A. One thing is for sure: it won’t be based upon the Sears Catalog mentality. Today’s websites still base their approach to selling real estate around a “database” of listing sheets. And as you know, I’ve written many times that the listing sheet is pathetic. It forces everything into a flat space, that is little more than a “retread” of a printed sheet of paper. Even online, with a few dozen photos and a fish-eye-lens virtual tour, the entire approach is flat, columnar, and ugly. And most of all, it’s not “interactive.” Now, go look at the Mercedes-Benz website and see how they sell cars: The database portion only serves to help you “find” a model. After that, Mercedes does everything it can to get you into the driver’s seat. It’s a simulated driving experience, with video, sound, music all geared towards your emotions. Even their virtual tours let you look around the car from the “driving” position, as if you were turning your head and touching the leather, the controls, the wheel. It’s time to move away from the “you can print out a listing sheet” model and get people emotionally involved in properties. The future real estate website will look more like YouTube and less like a glorified database. Otherwise, Gen X and Gen Y will totally tune out.
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