The Key Pillars of Real Estate Technology

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Real estate technology is more than just a buzzy concept populating the pages of business columns and trade magazines. Emerging in its nascent form around a decade ago, real estate tech has recently coalesced to exert massive influence on the industry.

Essentially, the term refers to any technological innovation developed to improve the process of buying, selling, investing in and managing real estate properties. And there was much to improve. Before real estate technology, the industry operated on a mixture of outdated practices, questionable opacity and inefficient use of the (boatloads of) data available. The arrangement frustrated consumers, irked investors and shareholders, and left several excellent practitioners/agents at a disadvantage.

While the sector is still blooming in a thousand different directions, we can see certain pillars emerge: characteristics that routinely define real estate technology, its mission and ambitions. In this article, let’s review those pillars to help readers gain a clearer understanding of the seismic shift we’re seeing in the industry.

Data-Driven Insights

The real estate industry was sitting on an embarrassment of riches – reams of traditional and non-traditional data that investors and consumers could leverage to make smarter decisions. The industry had everything from average sale prices and inventory to granular data on nearby businesses right there under its nose. But it could never really unlock the insights held within these big data sets until real estate technology innovations swooped in with solutions.

Thanks to pioneering work in machine learning and predictive analytics, investors can now make informed decisions on where to funnel their money. Consumers have a sound risk management strategy to consult before buying or selling. And developers can pinpoint up-and-coming areas for construction.

Consumer Centrism

Again, let’s assess the industry before real estate technology. It wasn’t a great era to be a buyer or seller. Consumers had little access to choose when shopping for realtors; they couldn’t vet them or compare options; they were at the mercy of professionals to steer them toward decisions, and the whole process was manual and inconvenient.

Give credit to Nobul for changing all of that. The innovative real estate tech platform figured out a way to inject consumer-centrism into real estate while still elevating (honest) practitioners. The platform allows consumers to access data on transaction histories, commission rates, verified reviews, etc., before they choose a realtor. The platform also allows realtors to compete for consumers’ business through competitive rates and services.

Accountability and Transparency

Speaking to Superb Crew, Nobul CEO Regan McGee said: “Nobul brings choice, accountability and transparency to an industry that has – for decades – been widely regarded by homebuyers as opaque and challenging… Incidentally, technological advancements are beginning to gain real traction in a stalwart industry that was initially skeptical.”

That’s a neat summary of real estate technology as a whole. Many innovative companies operate to pull the industry out of its era of gate-keeping and withheld information to level the playing field for consumers. They do this by democratizing big data insights (as mentioned), creating a marketplace of choice (see directly above), and highlighting the role of consumer education.

It’s safe to say that the real estate industry has changed for good this time. In an era of empowered consumers and investors, it was only a matter of time before technology struck the industry. And as you can see above, the pillars comprising real estate tech are decidedly pro-consumer, pro-investor and pro-meritocracy among professionals.