Technology enables the public to access and explore a wealth of ever-changing digital channels. From social networks to purchasing weekly groceries, technology brings convenience, leaving individuals with more spare time to experience life.
One sector that has developed significantly in the past few years is technologies related to property and real estate. Many individuals spend their time on the internet searching for properties to purchase and rent in their local city or even other areas.
It’s now evident that the days of going to a realtor office or driving many hours to look for homes combined with searching for a mortgage provider are long gone. The real estate industry is moving with the times by staying innovative and adapting to new technologies to enhance how homebuyers and realtors engage as well as simplifying the home buying process.
Let’s look at various platforms that have enhanced the home buying experience for both realtors and homebuyers.
Online Home Searching
Internet home listings save buyers effort and time when buying real estate. It has simplified the process of looking for prospective property and figuring out the alternatives. In the past, buyers had to make lots of calls, driving, and face to face conversations with their realtors when looking for a new home.
Today, homebuyers can conveniently look for property at the comfort of their office or home provided they have an internet-enabled device such as a smartphone or laptop. Some of the popular online home listings are:
• Realtor.com
• Zillow
• Trulia
Internet home listings have vital details such as hospitals, schools, and other nearby amenities, as well as information about the community. This enables homebuyers to create an opinion about what they want even before visiting the property. On top of saving effort and time, online home listings have also minimized the reliance on exploitative brokers and middlemen.
Virtual Tours
Viewing a home is one of the most crucial moments when choosing to purchase a house. After all, what matters is how the property ‘feels’ when buyers view it. 360 –degree photographs and virtual reality technology provide homebuyers with an all-around sight of the property and the opportunity to actually look at the house in detail whenever they wish to.
This technology performs best when it delivers genuine and successful outcomes for homebuyers. Poor or inaccurate images of homes have made realtors switch to virtual reality technology to improve and enhance viewings.
3D digital models provide home buyers with ultra-high definition images, floor plans, and virtual reality experiences. 3D cameras have revolutionized the home buying process by improving the way properties are advertised and increasing the frequency and speed of sales for real estate agents.
Virtual tours will also make homebuyers save money and time, driving over to homes that may be entirely unsuitable for them. Additionally, Google Maps and such like websites allow homebuyers to view an in-depth survey of the community that comprises street level and satellite views.
Home Listing Monitoring Applications
These apps have made a breakthrough in how realtors, homebuyers, and conveyances can monitor their property sales progress. In the past, real estate agents had to track their property sales through lots of phone calls, e-mails, and going to the office to work out the contracts’ particulars.
Monitoring sites such as TrackMyMove enable every individual involved in the sale of a house to track the progress of the sale instead of using time-wasting communication. Real estate tracking apps have increased the speed of completing a sale; this implies that the chances of the sale falling through are minimized as communication between homebuyers and realtors is improved as it’s done remotely.
Online Mortgage Approvals
Many homebuyers have reported that accessing a mortgage is one of the most stressful and slowest aspects when buying real estate. Digital mortgage brokers have evolved how homebuyers get mortgages. Homebuyers don’t have to schedule an appointment at a bank to apply for a mortgage.
With online and mobile applications, homebuyers can apply and get approved for a mortgage from the comfort of their homes or office. On top of speeding the mortgage application and approval procedures, this technology also allows homebuyers to study current rates, utilize a mortgage calculator to break down the numbers in various mortgage cases, and get competitive rates from several mortgage providers.
Video Conferencing and Communication
As the world continues to adjust to interacting via Zoom and other video conferencing platforms, buyers and sellers are able to communicate face-to-face with their Realtors, loan officers, and anyone else involved in the process.
Rather than shun away from technology, tech-savvy real estate agents embrace this new technology, and utilize it in the best way possible. Any Realtor who doesn’t leverage this type of technology is not going to be as effective at selling your home compared to one that does.
Signing Documents Remotely
Although home sellers can choose to skip going to closing the deal in person, homebuyers do not have that option. However, remote closing enables homebuyers to sign contracts electronically. For the home buying process to be official, multiple signatures are required.
Sites such as DocuSign enable homebuyers to capture their signatures and enables realtors and buyers to modify documents or contracts remotely.
Laser Scanning Gear
Laser technology in the real estate sector is utilized to quickly and easily scan houses to create detailed and accurate floor plans. This technology also has the benefit of being environmentally friendly as it eliminates the need for using abundant quantities of paper to create time-consuming models.
The scanned data is used to make 3D and 2D floor plans, which allow surveyors and real estate agents to obtain the spatial details of a property any time they want. This technology has made previously challenging tasks simpler, such as surveying properties that are still occupied by minimizing disturbance and risks to the occupants.
Final Word
The home buying process can be a very complicated, confusing, and overwhelming task for both home buyers and real estate agents. However, with technological advancements in the real estate market, homebuyers and real estate agents can be more confident and organized throughout the various stages of buying real estate.