Agent Beverly Jetson hops into her BeeBee electro-pod and synchs the vehicle’s navigation system and her mobile computer’s appointment book and transaction manager.
A soothing, telephone-operator voice methodically recites, "Meeting with Roger Byers at the 5th Street Metro Station, estimated time of arrival …"
A subtle flash of numbers and arrows on the upper right side of the windshield guides her to Byers — he had temporarily activated his EarGo’s present-location code to help Jetson find him. Byers waves as Jetson’s BeeBee whirs toward the curb. "Didn’t wait long?" she asks.
"No, the train just got here. Great timing," he answers. Jetson unfurls her g-Wrapper transparent screen, locking open its curved frame as she hands it to Byers. She levers the vehicle slowly forward and the audio directions begin. She had selected a home-tour sequence with assistance from a program that cross-references detailed buyer preferences with a real-time listings database. "Three matching homes routed. First home, at 1715 Madison …"
The screen on Byers’ lap glows with a three-dimensional projected map identifying the location of the homes on the tour. Byers quickly motions with one hand to cycle through the particulars on each home, fixing on a fly-through rendering of home No. 3.
"I think you’ll like the third one best — I know you’re a sucker for solar panels and XiFi wall-screens," Jetson jokes.
Welcome to 2020. And to one possible future for the real estate industry.
Inman News is exploring what the next decade may hold for real estate professionals in "2020 Re-Envision: The Future of Real Estate Brokerage," an editorial project that features a survey and related articles.
How will the services that agents perform change in the next 10 years? Will there be more or fewer real estate agents? Offices? Multiple listing services? Will the structure of real estate compensation change? How will agents spend most of their working hours in the year 2020?
Take the 2020 Re-Envision survey (at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/brokerage2020) for a chance to win a $200 Amazon.com gift certificate or two FREE tickets to the upcoming Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco.
Also, Inman News is accepting guest essays from readers who offer their future vision of the real estate brokerage industry. These essays can focus on a particular technology or real estate service or can take a broader view of industry practices and the industry landscape in the year 2020.
Inman News is also offering a $200 Amazon.com gift certificate as a prize to the writer of a guest essay that offers the most compelling portrait of real estate’s future. Send your guest essay to: future@inman.com. The deadline for entries has been extended to Friday, March 12.
Click the image below to take the survey:
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What’s your opinion? Send a letter to the editor.