Some 18,000 people gathered in New Orleans this month to look at the future of real estate brokerage. Inside the massive Ernest N. Morial Convention Center booth after booth at the 2014 Realtors Conference & Expo extolled the joys and efficiencies of the new electronic economy and the technologies which can make brokers and lenders more efficient and profitable.
For at least the past two decades ads and conventions have consistently presented brokers with alluring views of a streamlined, productive and highly-profitable business model, one with the ability to do more transactions in less time and with less work. For those with the skills and savvy to master these new technologies the message of “better days ahead” has largely come true: A small brokerage with good technologies and an MLS membership can be every bit as competitive as the largest firm in the state. It doesn’t need a massive capital infusion, fancy offices or an army of licensees to succeed.