Tag: proptech
According to a 2020 report, 58% of real estate brokers have a clearly defined digital strategy, a figure that represents a 6% increase from the two previous years and thus indicates that an increasingly large percentage of the real estate industry is buying into the concept of digital transformation.
While the real estate industry is — and always will be — centered around interpersonal interactions between buyers, sellers, and agents, technology plays a more significant role in these transactions than ever before. Innovative real estate firms worldwide are leveraging futuristic technology far more frequently, and those that fail to adapt will find it hard to keep up.
Technology such as machine learning (ML) software, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered mobile apps, drones, and augmented reality (AR) solutions are no longer just “nice to have” in the real estate industry. Digital transformation is an inevitability that real estate professionals must embrace if they want to thrive in such a rapidly evolving business space.
Why Digital Transformation Is Inevitable for the Real Estate Industry
While many factors fuel digital transformation in the real estate industry, the most potent catalyst is consumers. Home buyers and sellers have grown accustomed to being able to perform a variety of essential life tasks online thanks to the ever-evolving nature of smartphones and other sophisticated internet-connected devices.
According to a 2022 report, 51% of all home buyers found the properties they purchased via the internet. Another 29% found their dream home with the assistance of a real estate agent, whereas just 4% located the home they eventually purchased via traditional signage.
These statistics indicate that the vast majority of prospective buyers are taking charge in their search for their next home. Real estate agents who want to keep pace must incorporate futuristic technology into their sales models or risk finding it increasingly difficult to provide consumers with the efficient and primarily digital experience they prefer.
Still, the industry is about more than buying and selling homes and real estate technology means more than improving sales. Many property management firms want to leverage technology for payment platforms, leasing and facility management, back office processes, and more. Most important to these management teams is having all those processes in one place.
Read more: Reshaping Real Estate Operations with Fully Integrated End-to-End Software.
Futuristic Technology is Poised to Reshape Real Estate
The real estate industry can solve many existing challenges by embracing digital technologies. From complex workflows brought on by the multitude of activities required of a real estate firm to communication shortfalls, there are many leading technologies that property services can embrace as part of a digital transformation. While there is no single answer, some forms of futuristic technology that are already making a big splash in the real estate industry include:
1. ML and AI
Machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies are true game changers for the real estate industry. They enable real estate agents and brokers to automate redundant tasks, like creating timesheets, filling out paperwork, generating offer documents, or scheduling meetings. Within property management, automation can lead to higher sales volumes, efficient back-office solutions, and a more valuable experience for clients and management teams.
2. Mobile Applications
Real estate agents and property managers are always on the go, and while smartphones help them stay connected to clients and co-workers while in the field, these devices are only as good as the applications installed on them.
With that in mind, many real estate firms are turning to robust mobile applications that are purpose-built for the real estate industry. These applications can enable the performance of a wide array of tasks remotely, including approving documents, sending forms to clients, and much more.
3. All-in-One Property Management Platforms
Traditionally, real estate firms that manage rental properties have done so by using a cobbled-together network of disparate applications. Though that kind of approach works, it is hardly ever efficient or cost-effective. Fortunately, dynamic, all-in-one property management platforms like Rentmoji exist.
Created by Fingent, Rentmoji empowers property managers to govern every facet of property management from a single, user-friendly platform that includes a mobile application. The platform includes a suite of interconnected apps, each of which addresses specific property management challenges and pain points.
With separate sub-portals for tenants, owners, and vendors, the Rentmoji suite provides complete transparency for all parties and makes process automation a breeze. Rentmoji is the reality of futuristic technology for the present.
4. Drones
Drones enable real estate agents to capture aerial pictures of a home and property to provide a more comprehensive overview of each listing. Unique and captivating aerial drone photos on an online listing will help real estate agents make the properties they are selling stand out. In addition, multiple listing service (MLS) reports that properties with drone images in the United States are 68% more likely to sell.
Agents can also use drones to help assess property lines, landscapes, and potential maintenance concerns. Real estate agents and property managers can then use this information to help clients make informed purchasing decisions or evaluate upkeep issues.
