The real estate market constituted itself some centuries ago and, if you think about it, not much has changed regarding the way its business is done. In fact, historically, the real estate market ranks second to last – behind Agriculture – when it comes to industry’s adoption of technology in America.
However, a tipping point is long due. In 2017 alone, the real estate market invested $8 billion in new technology to help make business faster and more efficient. “Disruption” is a word people love to use, and it fits perfectly here: with some of the technologies included in this post – technologies that, for the most part, are already a reality - the real estate industry has no option but to transform itself.
Self-Driving Cars and the Real Estate Market
Self-driving cars are a reality. California and Pennsylvania are two states that have already allowed self-driving cars tests, while in Arizona Uber is already working with self-driving trucks to move freight around!
But how do self-driving cars relate to the real estate industry?
First, it will disrupt the whole traffic system, which, in turn, will disrupt real estate market values. Let’s paint a scenario:
One of the most known mottos of our industry is “location, location, location”, and part of what made that true was the proximity to traffic hubs. Office buildings accessible by public transportation or houses for sale living near a highway have both been seen traditionally as valuable assets because both made the commute easier.
But this notion will expand self-driving cars working with GPS (Global Positioning System) on an immediate level – in relation to the positioning of other vehicles, the road and it curbsides, to calculate how you’ll safely get to where you need to get to - but, also, on a secondary level; in relation to the positioning of other cars and their routes throughout your route, to calculate a way to get you faster to wherever you’re going. Long story short: with self-driving cars global traffic will decrease.
Second, especially in big centers, parking lots have been a problematic real estate market asset. They are an undeniable need for the Commercial Real Estate, but oh, how they could be turned into new properties! What a “waste” of space! It is said that the amount of land consumed by parking spaces in America equals the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined! Well… now, after the self-driving cars driving you to work, they can just park themselves in a different, more vacant – thus less expensive – area; why not? Or maybe drive itself all the way back home to serve the rest of the family instead of just sitting there occupying space for 8 hours?
So, self-driving cars will definitely change the whole notion of “location, location, location”; it might turn into just “location, location”.
5G Internet and the Real Estate Industry
In February, AT&T announced its plans to begin 5G Wireless service in 2018. It’s being called “the internet of the future” because it’s 100 times faster than the internet we currently have available (4G Network) and has 1,000 times its capacity. To understand how massive 5G will be, just know this: Cell phones use radio spectrums to transfer data, right? 4G and LTE use 4Ghz of frequency, but 5G will work with a whopping 38Ghz!
And it's not only the big guys. Local broadband companies are in this as well; Sling Broadband is a company based out of South Florida serving all of Broward County, Dade County and West Palm Beach County. Sling Broadband starts with a connection that is up to 100 times faster than today’s average broadband speeds, with up to 1,400Mbps… super fast!
But how does that play in our real estate market trend analysis? Well, in two ways:
First, the so-called “internet of things” is also a reality. Just go to your local technology retailer and see for yourself. You’ve got your smart home devices like Google Home and Amazon Alexa plus a plethora of gadgets to control your thermostats, irrigate your lawn, open your locks and assemble technologically reliable home security systems. With such a fast wireless internet network like the 5G promises to be, those smart home devices will become even smarter and omnipresent. Buildings - residential or not - will have to implement smart home devices as assets from the get-go if they want to remain attractive and competitive.
Second, a faster internet leads to the possibility of more data being collected and processed, which will also affect the way (and the speed) real estate industry workers will deal with their everyday duties and operations, automating processes and digitalizing interactions with clients – we’ve heard of some real estate agents in California that have already started using artificial intelligence devices to answer homebuyers’ questions related to the property on open houses…
Cryptocurrencies and the Real Estate Industry
This one is not so much an established reality, but a safe bet as a real estate market trend, especially for real estate agents. Houses for sale sold exclusively through cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum pop up every now and then throughout the country – not to mention the few Cryptocurrencies specifically designed for real estate transactions. In California, real estate companies specializing in cryptocurrency transactions are soaring and profiting from this niche. The real estate agent that doesn’t open his/her eyes to this technology will likely get behind and lose leads.
But more exciting than the Cryptocurrencies itself is the system on which it is based. A coding system that has the ability to be the biggest game-changer yet: Blockchain.
Blockchain and the Real Estate Industry
Truth: Blockchain is something so new no one really knows where it will take us. But there’s no doubt that it will make a huge impact.
Let’s try to simplify something really complex: say you buy a hot dog with a credit card. The merchant gets your card and swipes in the machine. The machine sends the information to the bank, basically saying “Hey, Bank! This guy wants to spend $5 on my business. Does he have that amount of money?”. The bank, checks the balance; if the guy has the money, it will reply to the merchant that it’s ok to make the transaction, and it will later update the amount of money you have (- $5 now) and the amount of money the hot dog stand has (+ $5 now). For all of that, of course, they will take a percentage of the transaction.
Ok. Now, Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, do all of that financial checking through a technology called Blockchain, which is a bunch of complex codes distributed amongst thousands of computers, instead of – like the banks – being all centralized in one place/server.
So, to make a long (and complex) story short: as a whole, Blockchain provides a safer and faster way to verify data. Of the many Blockchain features that could be explored by the real estate industry, think about the possibilities of use within the Appraisal process, verifying market value of houses for sale (or not) nearby! Or – even more exciting - the potential of simplifying processes like Title Search, and, ultimately make the transfer of title easier by reducing the number of third-party players and institutions connected to the process – which, in turn, could dramatically reduce the Closing Costs.
When you look at the potential for disruption brought by those technologies, it is evident that the Real Estate Market is on the brink of a big change.
Professionals mustn’t fear being replaced by technology, though. On the contrary: the future looks bright for those that jump on the technology bandwagon as soon as they can. With so much data being created, whoever has the analytical eye to find the best paths, the personality to drawn clients their way and the craftiness to use all this technology to create a great marketing plan, will be able to play on a whole new level.