If you’re part of the generation that remembers the days of physical real estate listings, you’ll remember how drastically different looking for a place used to be. You’d sit there with a collection of advertisements, newspapers, and magazines, scouring through a limited number of homes each week with grainy images and bare-minimum descriptions, hoping to find a hidden gem. The process was far more time-consuming and much less exciting than it is today.
Along with the advancements in technology came the opportunity for real estate to move online and for users to search through a much bigger database. The entire process, from discovery to owning or renting, has become more accessible than ever before, much like how finding the best online casinos is made simple thanks to sites like casinos.com.
The Evolution of Online Real Estate
In the past, the real estate environment was by no means under the renter’s or buyer’s control. Real estate agents played a much bigger role than simply providing access as middlemen between the property owner or current renter and the person potentially interested in moving in. They managed the entire process, including providing listings, arranging viewings, and negotiating on their behalf after the fact. But with so many online platforms in the mix nowadays, buyers and renters can adopt a DIY approach by simply heading to one of those sites and comparing hundreds of properties themselves—whilst on the couch, in bed, or at a cafe.
Real estate exploration is no longer limited to a local or nearby neighbourhood anymore, as renters and buyers can discover accommodation anywhere they want. Even if someone in Perth were moving to Adelaide, or from Adelaide to Dubai, they’d be able to confidently browse the available listings based on their preferences and budget and access all the information they’d need to make an informed decision. Agents are no longer the end all, be all of the real estate process, becoming allies rather than gatekeepers.
Innovations in Online Real Estate
Clients owe their newfound empowerment to sites like Realtor, Homely, and Domain, which let them take their personal house-hunting journey to the next level. These sites capitalise on the many tools and features that make the search process easy and seamless, which we’ll look at in this section.
Virtual Tours
Virtual tours and 3D online viewing effectively bridge the gap between checking out a listing and having to resort to seeing it in person. Rather than offering the viewer a few images that don’t always represent the property as is, they can fully bring it to life through all sorts of immersive tools. Among these are video walkthroughs, 360-degree interactive photographs, and other tools such as 3D measurements and zoom capability that enhance these features so that viewers can get a true first-hand look without having to book a viewing.
For example, if they go through a virtual tour and realise that the space is too small or that certain aspects don’t look how they thought they did in static images, they could abandon that property and simply move on. These tours let real estate agents provide a more accurate representation of the property while saving both parties the hassle of scheduling an unproductive showing.
AI Recommendations
AI is a game-changer for personalisation—and that’s something real estate depends on. AI-backed recommendations can learn from both user interactions and market trends to create the ideal browsing experience. Using past searches, browsing behaviour, and chosen criteria, a site can better display relevant properties without the user having to sift through hundreds of options. This shortens the path to purchase or rental by saving people time and getting them to their end goal of finding a dream place faster. At the same time, AI can even study what might be attractive to a potential buyer based on neighbourhood popularity and growing demand for certain properties. Maybe there’s a surge in interest in suburban homes with backyard space or even a gentrified neighbourhood that’s up-and-coming. This feature will encourage the visibility agents want and do the heavy lifting for interested buyers.
Home Valuation Tools
We’ve already talked about empowerment, but one quality that truly puts buyers and renters in the driver’s seat is understanding a home’s real value. Especially with home values skyrocketing nowadays, especially in major cities, being able to negotiate smartly is a worthwhile quality to have. Home valuation tools are typically built into a real estate platform, showcasing all sorts of data, such as property characteristics, comparisons with similar properties, neighbourhood statistics, and more. Buyers can then measure whether a property is priced fairly, while sellers can offer fair and even competitive prices based on that information. These tools even include granular data on average days on the market and price changes, providing a window into dynamics and conditions.
What’s Next for Real Estate?
Although real estate has been digital for decades now, its online presence is still evolving with the changes in technology. Naturally, as technology continues to improve, we can see the industry jumping on those trends and features in order to craft an even better environment for a superior experience.
Virtual reality and augmented reality will likely play a significant role in virtual property showings, allowing buyers to explore a home almost as if they were there in person. AI will only get more intelligent through deeper data integration and machine learning algorithms that go above and beyond our expectations. In the near future, the real estate sector will be more consumer-focused and accommodating than ever before, helping buyers find the perfect home with (relative) ease.
