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Over the weekend, I received a PayPerPost Direct request from Your Real Estate and Loans Education to complete a review on a rather interesting three-part blog series entitled Real Estate 2.0 - How the Internet Will Change Real Estate’s Future. The series is a speculation on how the growth of Web 2.0 and the associated changes on how websites work and what they offer will affect real estate. As the author states,

The internet has had a slight influence on real estate in the last decade or so of its widespread use. The real estate business has adapted slightly, but nothing like what’s just starting to happen. [...] As web 2.0 spawns real estate 2.0, here’s my best bet on where the action will happen.

Part 1 of the series covers topics of enhanced maps, virtual tours, and YouTube evolved.

Mapping services such as Google Maps constantly offer new features to make them more interactive with real world data. The author offers the opinion that important data relevant to real estate such as local school districts and tax rates will soon find their way into online mapping applications. Considering Google Maps has a strong API for developers to utilize in implementing custom map services, this is very possible and probable.

While “virtual tours” is already a widely used phrase, it doesn’t extend much further than the widely accepted standard of interactive panoramic images. This post in the series explains the likelihood of virtual tours being more along the lines of what might be expected in a hands-on tour. Although I do not think it will offer everything a hands-on tour could, I do think there is great opportunity for tours to improve by allowing more of a walk-through instead of the single-room pin-point rotations as used today.

Similarly, the author suggests that a video tour site comparable to YouTube and Craigslist is in the future. This is definitely feasible given current Web technology. I think it is simply a matter of interest and profitability opportunity consideration for a company to offer such a service.

Part 2 of the series delves into the idea of every offline home having an online home, attitudes and acceptance, better blogging, and increase specialization.

In the topic of every offline home having an online home, the author theorizes that each home will have a custom domain name similar to its physical address. While this might help with sales when a home goes to market, I would imagine that professional solutions — such as the YouTube/Craigslist brain-child as per above — would provide a simple one-stop solution where interested parties could easily find homes for sale. I would consider the unique domain idea more reasonable as a supplemental resource on top of existing home listing websites.

The author also believes that peoples’ attitudes and their acceptance of online media usage in real estate will change as Web 2.0 evolves the business of real estate. As with any business, it is necessary to keep with the trends in order to stay on top. Being accepting of changes, especially those as extreme as what is offered in this three part series, will be vital for anyone in real estate to survive.

Part 3 of the series discusses video podcasts, for sale by owner (FSBO), and commercial changes with regards to real estate.

The idea of Web applications catered to the For Sale By Owner crowd is entirely probable. Similar to how direct sales of flights through airline websites have reduced the need for a middle-man (the travel agent), advancements in web applications specific to real estate could have the same effect on professional sellers.

For more details on the speculations on the business of real estate surrounding Web 2.0, be sure to check out the full three-part series for more information. While visiting, be sure to take a look through the rest of the blog as well.

This post is sponsored by WhatAboutLoans.com.