Listing syndication and a real estate market meltdown has fostered a new generation of homebuyers.

Syndication gives homebuyers more data and more places to search for properties online.

The real estate meltdown has made these same homebuyers warier than ever. They worry about getting a loan. They’re doing more analysis on the decision of whether, or when, to buy.

None of this is news.

But what effect has all this had on the homebuyer’s search process? For many, the process no longer has a defined starting point. Online browsing is the new, and nebulous beginning to a home search. For others, what will compel them to make an offer is also less certain – it could be timing, a specific property, or a perceived value or opportunity.

But while they may-or-may-not be searching for a home, and while they toil with the difficult should-I-or-shouldn’t-I decisions in a tough market, they are still looking at properties online. And because most of them aren’t sure where they are in their own murky process, most of them aren’t in a relationship with an agent.

Today’s buy-side agent needs the tools to engage the new homebuyer generation.

When and if that late in the game agent/homebuyer connection is made, agents have less time and fewer opportunities to share their knowledge and become an effective part of their customers’ home search. As a result, the perceived value of the buy-side agent is declining and so is their referral business.

To add value to the homebuyer’s process, agents need to be part of their customers’ online home search at an earlier stage. Agents also need real estate focused CRM tools that keep them engaged with homebuyers during their home search, no matter how long that home search might be.

Enter Buyfolio’s Engagement Page. It’s not only engaging customers for NYC firms – Bond New York, City Connections, Douglas Heddings, and Mark David among them. But it’s also engaging customers for individual agents, whether their first interaction is online or offline.

They’ve become part of their customers’ search, from now until they decide to purchase – whether that be in a month or in two years.

The tail is long, but that’s the nature of the beast.

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