Technology has brought changes in all domains, including the real estate industry. In fact, the two – technology and real estate – get along well and more realtors invest in new tools to satisfy their clients.
The challenge of smart cities has brought the real estate industry to a new level, where professionals and organizations must use the latest technology to come up with better products and services.
Technology has improved the real estate industry, making workflows easier for companies and realtors. Even better, it helps organizations provide a better experience for their clients, through fast transactions, secure online data storage, customized marketing solutions and sustainable projects. Let’s take a closer look.
1. Faster Transaction Processes
Title searchers and title transfers are about to become history, thanks to the new blockchain technology.
The Blockchain Pilot Program started in 2016 by The Office of Cook County Recorder of Deeds studied how the industry and the government can benefit from this technology. As part of this program, CCRD managed to secure government records thanks to blockchain technology and created a property information website with a landing page for each parcel. Everything using cloud computing and having the possibility to create backups in multiple locations.
This system makes the loss of records impossible. Even better, it has the possibility to prove the authenticity of a transaction. In small words, homeowners could transfer properties faster, with no need for third-party verification. This means less time and money lost with bureaucracy.
2. Smart Solutions for Sustainable Communities
Technology influences the entire real estate industry, starting from building materials and sustainable alternatives to traditional processes. Professionals have to perform significant changes to keep up with technology and, at the same time, implement environmentally sustainable policies.
Today, buildings use 40 percent of raw materials globally and generate 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. And, as the population continues to migrate to urban areas, the real estate will have to create around 260 million new homes and over 540 million m2 of office space, by 2030.
In this context, real estate professionals must innovate to build sustainable communities. From longer-living building materials to new methods to save energy, technology improves the way in which the real estate organizations work. Changes in this niche are essential for professionals who want to maintain their market share. With more social responsible buyers, companies that introduce environment-friendly practices register success and higher revenues.
3. Cost Effective Marketing
The digital era has changed the way realtors do business, forcing them to keep up with the new digital trends. 99 percent of Millennials search online websites to find a home. And, as a result, 93 percent of realtors have a website for listing their properties.
Real estate professionals focus their marketing efforts on customized commercial messages. They use email marketing, social media and text messages to communicate with their customers – before and after a sale. A customized communication, meant to gain trust and, eventually, to generate more profit.
Specific customer relationship management software allows brokers to provide unique solutions for their clients. A CRM for brokers allows you to manage all interactions while providing useful analytics and tracking payments. You gather all relevant information about properties and home buyers in one platform and use it to deliver the best products and services for each client.
4. Virtual Reality and Drones
Virtual reality improves customers experience, by upgrading the concept of the open house. You can walk your clients through a house in construction and, thanks to VR headsets, they can see how their future home will look like.
Or, you can take them to visit an old house and they can do real-time virtual changes, to see the house after a possible restoration.
Virtual guided tours allow your customers to have a clear image about your offer, without even coming to your office. People living on the West coast can choose a new home on the East coast right from their computer. They have a virtual pre-tour to know if a house is worth seeing.
Clients won’t complain that photos are way better than reality once they arrive at the meeting. And you save time and resources by not having to commute from one house to another just to see your customers unsatisfied and tired.
Drones improve marketing, by helping you create virtual experiences with compelling images, 2-D photos, and 3-D walkthroughs. But they can do more than that. Drones perform accurate inspections for molds and leaks, through thermal imaging. Which saves time and money that you would spend hiring an entire team of specialists.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what these new gadgets can do for your business.
5. Big Data
Technology has done huge steps in gathering and analyzing data to predict market evolution. The real estate professionals have access to useful information to make better decisions when it comes to investments.
Buyers, renters, investors, brokers and home buyers can now benefit from relevant insights to find new opportunities and make the best buying decisions.
The new tools in this niche store and analyze data coming from various sources, for making better predictions. It helps investors and brokers to understand communities they work with, to deliver better services. Even better, data gives potential home buyers a more clear view of the market and the value of their properties in time.
Big data made gave industry more transparency, while making it more efficient and more customer oriented.
The real estate industry is about people. Technology can help and improve processes, but it can’t substitute the human side of the business. 70 percent of home sellers would use the same agent for a second transaction, which means people still prefer the human connection to cold technology.
