What is the most important challenge facing the industry?

Jernstedt: I would say that the most important challenge is the public thinking that agents are less significant than in the past. That is, consumers thinking they can buy and sell without the use of an agent, which is a huge mistake. The challenge is in educating the public as to what a huge mistake that is.

Corral: Real estate, in general, has many challenges. Take immigration, for example. Realtors are generally in favor of immigration legislation, because it allows more people to buy and advances the economy; the challenge comes in understanding the politics behind the policies.

Furthermore, some people lost their homes a few years ago, and though they’re now returning to the market, they have difficulty with credit. Inventory is low right now, and we’ve been experiencing some of the lowest inventory numbers in many years. Both credit and inventory are big challenges.

Siciliano: Compensation for website traffic is an important challenge. On the consumer’s side, it’s difficult to find reliable information about individual properties. Brokers are challenged – it’s difficult cutting through all of that clutter, because there are so many third party websites and different syndicated websites – but they are succeeding nonetheless by showing their value to the consumer.

It’s also an opportunity, because our agents are finding ways to cut through that clutter.  Those consumers can find an agent who is truly knowledgeable about housing in terms of the market, and who has reliable information about available properties.

Gill: The thing that keeps me up in the middle of the night is the concept of agency representation. Are we really doing a good job of representing our clients? I’ve even heard, in some cases, organizations trying to put together systems whereby agents can share their pocket listings before they go in the MLS. If we’ve looked at what’s in the best interests of a seller, the absolute best interest of a seller is making sure that every human being that might be interested in buying that house knows it’s on the market.

If there are two agents in the agency office, and one agent says he has a seller and the other agent a buyer, and they get together and sell the property before it even hits the market (especially a spring market like this that we’re moving into), that is not in the seller’s best interest.

Related to that is dual agency. It’s not necessarily in the best interest of the client. A dual agent can’t aggressively represent both sides’ interests. You have to step back and basically act as a facilitator.

Sobin: I think the biggest challenge is how to take an industry that is based on communication and collaboration and find a way to interact with the new buyers and sellers who really don’t want to be communicated with. We have to bridge that gap by changing the way we work with clients.

Millennial buyers and sellers are very “less is more,” and free time is almost a thing of the past. They don’t want a half hour phone call. I think we’re going to end up finding a better way of communicating with people that goes beyond email, something more app-based.

I encourage people to look beyond what works for them and try to find what works for the individual. You can’t push a client into accepting a phone call if it’s not their preferred way of communicating.