All Hail The Internet?

Is there a place for analog in the digital world?

Recently I read a blog post by Mark Evans (@markevans) talking about "digital" and "analog" business models. It peeked my interest being a franchisee of a dot com company.

There is no question that the internet has changed many business models. We often point to the travel industry as an example. People utilize the internet to book hotels, airfare, car rentals even entire vacation packages on one stop shopping websites like Expedia, Sell Of Vacations and even with airlines directly like Westjet.

In his blog Mark points to the growth of online movie rentals as an example. Movies have been around for over 100 years. The VCR has been in our homes since the 70's and the DVD player has made home entertainment a thing of normalcy since the mid 90's. The trip to the video store is one of familiarity to all, as are the wallet pangs of late returns.

With comfort and familiarity come evolution and efficiency.

The home selling process is not a weekly occurrence like Saturday night movies. It is transaction most are a stranger to, or at least not comfortable with. To jump on to a website and offer a home for sale is just one step of the process and people can feel overwhelmed after doing so.
Some are studious in their research but others would be much happier to have someone hold their hand through the process. The thought of Private Sale being one of solitude and despair is one sold by the high priced world of traditional real estate. A quote from Steven Dubner's Freakonomics Blog talks to this generality:

Controlling for differences in house and seller characteristics we find that listing on the MLS does not yield a price premium relative to listing on FSBOMadison.com. This is not to say that using a Realtor is not worth the commission. Realtors can save sellers time and generally help through a stressful and maybe difficult period.

Analog takes the pressures off the digital fears. Can you get this pressure release while still selling your home privately?

Online classified sites like Kijiji and Craig's List don't offer comfort. They are online classified, nothing more. FSBO services like By The Owner get a little closer but still miss the mark. What is needed is a Private Sale Professional in your corner all the way through the process, someone that has been in your home, sat at your kitchen table and knows your situation. A Professional that has the experience of guiding hundreds of people through the process and knows exactly what you are going through. This adds comfort to the process. This relationship with people is something we all crave. The internet is a great tool when used in conjunction with human interaction.

This is the marriage between analog and digital.

The meeting of evolution and efficiency.


M