Whistler & Pemberton Real Estate BLOG

Firstly, it is a good idea to all start on the same page in terms of understanding the definition of the term.  So, lets start with just that, the definition of the word.

Removing the  middleman. The term is a popular buzzword used to describe many Internet -based businesses that use the World Wide Web to sell products directly to customers rather than going through traditional retail channels. By eliminating the middlemen, companies can sell their products cheaper and faster. Many people believe that the Internet will revolutionize the way products are bought and sold, and disintermediation is the driving force behind this revolution.  

And now for the discussion¦..  

A long time ago, in a world far far away¦¦..well okay maybe not that far, but back when I was a Management Consultant doing project work for a living, I got a call to come and do some work for a Real Estate Board.    

My assignment was to work with a core team of Board representatives to assess the role that the Internet would have on their industry “ Real Estate.  

This was before everyone knew what WWW stood for.  Interesting isn™t it “ now a days the WWW is actually being dropped off as a prefix for a website address.  Everyone just knows it needs to be there.   My how things have changed.  

Anyway, my role was to facilitate focus groups and working sessions (made up primarily of Realtors) to look at and assess the role of the Internet.   Was the Real Estate industry about to face first hand, that horrible fate of being œdisintermediated.  I™ll tell you those sessions were very interesting.   There was absolute fear, there was anger, there was sadness & regret and even disgust.    

Many thought the answer was simply to keep the information off the Internet.   That™s a good solution.   Just don™t make it accessible and then people will still need Realtors.  

Interesting, now about 6 years later, here I am a Realtor myself.   And of course, there is a lot of information available on the Internet, and for many of us, we would be lost without it.  But wouldn™t you know that I end up doing business in an area where just this month the listing data is finally being made accessible to the public via the world wide web.  Yes its true !  

I™m not sure why the delay.  Is it still a fear of being disintermediated ?  Or is it a fear of simply having more competition?  

It is a very interesting business.  Like any business, there are those who absolutely thrive on change, and that helps contribute to their success.  And there are those who hate change and will do all they can to prevent it.  

In my consulting days, we used to use an analogy about the 12 people out in a big (make it huge) row boat.   There was one guy at the front of the boat saying œlets go over here “ I™m not 100% sure what is there but it looks to be a good change from where we are here.  There is a bunch of people in the middle of the boat who trust his judgment and so paddle away to get to where he is pointing.   And then there are the few luddites (another definition required “ luddite — one who is opposed to especially technological change) in the back of the boat who are drilling the hole in the bottom.  They would rather sink then go somewhere they have not been before.  

Where do you fit in the boat of change ?