The real estate industry has always been traditionally slow in embracing new technological trends. Back in the 80s, around 22 percent of homebuyers look at newspaper ads to find houses. 8 percent rely on family members and friends for information.
By 2018, over 44 percent of aspiring home buyers, check the internet first when thinking of buying a property. Over the years, more and more tech products have been produced to assist buyers, sellers, and investment firms alike in the real estate market.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic catalyzes accelerating technology adoption in the real estate field. Data shows that technology has a huge potential in real estate since it contributes more than $2.8 trillion to the U.S. economy per year.
With this in mind, here are some ways technology helped transform the real estate business throughout the years.
1. Automation
Players in the real estate market, including realtors, mortgage loan companies, landlords, and property managers face repetitive tasks day in, day out. It happens that most of the time they have to deal with the same paperwork covering various properties.
With the help of automation though, they can allocate more time to do other productive tasks such as lead creations, website management, and networking.
Rather than handling paperwork manually, tech solutions such as email, portfolio management, and appointment setter make everyday processes more efficient and streamlined.
2. Online Marketplace
Customarily, in-person meetings are the go-to for everyone in the real estate market — be it realtors or buyers. With technological advances though, online marketplaces have increasingly become reliable and secure platforms for the industry.
This has proven to be useful especially during this pandemic as in-person transactions are highly discouraged. Now, it is pretty easy to shop for houses in the comforts of your home, lounging on your couch on your PJs. Online marketplaces offer easy access to a various selection of homes that could squarely fit your preference.
3. Price Refinement
When making price estimates of properties, realtors before typically rely on neighborhood factors and key home features. These days though, with the help of artificial intelligence and more sophisticated mathematical modeling, making price estimates is more accurate.
Apart from the aforementioned factors, others are also included in the computation. These factors include noise levels, schools and establishments nearby, and noise levels. Having these pieces of information at hand, buyers are likely to make more informed choices for themselves and their future.
4. Virtual Reality
When we talk about virtual reality (VR), most often we tend to immediately think of gaming. However, VR is not confined only to that industry. In fact, VR has been used quite extensively as well in other fields such as healthcare and even real estate. It is not surprising as this technology offers a lot of practical benefits.
In the real estate field, VR enables hopeful buyers and renters to check the property any time, anywhere. Unlike photos and videos which only offer a 2D experience of the place, VR tours allow you to immerse yourself in the environment as if you are actually there experiencing the place.
VR technology has been around since before the pandemic. Now, with all the health and safety restrictions posed by COVID-19, VR has proven to be useful. With a safe distance, realtors and landlords can continue to give walkthroughs to potential clients.
5. Eco-Friendly Construction
One of the best ways technology changed the real estate industry is by bringing to our attention the value of environmentally friendly constructions. The increasing popularity of green technology in construction paves the way for creating more and more buildings that are sustainable and energy-efficient.
For instance, these days, it has become more common for residential and business establishments, alike, to have solar panels installed. Having solar panels means less reliance on power utility which leads to a lesser carbon footprint.
Contractors are also switching to biodegradable construction materials. Even investors and financiers in the real estate market are keener in providing financial assistance to those who opt to construct green structures and buildings.
6. Smart Tech Home Integration
With smart home technologies, homes are getting better and better as well.
Not only are modern homes equipped with smart devices like Amazon Echo and Google Home, but it has become a benchmark these days for houses and other buildings to have smart home features integrated. These features include security systems, speaker systems, thermostats, lighting, and appliances.
Contrary to popular belief that only millennials and gen z-ers are interested in owning homes that have smart home features, boomers and gen X-ers too are avid fans of these technologies.
The real estate industry’s future looks exciting with these tech integrations. Hopefully, in the future, we will see more wonderful advances.
