Alyssa Nassner

Real estate portals like Zillow and Redfin transformed the role of the realtor If you were shopping for a home at the beginning of the 2010s, the experience most likely revolved around one person: the realtor.
The realtor is who you contacted to initiate the process. They informed you of current market conditions and gave you a sampling of what?s available on the local multiple listing service. They also likely referred you to a mortgage broker and title insurer.
But if you?re shopping for a home today, your relationship with the realtor is dramatically different. Instead of going to them first, you?ll browse listings on Zillow, Redfin, or any number of real estate web portals. The realtor you chose will likely have a formal relationship with one of those portals instead of with a standalone real estate brokerage firm, and that realtor will walk you through the process as curated by the portal. In short, the realtor?s role in the 2010s changed from gatekeeper of the experience to trusted adviser who can guide buyers through the glut of information that?s now moved online.
?There is too much information and a lot of information is out of context,? says Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel, an appraisal and real estate consulting firm. ?[The realtor?s] role has morphed from ?Here?s the information? to ?Here?s the right information.? First of all, that?s just a basic shift, but it?s also a big shift. Their role is really as a curator now.?
While every decade ...