CityView Magazine

22 | May/June 2018 F E A T U R E Real Estate Agents Use Digital and Social Media, Video to Get Ahead and Remain Vital BY J. KYLE FOSTER PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATTHEW WONDERLY R eal estate agent Rosemary Buerger says she prefers to text her clients. She has two websites and a third in the making and one with its own app. She was an early adopter of Facebook, uses Instagram in her business as well as Pinterest for blogs, listings and decorating tips. She employs drone footage and 3-D video for clients to walk through a home and see neighborhoods. "You name it, I do it," Buerger said. "I think it's important to put out as much as you can." Buerger of Coldwell Banker Advan- tage isn't alone. Real estate agents are embracing digital media in everyday use and every way imaginable. More than 90 percent of real estate firms have a website, according to a 2017 study by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Real estate is keeping up with the times – more than half of the world's population now uses the internet, and nine in 10 American adults use the internet, according to the Pew Re- search Center, a nonpartisan fact tank based in Washington, D.C. According to the NAR study, 99 percent of home searches are done via a website – 72 percent of those via mobile device or app and 36 percent of searches are through an online video site. Townsend Real Estate is on its third website vendor in six years – redefining and improving the company's internet presence and agent capabilities in each rendition, said company vice president Vance Townsend. Current vendor Delta Group, based in Ohio, gives each Townsend agent its own website and CRM or customer relationship management system, Townsend said. Everyone has a great Rosemary Buerger of Coldwell Banker Advantage

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