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Technology is progressing at a rapid clip, and the real estate industry has started really catching up. The best thing brokers and agents can do is embrace it. You can make the some of the top tech tools that might seem like a threat to your job work for you, instead. Here’s how:
Digital Staging
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The option to see a home in detail without actually being there in person has long been a rising demand, and the COVID-19 pandemic pushed it to become a necessity. More and more people are looking online for homes before they contact a real estate agent (if they do), so it makes sense to engage prospective buyers where they are.
By incorporating digital staging to mitigate the cost of actual staging and virtual reality tours to give buyers a better sense of the home from their couch, you can better prove your value to both buyers and sellers.
Drones
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At the very least, you should start recording tours of your listings. Quality photographs are still very valuable, but people are becoming more aware of how photographs can be misleading. Show that you’re being transparent about your listing by doing a virtual walk through with a drone.
They aren’t just for showing off the exterior and land from a bird’s eye view. Now they can be used to place the viewer inside the home in a more intimate way.
Even smaller homes can benefit from virtual tours since drones come in smaller sizes now. Whether you use a company or do it yourself, make sure you examine your insurance and liability options and learn the local and federal regulations before you start.
Cloud Technology
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Another bit of tech that was pushed into the necessary category in 2020 is the cloud. There are plenty of options for working in the cloud, from Google Workspace to Microsoft Azure to Docusign.
Using cloud-based apps means you can collaborate with your broker or your sales team remotely. You can access your emails, documents, showing schedules, and everything in between on any device. Plus, you have backup, recovery, and secure encryption capabilities.
Ultimately, this efficiency benefits your clients, too, because there’s far less waiting. You don’t need to overnight or fax. They can simply sign forms and contracts and return them instantly.
Big Data–Direct Mail Combo
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To build long lasting, productive relationships with homeowners, the human connection is still vital. Big data, though, is becoming instrumental to finding those homeowners that will most likely need you.
The disruption that online real estate marketplaces have caused the industry cannot be minimized, but they're not the only ones who can use big data to their advantage.
Target Farming Report Campaigns, for example, combine the power of big data with the intimacy of direct mail to identify and appeal to every agent’s unique audience. By filtering out the fluff, duplicates and LLCs, smart target lists are based on the things that matter most to getting hot leads: hyper-local trends, property price points, turnover rates and much more.
Remember, when you can adapt, you can succeed. So, keep looking forward. The real estate industry is faced with many exciting possibilities likely to further streamline the buying and selling processes for both you and your clients.