Digital Transformation in Real Estate: A Tech Revolution
Has the thought of ever purchasing a new house, an apartment, or a new property occurred to you without having to vacate your favorite sofa spot? Or having to go through endless piles of files and paperwork? Well, you’re living in different times now – an era where digital transformation in real estate is now the norm. The real estate industry is on an exciting journey of digital renaissance where one can buy, sell, browse, and even (virtually) feel the property as easily as clicking their mouse on their PC or tapping their mobile phone’s touchscreen. Now this digital transformation in commercial real estate has affected numerous industry services, as well as increasing productivity. This real estate digital transformation has not just revolutionized some old-fashioned services in the real estate industry, but it has already rendered some of them obsolete. The core mantra behind this thought is that the digital transformation in real estate is truly enhancing quality output and improving transparency.
Now, to fully understand the subject of digital transformation in commercial real estate, we must go back in time and try to comprehend how we got here, from traditional real estate ways to today’s digitally-equipped real estate industry.
So, without further ado, let’s dive into the journey of evolution or technology in real estate, how this digital transformation is shaping the industry, the real estate agencies, the consumer behavior, all with the help of innovation and data. Let’s dig through the traditional practices of real estate so we may answer the question, ‘What is digital real estate?’
Traditional Real Estate
The Time of Printed Listings
Don’t worry, we’re not going back to prehistoric times. We’ll just stick to the not-so-distant past when property listings were published in printed directories, maintained in huge binders, and real estate agents would carry them around with them…like briefcases. Why were they so important? Well, these binders were the number one go-to resource for real estate property information.
When Personal Connections Mattered
Back in the day, a handshake would just seal it. No need for contracts or pre-contractual agreements, real estate transactions relied on personal connections. Before the digital times that we dwell in today, 70% – 76% of deals in real estate would result from personal relationships and connections.
Paper Transactions Were The Norm
Before digital transformation in real estate took place, real estate property dealings would involve endless piles of paperwork. Some seasoned real estate agents recall that, on average, each transaction could involve up to 100 pages of paperwork. Talk about being buried neck deep in paperwork, eh?
What Does Digital Transformation in Real Estate Offer?
In so many ways, the technology in real estate has made dealings and transactions so much easier for both the buyer and the seller. For the customer and the real estate broker, this era of digital real estate has introduced a much-needed layer of transparency and efficiency. See, the old ways of real estate had many ambiguities and obstacles, which made doing business hard at times. These gaps in the traditional ways of real estate also complicated the process of transactions. However, we have now fully adapted to the range of tools provided by the real estate digital transformation, aided by artificial intelligence (AI) and mobile apps, powered by cloud solutions and digital assets, as well as bolstered by data analytics. The sophistication of these technologies equips real estate agencies to gain an edge over each other plus making the ease of doing business in this industry a walk in the park, if compared to the traditional ways of real estate.
Here are some of the features that technology in real estate offers to everyone, from the customers to the real estate brokers/agencies…
Exceptional Customer Experience
Sometimes, organizations or large conglomerates don’t factor in how often customers go through bad experiences and the complexities they face while buying or selling in the real estate industry. Now, this is a key error on the part of the real estate agencies, which can make or break their clientele, and eventually their business. Why is this so key? Well, when a customer goes through a bad experience, they won’t recommend doing business with that real estate firm. They might say negative things about that firm in their network, leading to a bad reputation in the market. And in this day and age of digital real estate, rumors spread like wildfire. But the sooner you embrace digital transformation in real estate, the better. Real estate firms that have equipped their processes and employees with the tech-savvy digital assets are doing great. This digital age in real estate offers 24/7 self-service digital portals where potential and existing customers can easily search for the property listings of their choice and requirements. This helps the real estate agent to develop great business relationships and establish trust with the new and existing clients.
Take Advantage of Technology & Transactions
The age of technology in real estate brings with it an entire range of digital tools and platforms that have modernized the complex ways of doing business. No more piles of paperwork as the technology lets us deal in paperless transactions, reducing the chance of fraud and mischief manifold. Features like electronic signatures and online document management practices, and cloud computing solutions have given way to secure payment gateways for the real estate firm and the customer.
The Power of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Generally speaking, there are pros and cons of artificial intelligence, for sure. But staying strictly in the real estate realm, AI has turned out to be a blessing with the advent of digital transformation in commercial real estate. AI has saved real estate firms and managers years and months’ worth of work by analyzing and evaluating the real estate market situation in real-time, correctly assessing property values as well as categorizing investment opportunities in the real estate market for anyone looking. AI has become a go-to for many professionals, architects and interior designers, and decorators who use the power of AI to modify designs, according to the clients’ requirements as well.
