With modern society, social media, text messaging, instant communication, and the modern world, real estate buyers today are different than they were in the past.

New buyers today have a lot of fear about economic conditions and the housing market. They have seen and heard horror stories from people who have gone through foreclosure and who have watched net worth turn upside down and credit destroyed.

Some principles are universal, they will and have always stayed the same while other practices in working with real estate buyers need to adapt.

Realtors still need to engage their buyers. They still need to show them they care, and are working for them. This is a universal principle, it will always exist, it’s part of human nature.

According to the great real estate trainer Brian Buffini, Buying a home is a logical decision, but it is also an emotional decision. Good real estate agents need to help with the emotional appeal. Many buyers go about starting the home buying process the wrong way. They start out looking at homes that they have no business looking at. When these homes are too expensive, they are only disappointed with what they actually can afford.

One way to help avoid this huge disappointement is to get buyers to get prequalified for a mortgage loan before they ever start home shopping. This also saves Realtors lots of time when working with buyers. 14% of California Buyers get all the way to the closing table before the lender tells them that they can’t actually qualify for their home loan.

Home buyers have more knowledge than they did in the past, they have almost always looked at homes online before they ever talk to a Realtor. This doesn’t mean that they don’t need to be educated. Buyers still need to know the home buying process. They need to know how real estate agents work, otherwise their chances to stay loyal to you aren’t good. They need to know how the offer and negotiation work, they need to know what to do when handling objections.

Even people who have bought homes before still need to be educated. They may not really understand.

An important thing to help home buyers understand and get educated is to share with them the facts.

The average first time buyer lives in a home for just 4 years. The decision on buying a “starter home” shouldn’t be nearly as overwhelming as most people make it.

Mortgage interest rates right now are how low? We’re talking all time lows. For a 30 year period of time the average interest rate was 8.9%. From an affordability standpoint, for most buyers, the mortgage interest rate is a bigger factor than the price of the home. To most buyers, it is the monthly payment that matters more than the home’s price tag.

Buying a home is a process of elimination. It is narrowing down a huge list of potential and available homes to the very best home. Real estate agents want to get feedback from their buyers, to really understand what they like, and what will make a good fit for them and their needs. Brian Buffin thinks that getting property feedback is the best way to really connect with his buyers. The best connection, is that connection over properties.

While buyer behavior is different today, while real estate lead generation is different, some principles never change. Good real estate agents will understand these principles, and make their time productive and profitiable.