Dan Iampieri

By Dan Iampieri

Generation Y REALTORS® have written the obituary on colleagues who fail to utilize social media – I respectfully disagree. I know too many top producers who are doing just fine without spending every waking minute checking their status update on Facebook or tweeting their every move to the world.

Don’t get me wrong, I use social media more than most. But, it isn’t a make-or-break tool. I went on a listing appointment recently and the sellers didn’t know what YouTube was. How important is the video tour then? As the son of two REALTORS®, I have seen the obituary written on the older generation, over and over, by the younger generation.

Here are a few times when older REALTORS® were declared “dead in the water” by younger REALTORS®:

1.) When the multiple list system went from binders delivered to the office to a software-based program on the computer.

2.) When contracts went from carbon paper to computer-based programs.

3.) When the “talking house” was the it fad.

4.) When virtual-tours came online in the early 2000s.

5.) When social media became the latest craze around 2005-2009.

An agent asked me the other day if Facebook meant the end of her. I replied “NO!” Facebook and Twitter aren’t for everybody and they aren’t for every buyer and seller. YOU CAN BE SUCCESSFUL WITHOUT SOCIAL MEDIA!

What’s most interesting is that according to a 2008 NAR Member Profile the average age of REALTORS® climbed from 52 to 54. What does that tell you? Facebook hasn’t ended the need for skillful, seasoned REALTORS® who know what they are doing! Younger generations have much to learn from those who have been around the longest. Sure, my parents could learn a thing or two from me about Facebook, but I need to learn far more from them!

Dan Iampieri is a REALTOR® with WEICHERT, REALTORS® – Caton Properties in Ellicott City, Md.  Social network with Dan at www.TheHouseMan.tv.