Chatbots
As we discussed, the advantages and blessings AI brings, another one is the use of Chatbots. Now, Chatbots are created to have a conversation with customers and potential customers on the real estate firm’s website. They can easily respond to complex enquiries, redirect them to a live human for a much more detailed discussion. These Chatbots have given real estate professionals the time to focus on other complicated tasks while taking on the routine work.
AI Imagery
Another feature of the AI that has revolutionized the way we visualize. The AI has equipped the real estate firms with the power of aesthetic visual appeal, which can improve the accuracy of property listings. This offers the customers looking to buy property with not just accurate but detailed information about the property listing(s).
The Superpower of Data Analytics
The digital transformation in commercial real estate industry wouldn’t have been possible without data analytics. The way raw data results in conclusions, based on real estate market trends and cost dynamics, is now the way every leading real estate firm works. Real estate firms and builder groups are now able to make more informed decisions, owing to the power of predictive analytics. This helps them in mitigating or even eliminating risk factors and changing their strategies to remain in the top spot. With technology in real estate now a glaring reality, it also means that simple algorithms can learn to know people and make predictions based on their information, requirements, likes, and dislikes. For example, a person who rents a property, has a lot of money in the bank fits the mold of someone who wants to buy a new house. This is what data analytics can give the firms – unimaginable insights that can result in lucrative business.
Now, sure, it sounds a tad intrusive, but it’s not an invasion of anyone’s privacy. This information only goes to the real estate firms who are analyzing market trends and looking for clients who are looking to invest in a new property, based on their requirements. The best way to look at this is that digital transformation in commercial real estate has equipped the buyers and firms with the power of making informed decisions, based on key information.
AI-Powered Property Matching
It’s pretty safe to say that digital transformation in real estate would be useless without AI-powered property management. The way people search for properties has evolved, as with all other things. In the old days, when digitalization of real estate didn’t exist, people would sift through several pages of property listings manually. Now this time-consuming method is replaced by AI-powered property matching, which uses advanced algorithms and analyzes a person’s preferences in buying a property, desired price range, and location. It even factors in the lifestyle and aesthetic preferences of the buyer before showing the results that align with the person’s requirements from the firm’s portfolio.
3D & Virtual Property Tours
It all started with fun and games. But when the digital transformation in commercial real estate swept over the industry, virtual reality (VR) became the most crucial element in real estate. Nowadays, buyers want to experience the property they’re about to buy or are interested in. Unlike the traditional way of going to the property physically and manually taking the tour of the house or an apartment, potential buyers now prefer to save time and look for 3D and Virtual Reality (VR) tours on the real estate firm’s website. These 3D walkthroughs or VR tours have interactive floor designs, inter design as well as floor finishing. This key feature influences the buyers’ decision based on the property. All the leading real estate agencies have now started integrating their websites with these 3D walkthroughs and VR tours of their properties. This has resulted in soaring business and attracted a lot of clientele.
Personalized Real Estate Marketing
Consumers expect real estate firms to deliver personalized interactions, and they are frustrated when they don’t get it. In the era of digital real estate, this can easily be achieved without having to know the client personally. How? Well, real estate firms have access to data that has the buyer’s preferences and real estate search history that can help real estate firms serve personalized interactions, based on their likes and dislikes. Many leading real estate firms are using advanced AI algorithms in targeting only the right audience for their businesses, the potential buyers and investors in search of opportunities.
Real Estate Transaction Fraud Protection & Verification Systems
With the real estate digital transformation, this sort of volume of information has never been accessible to mankind in history as it is today. Since a lot of information is available online, the odds of fraud and scams have also significantly increased. But a reassuring statistic makes us feel better, and that is 74% of cybersecurity breaches are the cause of human error. But many real estate firms are now opting for multi-layered cybersecurity systems that sniff out threats from afar, protecting the information of their clients.
To conclude…
The digital transformation in real estate industry will result in professionals having to adapt to the change in a swiftly evolving industry. This means the real estate industry titans, as well as professionals, will need to make proper use of the tools and platforms provided by the digital transformation in real estate. The people in real estate will have to let these AI tools streamline complex processes. And if they fail to do so, then they will perish with the paperwork and old ways of doing real estate business. The best thing about these advancements is that they save overhead costs and routine work, saving time and money, allowing professionals to focus on much bigger tasks.
This industry will only grow as the real estate digital transformation is here to stay. It will grow, it will evolve into something even more technologically advanced. It’s time to embrace the change.