Real Estate and Technology

The business of real estate has changed very little in the last few decades. What has changed is the way that both agents and brokers advertise their listings and interact with consumers in the market, as well as the way the consumer searches for homes or properties in the area. In the past about the only technology needed in the real estate world may have been the calculator. This is not the case today. We all know and actively use technology in some form or another in our lives today. Technology changes at such a fast pace that the device we purchased yesterday is already outdated today. But what has that technology done for the business of real estate from the perspective of both the agents and the buyer?

How Buying a Home Has Changed

Consumers are researching and shopping for real estate from the comfort of a recliner, on their lunch break, or at a coffee house sipping on a Latte’.  Gone are the days of sifting through the newspapers and other advertisements browsing through hundreds, if not thousands of listings in any particular area. Many years ago these methods were the normal means of finding a home or property that would meet the consumer’s needs. Today consumers are able to browse listings in any area of the world from the comfort of their home. Computers, smartphones, and other mobile devices provide the consumer with all the information about the home or property in one convenient location. Years ago listings would only have a single picture or two and have very little detail about the listing. Today consumers can view multiple pictures of the property or home. Some companies will have a 3D tour of the home available on their website. With the available technology and reasonable web hosting, even the little guys in the industry can have a well-designed website that helps promote them and their business for a small investment.

Real Estate Marketing

How the real estate company advertises the listing is a big part of how technology has changed the real estate business. There is far more to selling a home or property today than simply posting it on a real estate website. Everyone in the real estate business either has a website or they work for a larger company that has a website. But it does not stop there by any means. One of the most powerful tools in the agent/brokers tool belt is social media. We are talking about Facebook, Instagram, Myspace, Twitter, and many more social websites. These sites are all about advertisement, communication, and profit. In a way, social media is the new business card. Social media has the advertising potential to be a tidal wave of new clients looking to buy what the agent or broker is selling. One post on a social media site can quickly reach thousands or millions of individuals in a very short period of time. Reaching that many potential clients in a short time was unheard of only a few decades ago. This has caused an explosion of sorts in the industry. This means more jobs in the real estate market as well as a bit more competition which keeps market values and prices from reaching outrageous heights.

Real Estate Websites

The websites consumers visit has changed also. Some of the industry giants have the more elaborate websites. Although bells and whistles do not necessarily make for the better product, it is still nice to dazzle the consumer.  This was a complicated process even before smartphones and tablets. The rise in mobile device usage has grown so fast in the last few years that all the websites had to make their content available on mobile platforms and operating systems. This cost the real estate companies some investment but, the returns on that investment were well worth it.  Local real estate websites have access to IDX which lets them display all listings by all brokers.  Most of the larger real estate portals do not have this.  They rely on agents manually uploading real estate listings to their database.  With today’s real estate marketing, you can now also zoom in on a particular real estate market or area.  For instance, if you are interested in Homes For Sale In Lakeview New Orleans, you can find a website that specializes in just that.  Not only will you see all of the available listings, but get community information and other statistics on exactly the area you are looking to live.

More Advanced Property Search

So, what does all this mean for both the broker and the consumer? For the broker, this means that they are no longer confined to either the office or the location of the property for a showing. Social media websites provide a place to communicate or advertise a company or listing, reaching more people than ever imagined before.  As an agent or broker, many aspects of the job can be done remotely. Pictures and video clips of homes and properties can be uploaded to a website from anywhere in the world with an internet connection giving the agents and brokers the freedom and flexibility to be anywhere at any time.  For the consumer, this means that any Starbucks or Olive Garden could be the place where you find that dream home. Consumers looking for a new house in New Orleans can now search all NOLA homes for sale from just about anywhere.  In some cases that dream home can be found and purchased without ever leaving home. There is no right or wrong way to shop or buy real estate in today’s digital world. Find what methods work for you and happy hunting.