Your real estate tech budget: What to concentrate on in 2019

We hear you. say real estate tech budget and you think: “Oh, goody. . . yet another blog post on how I should spend more money.”

Actually, we know you have a real estate tech budget (ahem), and we know that part of it is allocated to real estate lead generation.

So, we looked for the three most important pieces of technology that help generate leads (and one to ignore). Just three things to consider as you head into what we hope is a wildly successful 2019.

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Real estate tech budget: The perfect CRM

Most established agents already own and use a CRM. Many of them despise what they have. Make 2019 the year you focus on what may be the most important tech tool in your business.

The perfect CRM for your business, however, isn’t necessarily the same one that your buddy in Phoenix uses in his real estate business.

Because we can’t possibly know what your hot buttons are or what your real estate tech budget will allow, we can’t recommend what to look for in a CRM. What we can tell you is that you’re more likely to use a CRM that you don’t hate.

Make a list of your current CRM’s limitations – the stuff that drives you nuts on a daily basis – and start shopping for one that better meets your needs. Ask colleagues what they use and why they like or dislike it.

As you cruise the internet, using the search term “best crm for real estate agents,” avoid articles published by companies that offer CRM systems to agents or by those who work for such companies (read author bios to find out if there’s an agenda).

This is the one piece of tech that every agent simply must have, so take your time deciding which is best for you.

 

I love it when you call me Big Data

Ok, so maybe real estate professionals aren’t as up to speed on this whole Big Data thing as those in other sales-type industries. Up until now, that was ok, because big data hadn’t really seeped, big time, into the real estate industry.

As of 2019 and beyond, however, you’ll have no excuse not to learn all you can about it and how you can use it to streamline your real estate lead generation and other efforts.

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Predictive analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence – it can all get rather confusing. We found a brilliant explanation of some of these concepts at YourStory.com. The author, Anuradha C (yup, anonymous last name, for some reason), chooses Walmart’s story for the explanation.

“Walmart has about 245 million customers visiting 10,900 stores and 10 websites all over the world,” she begins. “The company collects 2.5 petabytes (1015) of unstructured data [this is “big data”] from one million customers – every hour.

“Using the data, Walmart analyses what customers are buying, what product is trending on Twitter, how weather might affect sales, and so on.”

Artificial intelligence systems process all that big data and then make decisions, such as “How many units of stock of each of their products are to be held in each of their stores” and then “automatically place orders with suppliers,” all based on the predictive intelligence.

There is abundant big data in real estate and companies are already employing AI and predictive analytics to analyze it. While certainly not the only company of its kind, Likely.ai is an example of the future of real estate lead gen.

The company’s unique value proposition is one that traditional, common lead-sellers can’t claim: “Predicting Future Events in Real Estate” and offering “AI Lead Generation” based on the predictions.

Instead of blindly shooting your marketing message to all homeowners in an area, you can now target those homeowners who are most likely to be selling in the near future.

Anyway, the Likely.ai website is a good place to start your learning curve, especially the blog.

 

3-D virtual tours

Recently we pointed out the dismal popularity of real estate video. When it comes to online home tours, they can’t compete with 3-D virtual reality tours.

And the popularity of the latter is growing, while video’s popularity wanes. There’s a reason that homes listed with Redfin (who offers up some of the best real estate research out there) come with 3-D walkthroughs.

There’s a reason that Goldman Sachs’ research predicts that virtual reality in real estate will generate $2.6 billion by 2025.

When homebuyers want to learn more about a listing, they don’t want to be restricted to what a video shows them. The ability to cruise around a home at their own pace, virtually, and to pick and choose which areas to scrutinize, is valuable to them.

Coldwell Banker’s Smart Home of 2018 study finds that 77 percent of homebuyers would prefer their first visit to a home be via virtual reality.

Then, 68 percent expressed a wish to be able to “see,” virtually, how their furniture would look in a particular home (which is tech that is currently available).

Finally, 62 percent of the respondents claimed that “they would be more likely to choose a real estate sales associate who offered VR house tour capabilities as a service for their clients” over one that did not.

Listing clients expect virtual tours of their home while it’s on the market. Consider 3-D tours over video for maximum buyer engagement and seller satisfaction.

Matterport and iGuide are the current leaders in the market, but as popularity of these tours increase, look for new players to join the game. Plan your real estate tech budget accordingly for this one.

 

Tech to ignore – at least for now

Chatbots. Yeah, they’ve been around awhile and many agents use them, but we’ve yet to find a study that bodes well for the chatbot industry.

Even a recent study commissioned by the chatbot industry has to work overtime to put a spin on the tech’s dismal popularity (what possessed them to even publish those results?).

Only 15 percent of website visitors use chatbots and most say they prefer other forms of communication with a company.

Why all of a sudden something pretty ancient in digital years is supposedly so brilliant is a bit odd. But we see it as just another way for ancillary industries to dig deep into the real estate agent’s pocketbook.

We’ll keep an eye on this and if it changes, we’ll let you know. But for right now? Save your real estate tech budget for something else.

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