Real estate professionals stake their reputations on achieving results for their clients. Correspondingly, professionals spend a significant amount of time, effort and money on researching, analyzing, preparing and marketing assignments. Outlays are also made on new technology to better communicate with clients and create efficiencies. Thus, real estate professionals deserve to know where real estate searchers are looking to find their next home, business location, or investment property. And not surprisingly, the vast majority of real estate seekers are looking to digital and mobile resources first to identify, learn about properties, and move to closing. Thus, having a robust digital presence for your brand, professional profile, and – above all – your listings is critical! This fall, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released a report on Real Estate in a Digital Age. The report reviews how homebuyers and tenants are using technology in today’s modern real estate search. The report also looks at how real estate firms and professionals use technology in their day-to-day operations. Digital and mobile real estate search methods are starting to supplant traditional means of marketing real property. According to NAR’s findings, 43% of homebuyers started their real estate search online by looking for properties for sale. Statistically, the next closest “first action” was contacting a real estate agent, at 15%. In addition, online tools are heavily relied on by property searchers, with 88% using websites for real estate information. The study shows that 94% of Millennials search using on online websites, compared to 84% of Baby Boomers, and 65% of the Silent Generation. Moreover, 50% of respondents used a mobile, tablet website, or app during their real estate search. Notbaly, 51% of Millennials found their home on the internet versus Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation, who found their homes more frequently through a real estate agent or open house. Knowing what information real estate searchers deem useful is also important for real estate professionals. Overall, NAR’s research indicated that 83% of real estate searchers found photos very useful, 79% found detailed property information important, 41% liked interactive maps, 40% leaned towards virtual tours, while 37% found neighborhood information very useful. Interestingly, the NAR highlighted differences between what online information Millenials and Baby Boomers found useful. The study states that “Photos and online information about properties were more important to Millennials whereas virtual tours and real estate agent contacts were more important to Baby Boomers.” Also, virtual tours were “very useful” for 45% of Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation, but only “useful” for 36% of Millennials. In less than two decades, where homebuyers find the home they purchased has also changed significantly. A table provided by the NAR shows that in 2001 only 8% of homebuyers found their new home online. In 2014, the internet is where 43% of homebuyers found the home they bought. In contrast, print newspaper advertisement accounted for 7% in 2001 and drop to 1% by 2014. A real estate professional’s technology capabilities are also critical to business and keeping up with clients. Not surprisingly, over 90% of respondents used e-mail, laptops/desk tops computers, and smart phones daily. Similarly, the NAR found that over 90%of respondents used their mobile devices to communicate with clients. Communication came in various types of contact. For instance, 93% preferred to communicate with their clients through email, 85% through text messaging, and 35% through instant messaging. Finally, while technology is an ever increasing necessity for today’s real estate firms and professionals, many practitioners are concerned about keeping up with technology.  Specifically, 46% of all firms cited keeping up with technology as one of the biggest challenges facing their firm in the next two years. For commercial firms, this increased to 53%. Not to worry. Let our team at Agorafy worry about technology, so that you can get back to closing deals. At Agorafy, our team is working tirelessly to build a digital home for the real estate community to market, research, connect and close more business – in step with the today’s property seekers and practices. To that end, Agorafy’s powerful online platform supports all property types, including commercial, residential and investment sales properties. With Agorafy, users are able to market available spaces and properties with high resolution photos, media and videos, research current market data and identify target real estate, and connect with real estate professionals and prospective buyers, investors, and tenants all from the touch of a button. Quickly search and filter properties based on your criteria or requirements. Then, review property specifics, listing details, tailored multimedia and direct contact information, so that you can take next steps. Agorafy is compatible across desktop and web-enabled phone and mobile devices, so that you and your clients’ experiences are seamless whether you are at home or the office, in the field, or traveling on the go. So, visit agorafy.com and download the “Agorafy New York Real Estate” App available for free download on iOS and Android to start connecting with colleagues, clients and the public based in the shared values of transparency and better data! Richard Du is the founder and CEO of Agorafy, New York, N.Y. Tags: