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Four Technologies Transforming Modern Real Estate

A look at some of the new technologies that are impacting the buying and selling experience in real estate transactions today

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Over the past several years, technology has become increasingly ingrained in our lives. Most recently, the current global pandemic has supercharged technology’s role in a growing number of common needs and processes. With the increasing demand for more personalized and immediate service offerings, businesses have had to adapt to meet the demands of their customers. The real estate industry is no exception. Implementing new technology tools is not only improving the real estate process for buyers and sellers but industry professionals as well. Looking ahead, here are three key technologies transforming modern real estate.

Data

Today, technology has transformed the way data is gathered, structured and utilized, allowing for improved use of property information. For investors specifically, data can help more accurately predict trends and opportunity forecasts, therefore creating a sound foundation for knowledge-based decisions on real estate transactions. With tools like Neighborhood Scout, real estate investors can easily access comprehensive, location-based data on a specific neighborhood’s crime, demographic, school performance and more. This sort of data use has also significantly improved industry professionals’ ability to determine property value in a more accurate and efficient manner.

Apart from investor involvement, data is positively impacting individuals looking to buy and sell real estate as well. Streamlining the buying process through data-driven technology and tools removes the need for numerous in-person meetings, research and added confusion. As a first-time home buyer, for example, you can confidently begin the house-hunting process by calculating how much house you can afford in terms of your specific budget and mortgage qualifications. Approaching the often strenuous process of buying a house with this information arms buyers with the insight needed for making financially responsible decisions and facilitates a realistic house hunt with their real estate professional.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a hot technology across all industries, including real estate, and the technology continues to demonstrate its benefits through its role in property value predictions. Real estate investment can be risky in the sense that there is always a chance property value may not prove to be as profitable as expected. AI’s ability to anticipate rent and sale price fluctuations and trends as well as identify the most ideal time for selling a property gives savvy investors a notable advantage.

Through the use of big data and AI’s predictive analytics, investors can accurately assess property value and make actionable decisions based on these insights. Further, AI can help determine the appropriate value of an existing property based on data and desirable qualities. For example, a study by McKinsey found that having two grocery stores within a quarter of a mile tends to increase property prices, but having more than four results in price reduction–a detail the naked eye may not notice when assessing value.

Mobile Apps

Mobile applications are becoming non-negotiable in real estate transactions , particularly for the younger generations. This 2019 research by the National Association of Realtors found that 81% of Millennials and 78% of Generation X home buyers found their home on a mobile device. As technology becomes more accessible, agencies must meet these buyers where they are through the use of online and mobile applications. At present, successful real estate mobile apps offer a number of key features that are streamlining processes and facilitating the full digital transformation of the real estate industry.

  • Buyer Profiles: Similar to how a relationship between a realtor and a buyer would traditionally play out, buyer profiles provide buyers with a platform to share their list of requests, properties they’re interested in and other useful information to help them find the right house. Similarly, these profiles can help agents best identify potential buyers for the properties they’re representing.
  • Property Profiles: Extensive information about available properties should be housed in a convenient and accessible location. Property profiles showcase virtual tours, photos, property descriptions and facts as well as list prices. The more interactive the profile, the better as prospective buyers can develop connections to these properties on a virtual level. Higher interactivity can also result in greater interest and quicker closing processes.
  • Pricing and Mortgage Resources: Keeping users on a mobile app is all about making for a one-stop-shop. The inclusion of pricing calculators where users can determine the final price of a home, including loan interest rates and closing costs, helps buyers better understand their available market and expedites processes. Additionally, links to reputable mortgage companies where buyers can compare and evaluate what rates work best for them with just a click saves time and money as prospective homeowners can fulfill all required steps with ease.

Virtual and Augmented Reality

No longer reserved for strictly recreational uses, virtual reality (VR) is serving as an incredibly useful and innovative tool in today’s contactless world. This increasingly popular proptech tool is revolutionizing the way showings, stagings and closings are conducted. Through a virtual lens, buyers can easily and conveniently view available properties regardless of their location. Additionally, with the use of augmented reality (AR), investors can also partake in life-like simulations of property concepts and those in the development stage.

As this technology continues to advance, more and more industry professionals are implementing user-friendly applications to meet the needs of their consumers while also improving their experiences. In fact, at present, nearly 90% of real estate agencies have started using these technologies to provide better client services.

In terms of financial benefits, VR and AR technologies will make the greatest impact on the scope of real estate operations. With the ability to accurately depict properties on a virtual platform, real estate professionals can reach buyers on a global scale. This in turn widens the opportunity for profit and provides investors with a broader pool of potential properties.

Nearly 40% of Americans feel that buying a new home is the most stressful event in modern life. Thanks to modern technology, the process behind real estate as a whole is changing for the better.

By streamlining processes through technology, buyers and sellers are able to expedite transactions and reach profitable and beneficial results on all accounts. Looking ahead, as our world continues to evolve, we can certainly expect technology’s role in the real estate industry to continue to grow and advance.

Data Science is Becoming the Most Important Skill in Fintech

The explosion in data has made the data scientist an essential part of all fintech companies

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Data is everywhere. The world generates some 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day. Some people have said we are drowning in data and that may well be true. But we are starting to get better at making sense of massive amounts of data. Which brings me to the point of this article. Data science is going to become, if it hasn’t already, the most important skill in fintech.

Before we go any further we should define what we mean by data science. There is no standard definition but I like how NYU describes it:

At its core, data science involves using automated methods to analyze massive amounts of data and to extract knowledge from them.

Extracting knowledge is the key point here. We may be drowning in data but a skilled data scientist will be able to extract the useful parts of this data and discard all the noise. With so much data available today in all industries, particularly in finance, those companies that can extract useful and actionable knowledge will be the winners.

Chris Skinner penned this interesting piece last week claiming the critical importance of data in banking:

Data is the new air, and the banks that breathe the best will win. In other words, banks that really get data analytics, and can apply machine learning to gain deep customer insights are the ones that will survive.

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Smartphone Data is the Key to Expanding Access to Credit

Every smartphone owner produces a huge amount of data and companies are now using some of this data to underwrite loans.

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The average American checks their phone 47 times a day according to this study by Deloitte. The number is much higher (82) if you are in the 18-24 year old age bracket. We keep our lives on our phones and so it has become the most essential piece of technology we own.

With all that usage comes a treasure trove of data. Now, this also brings with it a host of privacy issues but that is not the focus for this article. What I am talking about here is smartphone data and how companies can leverage this to expand access to credit. This particularly applies to the underbanked consumers in this country and more importantly in developing countries.

For many consumers their access to credit is limited because they have little or no credit footprint. They may operate primarily with cash, have no credit score and are therefore unable to qualify for a loan from most lenders. Their credit needs are often more urgent than the mid-prime and prime consumer but because lenders have little or no data they have difficulty in obtaining credit.

This problem is particularly acute in the developing world. Here, most people are outside the traditional financial system, if there even is one, and do not have access to credit. But that is changing as companies like Kiva, Lenddo (listen to Episode 91 of the Lend Academy Podcast), Branch and Juvo (see this session at LendIt USA 2017) are helping consumers get access to credit, often for the first time.

What lenders are finding out is that even when there is no credit data available the data that is inside a consumer’s smartphone can be very predictive of creditworthiness. I think Lenddo (they are a technology provider, not a lender) is doing some of the best work in the space as they have a great deal of experience in many different countries using data contained in smartphones to score consumers. In this country LendUp and Elevate are also doing good work and I like Oakam in the UK.

Underwriting is All About Data

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LendIt Fintech News, Powered by Lend Academy, has been bringing you all the news and information about fintech and online lending since 2010 when it was founded by Peter Renton. We not only have the industry’s most active news site, but also the largest investor forum and the first and most popular podcast.

We are a team of fintech enthusiasts who have been covering the industry for many years. With a deep knowledge of online lending, digital banking, blockchain, artificial intelligence and more our team covers the daily news and writes in-depth editorials.

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