5. AR/VR Technologies
Virtual reality (VR) and AR technologies benefit firms that sell yet-to-be-completed homes. Agents can use these technologies to give buyers a sneak peek of a home before it is built, and these digital images can help agents close more deals and bring customers’ vision of their dream home to life much more quickly as a result.
AR and VR technologies can also be used to digitally stage properties, an approach that is much more cost-effective than bringing furniture in just to stage a vacant home. Staging properties with AR/VR tech makes vacant homes more appealing and can thus speed up the selling process.
Read more: Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality: Transforming The Real Estate Industry!
How Fingent Can Help Real Estate Firms Embrace Digital Technologies
If you operate within the real estate industry and want to gain a definitive edge by investing in digital transformation, Fingent is here to help. We create customized, futuristic technology that is tailor-made for the needs of your business.
We understand the challenges that affect the real estate industry. You’re seeking solutions to marketing challenges that help you stand out against the growing competition, and your business wants to adapt to evolving tech trends. We have a track record of solutions that are here to help.
Our custom software development professionals have created numerous real estate software solutions for clients that engage in every facet of the industry, from single-family residential sales to commercial property management.
To learn more about how Fingent can help you step into the future, contact our team today to schedule a consultation.
Call it the innovation driver or the disruptive power, PropTech – the intersection of property and technology – has massively influenced real estate in recent years.
More than two-thirds of real estate players consider adopting new technology solutions as a strategic priority to survive and thrive in the post-pandemic era. While tech-driven innovation is crucial, the biggest challenge faced by real estate investors and property managers is to identify and implement the tech solutions that fit their purpose.
If you’re a property business trying to meet your expectations with the right PropTech, here’re a few solutions to focus on.
Read more: Reimagining Real Estate Operations with Fully Integrated End-to-end Solutions
Solving Real Estate Challenges with PropTech: Real-life Examples
Managing leads, arranging site tours, estimating prices, maintaining properties, handling documentation, and collecting payments are some of the major challenges hindering property management companies from scaling and growing their revenue. With the right PropTech adoption, you can mitigate them. Here’s the proof:
1. Property Listing
Keeping consistently accurate data across multiple property listing sites is a major challenge confronted by real estate aggregators. Equally important is to review the property’s performance across various listing sites.
The Challenge:
A US-based investment brokerage firm had a tough time getting real-time visibility into the performance of Commercial Real Estate (CRE) property listings. This affected their brokers’ productivity as they weren’t able to match properties to investors’ expectations. Even though the firm manages plenty of property data, legacy technology prevented them from making any gains out of it.
The Solution:
Thanks to predictive analytics and data visualization! Today, they’re realizing the benefits of data-backed decisions. With a cutting-edge net lease trading platform that leverages these tech innovations, the company is now able to personalize property and seller dashboards, track 1031 exchanges, compare listings, and help investors make better decisions.
Click here to read the full story.
2. Property Visits
Offering a safe and satisfying visitor experience to customers regardless of where they’re located is a crucial requirement in today’s competitive real estate market. There is an increasing demand for self-guided 3D virtual home tours and property visits, self-showing real estate apps, VR-powered property expos, and virtual staging tools among others. All these heavily influence buying decisions.
The Challenge:
Chasing a huge number of leads looking for leased properties and managing peak season demands were two of the major challenges that hit a leasing property management firm’s day-to-day operations. Showing vacant properties to clients across various locations via a self-guided application was an important step in connecting them to the right rental properties.
The Solution:
With an IoT-enabled self-showing application, the realtor could now virtually take visitors through vacant properties. As IoT helps consolidate discrete data from various software, the realtor could reduce unwanted overheads, minimize hardware investment, eliminate overlapping site visit schedules, and manage the growing number of leads effectively.
Want to learn more about the self-showing PropTech app? Click here.
3. Property Management Automation
Are your business development plans taking backstage due to a lack of automation? Do you rely on manual processes to manage buyers, sellers, and properties, contracting and leasing functions, property listing, and tracking, and finance and accounting? Solving this dilemma requires investing in an automated, customized PropTech solution.
