It was only 10 years ago when the first home listing appeared on the World Wide Web. Today Internet listings are such an important part of our industry, it's tough to remember a time when they weren't available on-line. Web sites, such as the award winning LuxuryRealEstate.com, provide sellers with extensive international exposure for their listings and buyers with the opportunity to find the home of their dreams with just a few mouse-clicks. The services offered via the Internet range from virtual tours and floor plans to maps, detailed property descriptions and high-quality photos. One can only guess what advances the technology of tomorrow will bring.

Not surprisingly, more real estate agents than ever before have gone on-line, according to a recent survey by the California Association of Realtors. The survey found that real estate agents' Internet marketing efforts have surged nearly six-fold in the past year. Seventy percent of the agents polled said they use the Internet to promote their business in some fashion, up from just 10 percent in the 2003 survey. Clearly, Internet marketing is an essential part of staying competitive.

The rise of the Internet-savvy realtor can be attributed to several factors. One of the most recent is the advent of the national do-not-call lists. These new strict telemarketing rules make it difficult for realtors to promote their services over the phone, driving many to turn to the Internet.

Additionally, realtors are more technologically knowledgeable than in years' past. The majority of realtors now use numerous technological tools on a daily basis, the most common of which is e-mail. According to the California Association of Realtors' survey, e-mail is the primary use of the Internet for 92 percent of the realtors polled, with 45 percent using e-mail as their primary form of communication with their clients. The survey also found that 82 percent of respondents maintain a personal Web site. Understandably, the more comfortable realtors become with technology, the more their presence on the Internet will increase.

No matter what inspires a Realtor to conduct his or her business on-line, we can all agree that the Internet is fast becoming vital to a realtor's success. The abundance of real estate information on the Web means easier access to buyers, and also suggests more knowledgeable buyers. When a customer does research and knows which houses he or she is interested in, the result is a more effective and time-efficient transaction for both buyer and seller.