The past few years have seen huge leaps forward in technology. Smart homes are now commonplace. With the ability to turn on lights or the television with a voice command it seems like we’re all living in the future. The world of real estate has also seen it’s technological advancements and in order to stay on top of your competition, you will need to keep your ear to the ground so that you don’t miss out on any business.
1. CRMs
Real estate CRMs can manage a contact database are an essential part of any real estate business. You are probably already using one, if not now is the time to get started. If you are already well versed in how a CRM system can manage your contact database, segment leads, and deliver targetted messages are just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many new developments in the world of real estate CRM and if you aren’t taking advantage of them you can be sure that the competition is.
2. Blockchain and real estate
This past year has seen the rise of blockchain. This is the technology behind cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Although there are still many regulations in place that make the sale of a house challenging through this method it is only a matter of time before this becomes a relevant part of conducting real estate business. It is wise to keep tabs on the progress of blockchain.
3. Virtual reality
Why travel to an open house when you can simply log in online and take a tour of dozens of houses without leaving the comfort of your own home. Another great benefit of this is that you don’t have to spend your time collecting keys, showing people around at hours that suit them, in fact, once a virtual reality tour is set up, you will be able to leave it open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
4. Augmented reality
This is similar to virtual reality with one big difference. You are able to project images onto a live image of a home. This can allow you to change the styling of a home without spending hours on staging and even let you change the colour of the wallpaper to help your clients visualize the space’s potential.
5. Chatbots
Many potential homebuyers are most active in their search outside of business hours. While you are used to long hours and always keeping a laptop handy should you need to make a change to an offer, it is unrealistic to expect you to be available all day every day.
This is true across many businesses and industries, so the solution is to place a chatbot on your website. Once this has been programmed it can discuss the client’s questions in a casual and realistic manner. Be warned, it will take some time to program this so that it functions well.
6. Digital advertising
This has been around for a number of years, but the recent advancements in targeting accuracy have been astounding. You are able to target online advertisements to your database and lookalike audiences. A lookalike audience allows you to grow your contact database by targeting those with similar online behaviours and interests as the qualified leads you have gained organically.
7. Cloud-based systems
You are now able to access your CRM remotely from wherever you are. This can be very helpful if you need to make changes on the fly or if you are always on the move from open house to open house.