A lot of Realtors live in fear that technology will eventually replace their role in the home buying and selling process. Is it true that we’ll end up being edged out of our businesses by machines? What parts of the real estate process are actually enhanced by technology? What are some of the ways to help foreign buyers and provide value? On this episode Simon Chen, the CEO and President of ERA Real Estate, shares why our industry stands to benefit greatly from tech.
 

 
The consumer experience is going to benefit greatly from technology. -Simon Chen
 
Takeaways + Tactics


None of what we do will be made obsolete by technology. In fact, technology will make things easier for us, and better for our clients.


Not having tech tools at your disposal takes away your competitive edge in today’s market.


Making the home appealing to a broad a spectrum is the key to any staging approach.


When it comes to foreign buyers, translating listings to native languages is a huge piece of value.


 
At the start of the show, Simon talked about his background, how he started in investment banking, and the strategy he used to target foreign buyers. Next, we talked about why staging is so prevalent in real estate today. We also talked about why we have no reason to be afraid of technology. Towards the end, we discussed where the luxury market is going.
We also covered:

How to leverage tech resources
How to get more eyeball traffic on your listings
How tax affects buyer behavior

 
Technology isn’t going to edge us out. In fact, it’s going to enhance what we do. Even though the buyers rely on tech to find properties, our work begins after they’ve found the house. The consumer buying experience and the broker/agent experience is going to get better. Instead of fearing technology, we should welcome and leverage it because it will make our jobs easier and make us more competitive.
 
Guest Bio
Simon Chen is the President & CEO at ERA Real Estate. Go to https://exploreera.com  for more information. Before this, Chen was the COO at Realty One Group. He also founded real estate investment and technology consulting firm Century Pacific Group and worked as senior director of corporate development and strategy at realtor.com and its operator, Move, Inc. For more information on ERA Real Estate, visit https://www.era.com/