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How Real Estate Professionals’ Lives Are Changing

Real estate professionals say “safety concerns due to in-person contact during home buying process” is the No. 1 concern of buyers and sellers (28% of buyers versus 33% sellers). This is one key finding from a "digital disruption" survey of 256 respondents who work as lenders, real estate agents or title agents across the real estate industry conducted by Researchscape on behalf of States Title [1], a company that specializes in remote closings.

“We are witnessing an unprecedented overnight shift in the structural foundation of the real estate market,” said States Title CEO Max Simkoff. “The real estate industry has gotten a long overdue wake-up call and has been forced to push the fast forward button on innovation. Ready or not, the time has come to adopt and embrace technological change. It’s the ultimate stress test for the entire industry.”

During a pandemic, every in-person interaction brings an element of risk, said the survey's conductors. Here are some other things they discovered about risk and real estate transactions:

The study uncovered some other interesting sociological and psychological items about housing industry professionals.

"Real estate professionals tend to be sociable, outgoing people who like to build relationships in-person and COVID-19 has prompted them to change the way they communicate and do business," the researchers wrote. They found:

The third-party researchers sponsored by State Title also noted that "COVID-19 is driving some positive changes in real estate company culture, with leaders putting a stronger emphasis on empathy, communication, diversity and inclusion, and customer care." Related to that, they say:

Also, despite the pandemic, Americans are still buying homes, building homes, and refinancing mortgages," they concluded. "Real estate professionals see many causes for optimism about their industry’s present and future." Specifically:

This study was conducted online from August 12-26, 2020.