estate companies and real estate agents. The current economy has caused the retooling of the technology skills of many agents and real estate companies that depended completely on the typical homeowner purchase transaction. The era of REO (Real Estate Owned) by banks or other institutions is a prevalent manner of sales in this economy. REO’s provide the realtor a challenge in mastering the technology utilized by the REO as well as the following revenue results: 1. BPO (Broker Price Opinions) which gives the realtor’s assessment of the current value of the property based on recent sales and the current condition of the property with repairs or without repairs. 2. Listing of the property by the realtor in an as is condition for sale on the open market. These types of properties were considered prime for investors to buy and sell at a higher price until the recent credit freeze. Can the real estate professional employ traditional marketing methods that work for typical entrepreneurs or do these times create the need for a shift in marketing tactics to ensure that the realtor entrepreneur stay financially secure