To homebuyers, renters, and real estate agents, it’s obvious how technology is changing established orders of business. On the side of buyers and renters, they rely on the internet to show them the properties they’re looking for, lead them to the best mortgage rates, introduce them to a skilled realtor, and tell them about the best companies that provide home services such as plumbing and electrical work.
Real estate isn’t just about the selling, buying, and renting of properties. It’s also about what comes after clients lock in a property, move in, and live in the property they paid for. Their experience in their new place would define the outcomes that will cause shifts in the real estate industry. Homebuyers and renters can influence the shifts through online platforms that allow them to voice out their concerns.
Aside from technology providing clients and real estate industry players the platform for their voices to be heard, here are the other ways technology is affecting the said industry:
1. Virtual Tours
Gone are the days when people have to travel to different locations to look at homes they might not even like. Sellers and real estate companies can now post high-quality photos and videos to provide the information potential buyers need about the property.
Aside from those two, three-dimensional tours are also used by real estate companies to give clients house tours without having to meet them and show the property physically. The feature is almost similar to Google’s Street View feature that’s integrated within Google Maps. You can walk around the home without actually being in it.
2. Electric Signatures
In any real estate deal, there will be more than a few signatures exchanged between all parties involved. Fortunately, people can now send digital signatures and not meet people outdoors to sign important paperwork.
Electric signatures aren’t unique to the real estate industry. It’s also useful in industries trying to reduce travel costs and instances of contact with other people. Buyers, sellers, and real estate companies can now finalize deals without waiting for people to come by and sign paperwork.
Electric or digital signatures hold just as much power as physical ones, meaning you won’t have any authentication problems if you rely on signing things digitally.
3. Online Investing
Investing used to be something that’s done over telephone calls. Now, institutional and retail investors can execute trades through trading platforms online. There are hundreds of them out there. It’s up to the investor to pick the best platform, along with an excellent broker.
Another technology impact in online real estate investing is the easier access to crowdsourced information crucial to price movements and trade executions. Traders big and small can pool available online resources that will help their decisions.
4. Online Listings
As people rely on the internet to bring them anything they need, houses and apartments are no exception. People looking to find a new place to live in will jump to Google search to find a new place, which will lead them to websites with residential property listings.
As a property seller, you should take advantage of the abundance of websites open to list properties and consumers’ penchant for relying on them.
Besides actual property listings, buyers can also find the information they need about the neighborhood, establishments close by, and the purchase history.
5. Mobile Applications
Most websites listing residential properties also have applications that are tailored for mobile devices. Having an application gives people easier ways to navigate platforms and specify their preferences, which hastens the process of finding a new home and closing a deal.
These applications also allow buyers to state their budget and help them find the properties that are within the range they provided. After that, they can also connect the same buyers to real estate agents and property managers.
Advancements in technology are doing more good to real estate than bad. They’re making the industry more accessible, mobile, and easy to navigate. Buying and selling a home used to mean a lot of time consumed in just looking for a property to view. Today, people can take a look at the homes they’re interested in without wasting gas or transportation money, allocating time, to end up being disappointed.
Fortunately, innovations seem endless. New technologies pop out of random corners each time. While some don’t fit like gloves, some are good enough to keep the industry growing and keep clients satisfied with convenience.
