Major changes in Lakes Region real estate over last 50 years

We were talking in the office the other day regarding how much the real estate industry has changed over the past 50 years. I look back, and it was 1976 when I entered the real estate profession in the Lakes Region. When I joined the Lakes Region Board of Realtors, there were 75 Realtors in the entire membership, and we knew the majority by name. Most of our monthly meetings were at the Pheasant Ridge Country Club, and our MLS system back then was archaic. Basically, every two weeks, the board office would forward each Realtor member a packet of 5 1/2 by 11 1/2 sheets with a black and white photo of the new listings and pertinent listing information. A summary sheet would list pending sales, closed sales, withdrawns, and new listings. It was the agents’ obligation to insert the sheets in a three-ring binder with tabs for waterfront, beach rights, residential, land, and commercial. Pretty simple system back in those days.

Yes, we had control of the listings, and consumers had to contact us for all related information, available properties, and all showings. Back then, you could form a close relationship with your clients. We would spend hours and weekends driving our customers all over the Lakes Region with kids in tow. There were no cellphones, no faxes, no email, no high-speed color copiers, no computers, no Dotloop or DocuSign, Zipforms, Toolkit CMAs, no social media sites, no internet and no artificial intelligence. We used basic typewriters, and our best friends were payphones in a few scattered locations. We were always running late in those days because of so many showings, only to be disappointed when the phone booths had a coin jam in the insert slots. I can remember handwriting many offers on the hood of a car and then hand-delivering them.

Needless to say, I was always late for supper.

We always treated our fellow Realtors and clients with utmost professional respect. The majority of offices were small independent real estate companies with lots of for-sale yard signs dotting the countryside. Our advertising programs were basically print media, local papers, the home guide, Boston Globe, and Wall Street Journal classified ads. Realtors were like poets.

They would describe a “babbling brook running through the property” in the Boston Globe, only to learn at the showing that it was actually a stream runoff from the industrial park up the road.

Since those primitive years, I’ve seen the real estate industry undergo a number of substantial changes. The internet has been the most significant impact and has revolutionized the entire industry. The internet basically surpassed the “yard sign” as the most important tool to reach consumers. There was no looking back once Realtor.com, Zillow, and other real estate portals were established. Our industry has experienced the trends like so many others. The travel industry is one good example. There were travel agencies on every corner. Today the big names are Booking.com, Expedia, Tripadvisor.com, Airbnb, VRBO, etc.

The transfer of information onto so many accessible and user-friendly sites has transformed the way we do business. Back in the mid-70s and '80s, the majority of communication was by telephone and letters. In 1995, only 2% of prospective buyers utilized the internet in their home search, according to Housewire. By 2005, the number had jumped to 75%, and today a stunning 97% of prospective buyers go to the internet while searching for the perfect home. However, the vast majority of consumers still enlist the services of a Realtor to help them make an informed real estate decision.

While there were many startups from 2013 to 2017 that offered new internet marketing tools to agents, the way buyers searched for homes remained relatively the same. Few listings had high-quality professional photos, and even fewer had any sort of a useful virtual tour. In 2017, the beginning of a new era for the industry was marked, starting a paradigm shift in the way buyerssearch for homes. Matterport released its Pro2 3-D camera, a true game changer. The 3-D camera provided an immersive online experience that gave buyers a true sense for the feel and layout of the property without seeing it in person. The camera and software effectively scanned and mapped an entire home, creating a rudimentary 3-D digital twin. 

We are in a unique second-home market here in the Lakes Region, where many buyers are traveling from out of state and often can’t come up on a moment’s notice to view properties.

For some buyers, canceling plans to come look at a home based solely on photos that may be misleading is not a risk they are willing to take. At Roche Realty Group, we were one of the first agencies in New Hampshire to recognize the power and importance of this tool and offered it on every single one of our listings.

Today, there are 800 Realtors in the Lakes Region Board of Realtors, compared to 75 when I started, and there are roughly 6,255 to 7,000 Realtors and affiliate professionals governed alongside 14 regional boards throughout New Hampshire, of which the Lakes Region Board is one of them.

Nationwide, there are approximately 1.44 million members of the National Association of Realtors. Today, more than 63% are women and 37% are men, the median age is 57, and the median experience level is 13 years.

One of the most important changes taking place within our company is being led by my son, Chris, who is using artificial intelligence to develop custom software for our agents and clients.

Until recently, building sophisticated technology in-house would have been out of reach for a local independent real estate firm. AI has changed that. It allows us to create and improve tools designed around the way we actually conduct business, rather than relying entirely on generic software.

One example is our new approach to comparative market analysis. Traditionally, an agent reviews several comparable sales and tries to weigh numerous differences, including condition, location, views, renovations, layout, and amenities. With so many details spread among multiple properties, it can be difficult to maintain a clear picture of how each one truly compares.

Our system can examine the property information and every listing photograph, while also incorporating the agent’s observations and local market knowledge. It then organizes the important differences and explains why the subject property may be worth more or less than each comparable. It does not replace the agent’s judgment. It gives the agent a more thorough and disciplined way to reach and explain that judgment.

We are also applying AI to the large amount of condominium information we have collected over the years. Condominium documents and information on each community can contain hundreds of pages of rules involving amenities, pets, rentals, docks, parking, assessments, and property use. We are developing tools that can analyze our private database of these documents, answer detailed questions, and help match buyers with associations that meet their particular needs. We have also invested a tremendous amount of time, energy, and resources into developing an entirely new innovative state-of-the-art website that will be launched by this fall.

Another major project involves transaction management. Real estate transactions include many important deadlines, from deposits and inspections to financing, title work, condominium-document reviews, and final walkthroughs. We are building internal systems that can organize those milestones, generate calendar invitations and reminders, and help keep agents and clients on track.

The purpose of these technologies is not to remove the human element from real estate. It is to strengthen it. AI can organize and analyze information, but experience, local knowledge, negotiation, and personal relationships remain essential. Used properly, these tools allow agents to spend less time managing scattered information and more time advising and representing their clients.

We sure have seen many changes over the years, and we are going through one right now.

Fasten your seatbelts, AI is going to change the way we all do business.

•••

This article was written by Frank Roche, the president of Roche Realty Group, located in Meredith. He can be reached at 603-279-7046. Visit rocherealty.com to learn more about the Lakes Region and its real estate market.