Knowledge is the name of the game, and thanks to the many online real estate portals, home shoppers now have easy access to lots of it via the web. The MLS is used by agents to show available, pending and sold listings, but now days home buyers dont necessarily have to work with an agent to get that kind of information; they can just go onto the web. For all-important property research and valuation, shoppers can now find out how much any home was sold for, gallery of pictures, street view, neighborhoods, ecenomic status, walkscore, and many more, instantly!

Is the traditional way of conducting real estate business threatened by this technological advancement? The answer depends on what you see your role in the industry to be. If you place yourself as merely a source of information, then you are now obsolete. Information is no longer available to a privileged few. Shoppers can now find the price, the size, history, and even take a virtual tour all while sitting at home in front of a computer. Why would they need to see you?

Instead of being a source of information, you can think of the Internet as a tool that makes your job as a real estate professional easier, and allows you to spend your time on money-making activities, not just answering phone calls to answer basic questions. Another example of time-saving graces of the ‘Net are your marketing efforts. Clients can now find you, 24 hours a day, instead of you searching for them. When they do finally reach you, you will not have to educate them about properties or details, just merely guide them through the buying process.

Your role now is more like a consultant. Because these shoppers are already aware of their needs and their options in the market, they will still need someone to walk them through the final steps, which can include walk-throughs. You will become their primary point of contact into the real estate market.

Now that your role is less and less about providing information, the value you bring into the real estate shopping experience is expertise in the area of completing transactions. There is much more peace of mind when you are making big decisions like a real estate purchase when you have an expert in your corner. Shoppers want to have the security of knowing that a person they trust is helping them along the way.

Because they have information at hand, they are likely to seek your opinion in a matter or help them to understand the information they have already obtained. This is where you earn your check, by giving the expert advice and giving educated answers, especially when it deals with a particular area or market. You also bring value by understanding nuances of real estate contracts, negotiations, and the unforeseen occurrences that shoppers may never have considered.

Furthermore, you can also give your educated opinion on the prices of properties the shopper found online. You have a much better perspective on the overall value of a pricing, whereas the shopper cannot consider historical pricing of other properties in the area. The Internet is incapable of providing that level of wisdom. An experienced agent can also uncover any information that is suspicious or should raise red flags in investigating the property. Consumers are aware of the presence of dubious information on the ‘Net, and can use your wisdom to sort out the gold from the fool's gold.

It is in your best interest to be forthright with your clients. Do not hold anything back from them, and they will reward you. Otherwise, you risk the loss of these clients to someone else, or even to a Website that is not even a living breathing entity.

Information that isn't shared generally does not add value to a relationship; in fact it can usually doom it to failure. Providing your clients with information, especially when it is valuable wisdom about your profession, makes your clients reliant on much more than your ability to give them prices and listings. This will ultimately result in better relationships, and many more of them.