I remembered years ago when my son was looking to move from Washington D.C. to Tampa, Florida and I found Bankrate.com, which has a “Cost of Living Calculator.” Together we looked at what he would need to make in Tampa to support the same standard of living as living in a suburb of D.C. Tampa has a 37% lower cost of living which, if you made $100,000 in D.C., in Tampa $62,400 has the same buying power.

Back to my friend in San Francisco, he expects many tech-based companies will be allowing working remotely permanently in the near future. He also expects companies will adjust pay, which would make sense not needing to live in one of the most expensive areas of the country.  Just for the fun of it I compared the cost of living in San Francisco to Central Florida, my neighborhood.  With about 44% lower cost of living and the same $100,000 in San Francisco, you would only need to make $55,670 in the Orlando area for an equal standard of living.     

I am not sure what this new business model will be called; Uber or one of the successful network marketing companies that depend on folks working from home are examples of having large numbers of people and not needing brick and mortar. Regardless of the name of the model, regardless of what adjustments companies make as far as income based on where you live, the real estate industry needs to get ready for dealing with buyers who, in some cases, have a very high level understanding of technology and, for many, a certain character trait, no patience for those that don’t!

Let me help you with a word you should never speak again, especially to these high-tech workers: Fax! In my past I have had consulting contracts with tech startup companies, so I’ve been exposed to high-tech personalities. I’m not saying they’re all the same, but many speak a different “geek” language and have different work habits with no patience.

Back in the early 2000’s I read a survey that I wish I could find today; I have it on an old slide I used at the time. 70% of consumers working with real estate professionals believed the consumer had a higher level of technology than the real estate professional. Ouch! I believe we have been playing catch up for almost two decades and now, with young homebuyers with an above average income and very high tech skills, here we go again!  I plan on helping with ways to communicate with this group of people who average 29 year olds and make $250,000 a year at leading social media platforms.