The Challenge:
Inefficient communication systems, disconnected business segments, and poor customer experience failed to deliver a leading property management firm with the expected ROI. Lack of integration between various software handling individual business operations added to the prevalent inefficiencies. They needed a single platform that centralizes all the aspects of the property management life cycle.
The Solution:
Employing automation and the cloud, the realtor developed an all-in-one property management platform with customized interfaces for tenants, owners, and vendors. Cloud capabilities and automation enhanced their speed-to-market. The company grew from 2 to 160 employees within two years of implementing the software.
Read the full story to understand how the new platform serves as a robust single-source property management solution.
4. Price Estimation
With each property featuring unique attributes (such as location, floor plan, lot size, and other amenities), valuing real estate has become extremely difficult. Investors need to make more informed decisions and forecast potential earnings from a property over a given period of time. Establishing accurate property values requires churning myriads of data.
The Challenge:
Property businesses in the US lost many potential buyers as they failed to quote accurate property prices based on buyer data. Seamless coordination between buyers and sellers becomes possible only when property valuation is accurate and prices are competitive.
The Solution:
Automation and data analytics enhanced their property management skills and helped them estimate real estate prices precisely. With an integrated PropTech tool featuring a customized price estimation module, property agents get access to both investor data and pricing details, resulting in better productivity and more deal closures.
Read the case study here.
5. Real Estate Workforce Management
Managing property repairs or ensuring a property is fit for listing can be a strenuous job. Especially when handling multiple properties at the same time. Keeping track of the tasks at hand, or collaborating with the on-site workers, can take a toll if not effectively managed.
The Challenge:
Scheduling tasks, dispatching workforce to various properties, inspecting and auditing properties, keeping track of various tasks, and at the same time keeping all workforce effective, motivated and on the same page, might sound challenging, especially when the work culture keeps shifting from remote, to hybrid, to on-site!
The Solution:
The ReachOut Suite, primarily a field service management software, is a leading example of enabling an optimized field workforce. Want to assign property management tasks to your selected field service agents? Simply drag and drop the task onto their calendar. They will be alerted and you can track the progress of the task right at your fingertips, that too in real-time. ReachOut offers customizable inspection and audit templates to scrutinize your property and helps generate reports when you need them. Integrate ReachOut with your real estate inventory, accounting, quotations, and plenty of other business-critical functions to experience the power of automation and the cloud.
Click here to explore the features of ReachOut Suite.
Read more: What’s in Store for Real Estate This 2022
The Most Anticipated PropTech Trends
As PropTech continues to widely reimagine real estate operations, here’re a few trends that will hog the limelight in the coming days.
1. 5G
5G introduces extended connectivity for smart home devices with zero latency, improved augmented reality in home tours, flexibility to live and work from anywhere, and unlocks new revenue streams for CRE investors as they can lease rooftops to broaden 5G service delivery. 5G provides access to real-time data on building and infrastructure usage, tenant occupancy, and asset conditions. It facilitates instant monitoring of mechanical and electrical infrastructure in buildings, which will help avert problems before they occur.
2. Smart and Sustainable Homes
The average eco-friendly home cuts energy bills by 30%. When people are aware of their energy usage patterns and practices that harm the environment, they exercise more caution in energy usage and follow eco-friendly behavior. IoT and data analytics-enabled PropTech applications help homeowners understand better the benefits of sustainable living powered by smart home devices.
3. Neighborhood Analysis Using AI
AI and machine learning algorithms are now able to predict the evolution of urban landscapes over a said period. For instance, Google’s Street View images can be analyzed by AI to measure the safety score of a particular street based on the evaluation of data related to crimes, walkability, livability, amenities, and more.
4. Tenant Screening
PropTech applications that help owners identify financially qualified and reliable tenants will expedite the online leasing process and guarantee investors regular earnings.
Drones that facilitate virtual site tours, blockchain-enabled smart building contracts, and secure smart locks are also becoming hot pursuits in the PropTech market.
According to Metaprop, the global investor confidence in real estate technology has risen significantly, with 70% of investors planning to adopt PropTech in the next 12 months. Have you integrated PropTech into your real estate management business? If not, do take advantage of the technological revolution by partnering with a reliable PropTech development company. We develop customized property management software for our clients that leverage the latest technologies needed to make a firm stride in today’s dynamic real estate market.
