#8 Real Estate Trend of the Decade

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As promised here is the eighth-ranked trend of the thousands. Written by Brian Summerfield, Online Editor of Realtor Magazine.

#8: RE.net

Recall, for a minute, what the Internet was like at the beginning of the ‘00s. Many of today’s most popular sites, including Amazon, Craigslist, and Google, were still trying to establish themselves online. Several others hadn’t even been launched yet. There was no Facebook, no Twitter, no LinkedIn, no YouTube, no Wikipedia, no Flickr … you get the picture.

Throughout this decade, though, the Internet got social. New tools were developed that allowed people to find each other, have conversations, and share ideas online. They could form groups based on their line of work, lifestyle, location, and hobbies, or just connect virtually with their existing network of family, friends, and colleagues.

Not surprisingly, many real estate professionals realized these Web platforms offered an incredible array of opportunities for marketing and prospecting, personal development, and transaction assistance. They also realized that others like themselves were flocking to the Internet to try out these new tools, and they started talking to each other via online social networks.

The result of all this is RE.net, a term that encompasses the various nodes of real estate-focused networks spread across the Web. It includes practitioner blogs, individual profiles and groups on large social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, and real estate-specific social networks like RealTown and Active Rain.

One of the best things about RE.net is its diversity. There’s something for everyone here. You can find real estate news and commentary that’s fresh, irreverent, tip-filled, humorous, cutting-edge, interesting, tech-oriented, design-focused, local, national, and idiosyncratic.

It appears to be a long-term trend as well. Many of the developments in real estate on this list may not be major issues in the coming decade, but RE.net will probably continue to be very important for the real estate industry in general. We may not be using the same platforms and technologies that we are now, but my sense is that the online networks that comprise RE.net will only grow in significance over the next 10 years.”

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