People often ask me how real estate has changed over the years and I always answer by saying, “I think every business has changed and you have to be willing to adapt to the changes”. 

When people ask me what one thing has changed the most in my 28 years of selling real estate on Hilton Head, I always answer by saying one thing: the internet.

In the “old days on Hilton Head” the Realtors had all the information.  Since we do not have “for sale” signs on Hilton Head Island, the only way you could find out what was listed for sale was to talk to a real estate Agent or ocassionally look at the Sunday newspaper where all the Realtors used to advertise. 

With the internet, now purchasers have all the knowledge of the properties that are available, trends, what has sold – more information than they know what to do with.  That has definately changed how people look at real estate.

In the “old days” people used to come to our office and we would ask questions about what they were looking for and we would recommend properties they should look at.  Now it seems like they walk in with their list, tell us what they would like to look at, and when we make suggestions they sometimes say that they have already seen those properties on the Internet and are not interested in them.

A lot of times buyers don’t end up buying what they come in to look at initially.  A good Realtor should be able to tell what the customer is really wanting by what they pick. 

It has definitely changed how we do business.  Of course, there is always room for personal attention and a good Realtor will be able to help people pick the right property by asking questions and gathering information based on what they say they are interested in.

I have a feeling that 20 years from now I will be writing another blog and I’ll be talking about how it has changed.  Change is one of the few things we know we will always have.