Technology is the use of scientific knowledge for practical purposes or applications, whether in industry or in our everyday lives. It includes everything from the wheel to computers to medicines to zippers and buttons on clothes.

So how does this apply to the real estate industry?

For better or worse, technology has changed the way most business is transacted, and there is no doubt that real estate has benefited from improved efficiencies. If you remember the days before online listings, virtual tours, and e-signing, you understand just how much things have changed. But with the move toward mobile, emphasis has shifted from efficiency to another dimension. Not only are paperless transactions the norm, but mobile-centric technology has essentially transformed the landscape. Access to information, customer expectations, and client service are very different than they were even five years ago. And there are more changes to come.

Although there is little resistance to this change, there are many lessons to be learned. Even self-described tech enthusiasts who have embraced technology for a couple of decades agree that technology is sometimes a double-edged sword.

According to one thoughtful broker associate I spoke with, reliance on technology can lead to problems in a “people-oriented” business, and “losing touch with customers” is a real fear.

A second concern is that older agents sometimes have trouble “relearning” how to transact business in a mobile universe. It’s not just a new way to communicate, but a fundamental change in the way things are done. It would be hard to find a successful real estate agent today without a smartphone and a tablet, but the new mobile world is filled with apps and capabilities that, according to Kathy Connelly, SCRP, senior vice president of corporate services for Prudential Georgia Realty, “may be as impactful as the internet itself.”

Many others agree that while the internet reshaped consumerism in important and essential ways, how consumers manage their lives with pervasive mobile technology all around them is still uncharted territory. (Kaplan Real Estate Education.)

So, what is my opinion of the latest technology offered to us as Realtors? Being in the industry for the past 30 years, I have seen and experienced both worlds in selling real estate. I have always stayed up on the latest real estate technology offered to us though classes and self-education. The latest technology in real estate has allowed me to offer a prodigious amount of information in a nanosecond and to make it easy for me to save time from contracts to e-signing. An associated broker once said that “technology can lead to problems in a “people-oriented” business, and losing touch with customer is a real fear.” That rings so true to me. This is also my fear. Real Estate is all about a close relationship with a client. Buying or selling a home can be a very trying time. All the technology in the world cannot replace experience, compassion, understanding and knowing how to negotiate to keep both the buyer and seller in agreement. Give me all the technology to make my life easier but don’t replace it with a real person. We all need to talk to each other more no matter what our age.

Thought for the Day: If my heart can conceive it. If my heart can believe it. Then I can achieve it. (Muhammad Ali)