Get in touch with us to understand how PropTech can take your business to the next level.
The property sector in the United States came to a crashing halt in March 2020, when the first wave of COVID-19 hit the nation. Mortgage rates dropped by 34%, affecting home buying and selling plans. Retail vacancy rates spiked up to 20% and commercial property loan delinquency rates soared up to 11.49% in Q2 of 2020. Months of shutdowns, social distancing regulations, traveling curbs, stay-at-home mandates, remote working, online shopping, and home delivery led to a drastic decline in occupancy rates and rents. People shifted their working spaces from office to home which slashed the demand for commercial rental spaces. The liberty to “work from anywhere” triggered a mass exodus from expensive urban areas to affordable suburbs and rural areas, lowering home value growth in metros.
All these challenges forced the property sector into urgent changes. Along with reconciling fiscal and monetary policies, real estate leaders must capitalize on property management technologies – specifically automation – to recover and rake in profits. Bitwise Industries observes that “the immediate need for innovation and automation is now a necessity to not only survive but to truly thrive in the real estate industry.”
Read more: What’s in Store for Real Estate This 2022
How does automation help a highly fragmented industry like real estate to manage multiple operations in one place and sync a horde of activities?
Automation in Real Estate: Fostering “All in One Place – All in Sync”
McKinsey’s survey identifies that automation and remodeling of work processes enable businesses to control costs and mitigate uncertainty during recessions. A real estate firm needs to efficiently coordinate multiple business functions such as managing buyers, sellers, and properties, contracting and leasing functions, property listing and tracking, finance and accounting, and so on. Automation helps sync and manage all these activities in one place. Here’re the top five real estate processes that can benefit from automation:
1. Optimize internal workflows
Automating internal workflows improves your team’s productivity. Having a well-synced project management system with up-to-date dashboards, real-time analytics, and reports, automated document flow, task reminders, deadline notifications, meeting schedulers, etc. can save your workforce’s time and improve their focus on value-adding functions.
2. Enhancing customer journey
Custom real estate software and integrated PropTech solutions allow customers to create, view and modify personalized wish lists, look up and find property information, and filter details based on different criteria. Realtors can leverage Virtual Reality techniques to improve customer experience by offering virtual tours, 360-degree property views, and 3D site plans. Integrating mortgage calculators, neighborhood descriptions, and an easy ordering process enables customers to buy, sell, or rent properties easily.
Read more: How Virtual Reality Can Transform Real Estate Operations
3. Improve sales and marketing processes
Real estate marketers and salespersons can leverage automation to sync all their leads in one place, access lead information anytime on their phone, create custom client lists, save time with lead routing, automate drip email campaigns, set up activity-based email workflows, keep track of previous interactions, and send out reminders and updates to clients on time. All these lead to higher conversion rates.
4. Manage invoices and finances
Manual invoicing and payment processes consume your team’s valuable time and affect your organization’s scalability. Automated, all-in-one property management software allows you to centralize, oversee, and streamline the payment process without any paperwork. Automating financial management improves your processes with customers, partners, and suppliers. You can easily track orders, gain approvals, send notifications, and obtain real-time visibility into each transaction using the real estate management software.
5. Carryout field and property inspections
Leading property inspection software offers customizable templates and checklists for property managers, field inspectors, site auditors, and clients to schedule inspections, record on-site data, and auto-generate reports. Automating the whole inspection process reduces both manual errors and report submission time. This helps find out the quality and condition of a property (home), secure governmental approvals quickly, and fix the best price for the listed property.
Benefits of Real Estate Automation: A Quick Recap
- Streamline workflows and back-office tasks
- Reduce tedious paper works and manual jobs
- Improve focus on value-adding functions
- Monitor property managers and personnel dispersed across various locations
- Implement innovative ways to showcase and market properties
- Process invoices and payments on time
- Improve customer service and attract more buyers
- Eliminate supplier management hurdles
How Fingent Enables Real Estate Companies to Leverage Automation and Digital Technologies
We help real estate companies and property managers to prepare for a digital, data-driven, and sustainable future. Our projects demonstrate the value we deliver to the real estate industry.
