Why a Website and a Prayer Can't Compete With Brick and Mortar

The internet is surely changing our world too fast for even our nimble Blackberry fingers to keep up. So many traditionally physical connections and transactions are now taking the virtual leap and as even real estate properties have started appearing on eBay, the online world is spreading its silicon tentacles into the real estate business.

This transition presents itself as VOW's (virtual office websites) have begun sprouting up to try to muscle their share of the real estate industry. Like virtual operations in other industries, they tout the nimbleness of their lack of a building anchoring them down and their flight by the seat of their pants.

An article about the debate between these two competing cultures supports this advantage with the conflict between two ice cream stores, one of the traditional kind and the other operating online. "Which would you rather have Brick and Mortar Business with $200,00 in start up cost's and $4,000 to $6,000 a month in Expenses and a 70 Hour Work Week or an Online Home Based Business with no start up cost's and $120 a Month in Expenses and a 10 Hour or less Work Week?" (http://ezinearticles.com/?Quick-Comparison-Conventional-Brick-and-Mortar-VS-an-Online-Business&id=62833)

While it makes a convincing case for ice cream, the real estate business is unfortunately much more complex. As the newcomer to the scene, VOW's unfortunately inevitably take the position of the scrappy underdog. Well-established companies, which all remain entrenched in brick and mortar, hold the upper hand in advertising, paying millions of dollars to sites like Google or Realtor.com to ensure that their listings are featured prominently. Also, VOW's, as small businesses, tend to offer the bare-bone services, merely unloading houses and snapping up the cash; hapless buyers and sellers are left to fend for themselves in the Gordian knot of Escrow, title, and legal proceedings.

The number one cause of lawsuit in California remains real estate non-disclosure, that is the failure of sellers to disclose all legally recognized conditions of a property. Most of these are obvious, earthquake zones, fires, etc., but there are over forty conditions, covering things as obscure as methamphetamine contamination, red frog habitats, and underground asbestos deposits. Traditional well-established businesses pore over these esoteric laws so their customers don't have to while most VOW's leave their customers out in the cold, naked, above an underground asbestos deposit.

While hype has no doubt created a buzz over new innovative online businesses, in the real estate industry the traditional strong foundations of brick and mortar still reign supreme.