With all its ups and downs, 2017 was a year of significant change — in politics, pop culture, science, technology and more. In tech, advancements in areas like AI and Bitcoin had far-reaching implications across industries. What were once cutting-edge technologies have made their way further into the “real world” and are poised to have a profound impact on the way business is done in 2018.
For evidence of this trend, look no further than the real estate sector, where a range of technologies are opening up the horizon and changing the rules, giving real estate professionals new opportunities to thrive. Here are five predictions about tech is leading the real estate industry in 2018.
AI
IDC predicts (download required) that 75% of developer teams will use AI technology for at least one business application or service in 2018. This will certainly hold true in real estate, in which success hinges on an agent’s ability to nurture existing and new client relationships. In buying or selling a home, people are making one of the biggest decisions of their lives and the process can be overwhelming, not to mention confusing. It’s important that real estate agents answer questions in a timely manner, but that’s extremely time-consuming.
Chatbots, powered by AI, represent a solution. Agents can utilize virtual customer service agents and chatbots to help field questions and automate discussions with clients, freeing up human time to address more complex issues. AI “employees” enable economies of scale opportunities, meaning agents can provide attentive, hands-on, high-quality customized customer care at very little cost.
Big Data
According to IMB, 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created every day. This data holds vast troves of value for real estate agents who can use it to gain insight into customers, understand market trends and improve efficiency. In 2018, big data will transform the real estate industry by making it more transparent. Home evaluation reports, sale prices and demographic data are now in the cloud and can be analyzed to provide more objective appraisals. Heightened transparency will promote better decision making and streamline the sales process so it’s more efficient. In addition, agents can use big data technologies to turn customer data from sources like social media into targeted marketing that delivers the right message to the right customer at the right time.
Via: Forbes