#1. Rentmoji, The All-in-one Property Management Platform
Inefficient communication systems, disconnected business segments, and poor customer experience failed to deliver the expected ROI to our customers. They needed a single platform that centralizes all the aspects of the property management life cycle. This resulted in the development of Rentmoji, an all-in-one property management suite that helps streamline and manage diverse operations in the industry.
Analyzing the challenges faced by different stakeholders in the real estate business, we automated key processes and implemented top-notch security solutions. Rentmoji now serves as a robust single-source property management solution for residential rental properties (Single-Family Rentals and Multi-Family Rentals), CAM, and HOA management.
- The company grew from 2 to 160 employees within two years of implementing the software
- Customized portals and integrations for tenants, owners, and vendors
- Structured lead management process and extensive syndication
- Enhanced speed-to-market with cloud capabilities and automation
#2. End-to-end CRE Transaction Platform
An investment brokerage firm in the United States was struggling to adapt to the changing Commercial Real Estate (CRE) market demands. They required an integrated solution that will offer them real-time visibility into the performance of property listings and visualize data insights for brokers and investors to make better decisions. To help them realize the benefits of data-backed decision-making, we created a modern net lease trading platform. It improved their CRE transactions and sales. The customer can now manage 10,000+ listings via the trading platform and track 1031 exchanges effectively. They also have access to reliable ROI metrics based on current and future trends.
- Predictive analytics matches properties to investors’ preferences and expectations
- Projected revenue charts and financial summaries help business analysts
- Place and manage offers on multiple listings and update them on the fly
- Brokers can use the application to easily demonstrate listings to prospective buyers
Fingent has also helped develop custom real estate software and PropTech solutions for leading real estate brands like SimpleRent, Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group LLC, and WRI Property Management.
Leveraging the Latest in PropTech to Navigate the New Normal
The global pandemic emphasized the need for all aspects of real estate to embrace technology. Buying software to merely run your operations remotely isn’t enough. Technology capabilities should allow you to generate value and respond swiftly in a pandemic-afflicted economy. 58% of real estate organizations struggle to integrate their legacy applications with innovative tech solutions. It exposes these businesses to major financial and operational impediments. Fingent custom software development experts aims to help such businesses by bridging their technology talent gaps and developing all-in-one, integrated, custom PropTech solutions.
Adoption of Predictive Analytics
The Commercial Real Estate (CRE) industry is growing. New business models and competition, extensive use of technology, and changing tenant and investor expectations are redefining the face of this industry. Each year brings new technologies that alter the way agents approach their work. As investors are ready to change their business models with a tech-enabled ecosystem, CRE companies and agents will have to adapt to the new demands and technology trends. The market will remain wide open only for those who are ready to accept the change and adapt to new technologies.
Get to know how smart home technology impacts real estate.
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Based on the industry market research report on the state of the commercial real estate industry in the US, there are almost 1.3 million properties with an average sales volume of $55 billion. Over the past five years, the commercial real estate industry in the US has grown by 2.6% to reach revenue of $1 trillion in 2019. Moreover, it is estimated that the CRE industry expansion is expected to continue over the next five years.
“The CRE property values (specifically NNN properties) are unique in that the pricing is not driven strictly by the underlying real estate, but also by the lease terms and a single tenant’s credit rating”, says Camille Renshaw, co-founder, and CEO, B+E. This shows the relevance of analytics in tenant/property data.
Related Read: How Real Estate Technology Helps Predict Property Prices
Predictive Analytics Occupy a Pivotal Role in CRE
No investor cares about what the property meant in the past. They are keen to know about the future of the property or how its potential value will escalate in times to come. Here comes the significance of PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS, which uses past and present big data to make reliable, proof-based predictions about the future development of a property.
CRE is an industry sector that contains an abundance of data. Over the past years, analytics are slowly taking up its role among numerous listing sites. Its chief role is to provide both buyers and sellers more context about the property and its qualities. However, analytics that really benefits CRE agents is still a rare thing to find. This is where predictive analytics comes into place.
