An aging industry scrambles to draw Generation X agents
who speak the tech-savvy language of today's home buyers
By Kate M. Jackson, Globe Correspondent | April 27, 2008
When Lisa Johnson began working as a broker in 2006, she made a rookie mistake.
Instead of following her Generation Xer instincts, Johnson hewed to the practiced routine of seasoned brokers by chauffeuring buyers to and from properties and acting as a liaison for sellers.
It didn't generate a single sale among today's younger, more tech-savvy home buyers.
"People, especially my peers, aren't looking for a ride to the property or a go-between; they want to IM me to find out how big the basement is," said Johnson, 33, who works for Coldwell Banker in Haverhill. "They often have more information on the properties than most realtors. They don't want a new friend; they want answers fast and will make decisions quickly when you provide them. I know this because I'm the same way."
Young brokers such as Johnson are in great need. The real estate industry is getting older - the median age of brokers is 52 - while customers are young - the median age of first-time buyers in Massachusetts is 32. Traditional approaches don't work on this younger set, who prefer to do most of the legwork themselves and appreciate a more laissez-faire relationship with their brokers.
Last fall Deloitte Research released a study urging the real estate industry to attract brokers from Generation Y - those born between 1982 and 1993 - or face huge shortages of professionals in the coming years. The study reports that 58 percent of the real estate workforce, mostly baby boomers, will be of retirement age by 2010.
So the industry is now scrambling to recruit young agents such as Johnson, those in their 20s and 30s who have established online identities, are fluent in IM and text messaging, and regulars on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.
"It's certainly on our radar to try to bring younger people into the industry," said Susan Renfrew, the president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. "Ours has always been an industry that tends to attract people as a second career choice, which explains the demographic. We're trying to put the word out that real estate is a great first career choice as well."
And one way to recruit is through the very medium that defines the younger generation: Renfrew said many agencies are using podcasts, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other forms of social media to help to connect with young candidates.
And older brokers are learning to use the same tools to deliver services and information in the formats preferred by the younger buyers.
"We're always trying to attract younger brokers to the industry, but we also train our existing ones in Internet presence and strategy as well as video technology and Web-to-market development," said Mark Lippolt, executive vice president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in New England. "We also are educating them on green housing and smart growth as that is becoming more important to today's buyers."
If these older brokers need any convincing, perhaps Johnson's experience will persuade them to embrace technology.
After three months without a sale, Johnson switched gears. She created her own website, with a blog and instant messaging avatar. She posted video of available homes on YouTube and even advertised some of her homes for sale on Craigslist.
"Instead of face-to-face or phone calls, I now stay connected to my customers the way they prefer, which tends to be through chat and text messages," she said. "I even started working with some buyers and sellers through online news groups."
Then business poured in through the Internet pipe. Johnson sold so many homes that she was recently named by Coldwell Banker as its "Rookie of the Year."
Young brokers such as Johnson also bring an intuitive knowledge of demographics of the industry's audience, Lippolt said. For instance, younger agents don't assume a younger single buyer should have a cosigner, or that a gay couple in the South End isn't interested in the school system.
"This is why it's great to have agents moving in the same social circles as young buyers," he said. Older brokers can look up statistics to find out that, for example, one in five home buyers is a single woman or that 18 percent of all gay households include a child. "But the younger brokers just know this intuitively, they are their peers and friends," Lippolt said.
Younger agents may already be working in collaboration with their friends, said Kostas Kofitsas, a part-time buyers' agent with Norfolk Realty in Dedham, who works exclusively with friends and family. At 30 years old, Kofitsas said he understands that his buyers - people like him - aren't willing to change their schedules around to go look at property.
For example, Scott Brown of South Boston didn't want to miss any of his weeknight softball games to look for a house. So when he learned that his teammate, Kofitsas, is a real estate agent (who didn't want to miss games, either), they started working together.
The 37-year-old Brown considers himself a "rabid texter" and knew that Kofitsas would appreciate the kind of business relationship he would prefer.
"I don't like agents pushing properties on me. I'd prefer to do the house hunting on my own online and go to Sunday open houses on my own, and then text my realtor when I'm ready," he said. "I knew Kostas and I would work well like that."
While today's younger buyers prefer the hands-off approach, younger brokers like Paul Campano, 30, also understand that when buyers are ready to reach them, they want to connect immediately.
"I have a Facebook account that lets people see the properties I currently have for sale as well as numerous ways to reach me. I also have Meebo on my personal website where clients can chat with me live when I'm logged in or leave me a message if I'm not," said Campano, who works with Keller Williams Realty in Cambridge.
In addition to being available 24/7, brokers today are also looking for innovative ways to answer the inevitable question from buyers: "If I'm doing all the legwork, why am I paying you all this commission," according to Walter Hall, the chairman and founder of HouseSavvy.com in Norwell.
Hall, who has been in the real estate industry since the 1960s, said he knew brokers had to change their business models - and fast - when the business got younger and became dominated by technology.
"I tell my sellers, 'Let's talk reality. Buyers today know everything. By the time they show up at your open house, they'll have researched comparable and recent sales, what the neighbors paid for their house. They'll have looked up the house on Google Earth, they'll tell you straight out: 'Hey, this house isn't worth $515,000, it's worth $480,000' - and they'll be right," he said.
Meanwhile, Johnson's approach continues to pay off. She recently placed a home under agreement that is on a street where other homes for sale remain idle.
"The buyers saw a posting on my blog and came to our open house that weekend and then wrote their offer," she said. "No blog post, no buyer. Technology sold this one."
© Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
