6 Technology Trends Changing Real Estate
6 Technology Trends Changing Real Estate
Technology is constantly changing the real estate industry. Want to know the latest technology trends and how they can affect you as a Buyer or Seller? Here are six trends to pay attention to according to Chris Dixon, a general partner at venture capital firm Andressen Horowitz.
1. Virtual Reality
Allowing prospective Buyers to virtually walk around a home, 3-D representations of homes started have started to take off like wildfire. They’re typically made by special cameras and can be viewed on computer, iPads or smart phones.
For more immersive experience, virtual reality goggles make the Buyer feel as if they are actually walking through the home. Some developers and builders are offering up the virtual reality goggles for 3-D tours of spec homes.
Eventually, Buyers will be able to use virtual reality tools to project holograms of furniture into the rooms of the homes they are looking at to see what it would truly feel like to live there.
2. Internet of Things
Smart homes, whose furniture and appliances not only talk to the owner but also to each other, are no longer just for the movies. This Internet of Things technology is exploding in popularity.
One of these tools is the Nest Learning Thermostat which learns and adjusts the home’s temperature based on the homeowner’s habits. Nest lets the homeowner monitor and change temperatures from their smartphones. Meaning a homeowner can adjust the temperature in their home without even being there.
On the furniture front, new smart furniture developed by two South Korean companies have built-in touch screens that will connect to the user’s smartphones and let the user receive phone calls, open doors and even listening to the radio.
3. 3-D printing
Called cheaper, faster and much safer with nicer archictectural features, homes built by 3-D printers are on the rise. In fact, a Chinese company, WinSun, claimed to have printed 10 homes in 24 hours back in 2014. 3-D printing technology is constantly changing and improving so 3-D printed homes may soon be the house at the corner.
4. Bitcoin
Bitcoin may just be the next big thing to help international investors buy different pieces of property while bypassing wire transfer and traditional currency conversion fees. Cryptocurrency could soon become another method for homebuyers to pay for their entire home transaction. Bond New York proclaimed itself as the first real estate brokerage to accept the digital currency back in January and property management companies like Rentalutions and RentHop have already been using Bitcoin for their rental customers to pay for their properties.
5. Drones
Its not a bird, not a plane but one of the newest technology trends – drones. Drones take aerial photos and videos of properties to help in marketing homes that are on the market. They have even been used to fly through a home taking seamless walkthrough videos. Being used mostly for higher end homes, drones will soon be used for most homes as affordability and accessibility increases.
6. Artificial Intelligence
While software that finds homes matching your search criteria may not be called artificial intelligence, the algorithms that run these programs are only getting smarter. Soon you’ll see homes for sale that match your needs before you even say you’re looking to move.