C.A.R. president Robert Bailey says that Internet-trained agents can easily serve vacationers, property owners seeking managers online, and renters, as well as homebuyers and sellers. In fact, the opportunity to serve a variety of transaction needs using Internet skills is attracting more young entrepreneurs to the real estate profession and away from dot-com pipedreams.

"The Internet is affording agents in all markets and property types to be more efficient and effective," says Bailey.

He ought to know. In addition to his duties as the president of the California Association of Realtors, Bailey is also the owner of Bailey Properties, a three-office real estate company which specializes in residential real estate, property management and vacation rentals throughout the Santa Cruz County area. Just 30 miles from Silicon Valley, the company is used to serving dot-com executives with ocean-side housing needs.

Now Bailey is serving many of these executives with jobs.

"I think the young professionals are attracted to the entrepreneurial aspect of real estate," says Bailey. "The agents who have integrated the Internet and use it for marketing and communications have become more productive and are making larger incomes than those who have resisted it."

Progressive brokers like Bailey have long believed that the Internet creates an opportunity to enhance productivity and efficiency.

"One thing the consumer has always demanded from their Realtors is speed and quality in communication," says Bailey. "It isn't surprising that the typical Internet buyer is younger, and therefore more comfortable with technology and that comfort level is spreading like pebble rings in a pond. They are researching homes, sales data, school information, so our agents are now dealing with clients who are better educated about the home process and the community. They look at fewer homes and make decisions more quickly."

To serve these higher-demand consumers, Bailey has an educational program designed to keep his company's 90 agents at the cutting edge of service. As part of their benefits, new agents attend a free three-week training course that covers basics like contract and negotiating skills.

But they don't go to work without having basic Internet skills.

"All our agents are given e-mail addresses and trained to send and receive e-mail and send data and e-mail to their clients," explains Bailey. "What we are able to do based on that foundation is match up specific individuals. We have a good database on our agents' strengths as it relates to languages, areas of expertise or a property type, so we can forward leads that come through the brokerage to the agents we feel best suit the needs of the clients."

What is Bailey looking for in new agents? "An understanding of technology," he says. "We have developed a tremendous reputation for bringing new talent into the business. We look for commitment, coachability, self-starters, honesty and ethics - a core set of values. From that basis we will develop their strengths."

It all starts in the interviewing process. "Our interviewing is a two-step process," says Bailey. "We don't hire on the first blush. We have an extensive application, and we ask interviewees to prepare a written resume, unless it is a first career. If I'm interviewing a young man who just graduated from college with a degree in business, looking at real estate as a first career, then we will look at the skill set from college, and what else he has done in his limited adult life."

Bailey finds recruiting young people easier than it used to be.

"A shift in the economy and business models has people looking for changes in the dot-com industry," says Bailey. The average age of Realtors in my company has dropped significantly - now it's 38. I'm 48, and have been a Realtor for 27 years. We have a dozen agents that were born after I started my career!"

According to the National Association of Realtors, the average agent and broker is in their mid-fifties.

Does youth and the Internet spell the demise of the traditional agent? "No," says Bailey. " The traditional agent who is dealing with the Internet buyer knows that effective communication is the key to success. The Internet is a positive for them because they can have better relationships with their clientele.

"The Internet used to be a gun held to our heads," says Bailey. "Now it is a tool in our toolbox. It has enhanced the role of Realtors."