Real estate often embraces technology. When people look for new houses or apartments, they want as many tools as possible to make the process easier. Realtors also want to streamline the home listing and showing processes. Several technologies exist now that are changing the real estate game. We’ll look at a few of them in this article.
Blockchain
Many niches are finding blockchain useful, and the real estate industry is one of them. Blockchain can help with things like condo association management software, as well as:
- Renting properties
- Buying properties
- Selling houses, condos, or apartments
Any time someone buys, sells, or rents a property, they exchange a lot of money and information. At one point, people conducted these high-value asset transactions offline. They exchanged a lot of paperwork and had to keep track of all of it.
These person-to-person engagements took time, and they were not the most secure. It was possible that someone could lose a document, which slowed up the sale or rental process.
With blockchain, this process has evolved. Now, you can tokenize and trade cryptocurrencies. You can also use it for encrypted transaction verification. You can be sure no one is tampering with your financial records this way.
5G
Phone companies are rolling out 5G right now. Many individuals are very excited about it. They will have better smartphone service and better internet access when they’re at home.
5G has real estate industry applications as well. With it, you can:
- Set up commercial building camera systems
- Set up residential camera systems
If you have a real estate company and monitor some apartment buildings you own to make sure there’s no criminal activity happening there, you can set up a camera or sensor network to do that. With 5G in place, you can connect them to produce high-def images and transmit them anywhere instantly.
You can check on your property in real-time. If there’s civil unrest or you hear that a police chase is going on in that neighborhood, you can instantly pull up the camera feed to see if your property is secure.
As a real estate agent, you can also set up cameras for homes you’re trying to sell. You can check on them in the same way you would commercial properties.
Machine-Learning and AI
At one point, it was a tedious process to sell, find, purchase, and view properties. Now, you can use machine learning and AI to make that process a lot easier, regardless of whether you’re a real estate agent or a house hunter.
Companies are creating machine learning-powered real estate mobile apps. They can predict rent rate fluctuations, which potential renters appreciate. Someone who’s hunting in a particular neighborhood can tell whether they can afford it with their current salary or whether they’re better off looking elsewhere.
Real estate app chatbots can answer many customer questions. A possible buyer will not need to contact their real estate agent for every query they have.
AI can also personalize the customer experience. A house hunter can use it for a tailored search. The app can look at home value trends, nearby restaurants, stores, hospitals, schools, etc., and determine a potential buyer’s interest level.
Augmented and Virtual Reality
Many real estate agencies and individuals are also using augmented and virtual reality apps. Online property searching is now convenient, fun, and interactive in a way it never was before.
You can visit a property through a virtual tour feature. As a property manager, you don’t have to meet up with a prospective buyer every time they want to look at one of your listings. They can use the app to go through the house or apartment, and if it seems like a good fit, they can see it in person.
With augmented reality, a person can superimpose their furniture over the physical space to see how it will look and if it will fit. Real estate companies no longer have to use couches, chairs, TVs, etc., to stage a property, saving them money.
Smart Locks
Real estate companies can also install smart locks on their property doors. This way, a potential buyer does not need a key to get in.
They get to the property, and then they call the real estate agent. The agent can use their smartphone and open the door, and the individual or family can enter. Once they finish, they call or text the real estate agent, and the agent uses the phone app to lock up after them.
