Real Estate and Technology – The New Toolbox

While the business of buying and selling property hasn’t really changed, we still have buyers looking for property and sellers wanting to sell, the tools for doing this has been transformed rapidly.

The basics of having a website and using social media have grown to include smart real estate accounting software that tracks every element of a sale to interactive apps that sales agents use to tailor their presentations to perspective buyers.

The sky seems to be the limit when it comes to what is in that toolbox that helps any real estate business to succeed.

Streamlining the Forms

One of the many innovations we see is the fact that just about any form needed for a real estate transaction, and there are many, can be downloaded to a tablet. With the advent of software that creates legal digital signatures these can be delivered on the spot. Paperless transactions such as those offered through BrokerMint have become simply a part of the real estate landscape and many agents work out of their car far more than from an office.

Addressing Your Market Segment

Today’s buyer will probably spend about two years online searching before they make a purchase. This means that for many real estate agents the need has grown beyond simply having a smart web presence. While the website is still the portal to the search for the perfect property, there are syndicated real estate hubs a company can be listed through that will increase their reach. Changes in listings result in real time updates to potential buyers. All of this means more exposure for that piece of real estate.

Getting Social Online

The growth of social media has also affected the real estate market. Those two years a potential buyer spends online will include social media sites, a potential for connection that any smart company will ignore at their peril. This gives an agent time to create a sense of trust with potential customers, chat up the market they specialize in and present themselves as an expert in their field. When the connection is ready to become a client, they will have already created an online relationship with several real estate companies.

The Future of Mobile

While all of these innovative technologies have moved the real estate industry in new directions, this is not the end of the story. As we continue to see mobile grow the number of creative applications that will make showing real estate properties even more interactive will grow with it.

The potential is out there for 3D interactive videos that will project an image your prospective buyers can navigate through from their smartphones. Back office software will become more sophisticated as technology grows to make transactions more transparent and interactions with government entities smoother. For an industry grounded in the physical world, the virtual possibilities are endless.