LAKE TAHOE – In the Nov. 17, 2011, North Tahoe and Truckee real estate guide, in the column titled, “Incline Village real estate: Season of change for agents,” Don Kanare writes: “With so much business being conducted on the Internet and agents able to work efficiently from a home office it’s no longer necessary for a successful real estate company to maintain a large brick and mortar presence.”

I dispute this statement.

Over the last 14 years I have seen the real estate business change quite a bit – the Internet and technology have changed the way things are done. Most of our buyers start their real estate search online and some research and even pick a Realtor online; but this is still a service business. I am a Broker Salesman in Nevada, and a Broker Associate in California. I agree that with the current technology an agent can be successful without a commercial office space. But, when it comes to servicing listings and providing maximum exposure for listings, it simply cannot be done from someone’s home.

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I work out of the Kings Building, the large brick triangular building in Kings Beach, and Coldwell Banker’s Starbucks office in Incline Village. Our offices do everything a successful “at home” agent can do, plus much more.

In Kings Beach we are able to market all of our listings on the storefront of the most visible building in town, directly across from the public beach. During the summer months thousands of people stop by to view our listings, and we have had countless people walk in who purchase local property, many times our listings.

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In our Starbucks office we have a large flat-screen LCD monitor facing the atrium; 24/7 it rotates through all the property Coldwell Banker has listed for sale. Every day dozens of people view the listings, and many walk in the office to view the 5′ x 6′ model of Incline Creek Estates. Countless people walk in to obtain real estate information and some of them buy property through the Realtor they meet. Our office has about half the listings in Incline so when someone walks-in and purchases a property there is a 50 percent chance it is one of our listings. Large offices can also market listings within their office; at Coldwell Banker we do it during office meetings. It is impossible for an agent to provide these results from his home.

Unlike Don, the local large brick and mortar real estate offices, and many of their agents, regularly market their listings in local print media.

An agent working from his or her home who does not market his listings in the local print publications and who does not have a superior brick and mortar location simply cannot provide the same exposure for his or her sellers as the large offices.

Don has become successful in real estate in a short amount of time, and I give him a lot of credit. But, as a seller, if you want maximum exposure for your property, especially in the current environment, you should list it with an office and agent that has a large brick and mortar presence. They will do everything a good “at home” agent does, plus so much more.

John Eppolito is an Incline Village resident and Realtor with Coldwell Banker.