Predictive analytics tracks consumer (basically buyer/seller) behavior to understand the conditions in which they are most likely to buy or sell. This helps an agent to better utilize their time and resources, which in turn maximize the overall sales. It is expected that over the next few years the adoption of predictive analytics in the real estate industry will accelerate. Besides, studies also show that predictive analytics is one among the many real estate technology trends to follow in 2019.
CRE companies/agents can achieve clear and practical insights for different strategic actions that they must adopt by combining data from different sources and advanced analytics technologies. This includes predictions like analyzing the tenant’s benefits due to flexible leases, customer and traffic information for a retail center or staff usage information for office space, etc.
Features like heatmap analysis, property rental calculators, projected revenue charts, return during lease analysis are a few examples of predictive analytics that agents generally use to showcase how a property will perform in the future and its possible return on investment.
Related Reading: Check out how Fingent provided integrated Prop-Tech Solution for real estate brokers.
How Predictive Analytics Benefits the CRE Industry
Predictive analysis allows an agent to suggest the perfect property that matches their investor preferences, expectations, and goals. This saves time and risk by providing the investor with a reliable return on investment metrics based on past and present data as well as the future expected trends of their investment.
It also allows the agent not to have any specific financial background, as the analytics platform does its job to suggest a property that guarantees to provide its investors with positive cash flow and high return on investment.
It is possible to carve analytics, which can even identify the ability and education levels of possible agents from a list and suggest it to a CRE company based on use cases.
Many AI-based applications help its agents or even investors to get a detailed and personalized report by simply providing basic information like area, the fund available, risk level, expected CAP rate, etc.
In addition, such tools can even be customized for agents that will give them answers to queries like:
- Is this the right time to invest?
- What would be my ROI – maybe in the next five years?
- Neighborhood status and track record?
- How much is my existing portfolio worth?
Such predictive recommendation engines have proven to foster deeper engagement and increase ROI. For instance, Amazon’s predictive recommendations had a success rate as high as 60% in some cases.
Related Reading: The Impact Of Big Data Analytics and How it is Changing the Real Estate Industry
As a CRE Company, What Must We Do?
Developing an enterprise-wide strategy and supporting it with a sound technology core has turned out to be important for a commercial real estate company. This must be supported by data gathering and analytical techniques. According to the CIO surveys performed by different agencies, only one-fourth of organizations globally across industries have currently in place an enterprise-wide digital vision and strategy.
A solid technology strategy that is spread across the industry stands as the first step towards effective technology deployment and integration. More efficient utilization of IT budgets and resources also needs to be considered. This will include evaluation of how data capturing is performed, use of predictive analytics, advanced tracking and reporting management AI tools. A well planned and phased deployment of technology will likely yield amazing results than waiting for your turn and jumping into the development and implementation process.
However, there are a few things that require consideration before starting to work with a PropTech company. A CRE company must admit the fact that, when starting off working with a PropTech firm, they must not consider them just as vendors of a product or service, as this can very well limit the range of benefits that the company can achieve.
Instead, try partnering with them on potential innovations. Identifying a single point of contact to take up conversations with PropTech and a coordinated approach supported by guidelines to evaluate the features developed must also be taken into consideration. In addition, make sure that the size, scale, maturity, level of innovation, and relevance to existing business is conveyed properly to the PropTech company.
Commercial real estate technologies are relatively new and most of the PropTech companies are only beginners in the CRE Industry. They tend to make decisions quickly compared to CRE companies, which can end up delivering wrong results or create anomalies in the process flow. A shared understanding must be developed by the partnering company to allow successful coexistence.
Related Read: Top Technology Aids To Accelerate Real Estate Growth
Predictive analytics is transforming commercial real estate by enabling stakeholders to make data-driven decisions, identify risks and opportunities, and optimize operations. To leverage the full potential of predictive analytics, commercial real estate firms need a reliable partner like a custom software development company. Such a company can provide customized solutions that integrate predictive analytics tools with existing systems, unlocking actionable insights that can drive business success.