Times a ‘Changin

This time of year used to be my favorite. I mean, could it get any better than crisp and cool autumn nights, Count Chocula cereal, hot cinnamon donuts, reading Goosebumps books, pumpkin carving and watching playoff baseball? I remember sneaking cautiously out of my bed at around 9:30 to try to watch my idol Ken […]

This time of year used to be my favorite. I mean, could it get any better than crisp and cool autumn nights, Count Chocula cereal, hot cinnamon donuts, reading Goosebumps books, pumpkin carving and watching playoff baseball? I remember sneaking cautiously out of my bed at around 9:30 to try to watch my idol Ken Griffey, Jr. and the Mariners take on the Yankees in the ALDS. Theres always been something about the “Great American Past Time” that seemed to captivate the country. Some of the most iconic moments of the past 100 years occurred on the baseball diamond after all (Lou Gehrig’s speech, The Shot Heard ‘Round the World, first game post 9/11 at Shea Stadium, etc. etc.).

In my drive in to work this morning I was pretty shocked (ok, well, not completely shocked)to hear that this Monday’s Jaguars-Titans matchup drew a 19% higher rating than the Yankees-Rangers ALCS game. I know that the NFL has grown at almost incalculable rates recently, and maybe I am a MLB apologist but I was floored by how a 30-3 blowout between two not so interesting teams could so handily beat out the Yankees and Cliff Lee’s masterful performance…in the American League Championship Series!

Football is America’s new passion and past time – not baseball. Times a ‘changin I guess.

And this shouldn’t come as a huge shock to me. One of the few guarantees we have is that nothing ever really stays the same. The world is constantly evolving, as is technology…as is media, as it how we consume media, as is real estate. It’s all connected and constantly building upon itself. Everything changes.

We’ve gone from flipping through clunky MLS books to find a home to using websites and innovative tools like BlueScape Search to fulfill that American Dream of homeownership. Think of how drastically the real estate space has changed over just the last 5 years! Its become a basic necessity for real estate professionals to engage (back and forth communication) with present and prospective clients on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and even on up and comers like Foursquare.

With powerful smart phones like the iPhone and Android devices, and the game changing iPad (4.19 million sold in Q3 alone) selling like water, how long before the laptop and email become as passé’ as voicemail? According to NAR, over 90% of home searches begin online. How long before website visits pale in comparison to combined visits on apps, internet powered TVs, iPads, etc.? Where will technology and Real Estate move to next?

Seems like just yesterday that I put my hat on backwards and tried to emulate Griffey Jr.’s perfect swing at Little League practice. So much has changed so quickly. Where will you be when it changes and will you be in a position to capitalize??

* Flickr Photo Courtesy of macsurak

Gustavo Gonzalez

Senior Manager, Content & Multimedia at Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. In his role he manages content strategy and execution across several platforms. He’s held other roles within the Marketing Department ranging from Previews & Product Development to the day to day management of the coldwellbanker.com redesign. Besides being a marketer, Gustavo is a filmmaker, musician and writer.