Technology is so much part of our everyday lives that just about all the news we have appears to connect to technology and its uses and abuses.
For property agents, it appears that every other email in our inbox entails new technology, enhanced skills or the challenges posed by technology.
Let us take a look at a number of the very buzz-worthy tech themes from last year and learn what to expect as we move towards the second month of 2018. You may find that what began as an obscure side note will become a fundamental part of your technician game program.
Artificial intelligence (AI)
AI has been in the air this year at conventions in addition to in the technology and real estate media. Although many 
still think of AI in terms of its applications to robotics, in fact, it is only an outgrowth of calculations, except they have the capability to self-improve and become more intelligent with self-learning.
How it was used last year: AI is a complex topic as there are lots of distinct applications. It’s been mostly applied to repetitive jobs because that generates more data and easier decision-making for the AI.
Real estate has largely used AI for chatbots. In its simplest explanation, this implies that when someone visits a broker’s office or website, the chatbot can react depending on the keywords that the individual writes.
The drawback? AI is just as good as the information it is basing its predictions and answers on, including the amount, quality and freshness of information and digital content you supply to it.
How you are going to use it in 2020: Realtors are beginning to use AI to target their advertisements. It can show advertisements to homeowners moving through life-changing events: those who have changed their status from married to divorced or who published a photograph showing they’re pregnant or graduating. Marketing budgets go farther because more leads are created, and they’re more targeted due to tools like AdWords.
Just like Netflix and Amazon, AI can really effectively make suggestions, which might be a game changer in more effectively identifying what customers are searching for. The increased adoption of AI will probably lead to a lot of platforms, and eventually property sites making suggestions for properties or areas, it’s interesting to think about what sorts of jobs could be automated via AI.
Touring houses could be narrowed down on a large scale, saving agents from having to drive buyers from listing to listing dozens of times over, by using 360-degree virtual tours. Buyers can whittle down their lists to two or three houses before viewing anything in person.
Bitcoin and blockchain
It looks like everyone on social websites in the last couple of months has been obsessed with bitcoin. And why not? For all those early adopters who bought bitcoin before it was trendy, the cryptocurrencies meteoric rise has been nothing short of a daily lotto win, with countless dollars added whenever they refresh their Coinbase program.
How it was used last year: During this fall’s first ever Bitcoin-only property buy final in Texas, the buzz started and has not let up, with luxury brokers setting the bitcoin price for their properties and a Miami condo developing a Bitcoin-only listing.
However, the volatility of the money calls this strategy into question, particularly because the value can change even during the hours required to turn the bitcoin into money for the closing. Currently, it appears, Bitcoin’s primary purpose is as a buzz-builder for luxury listings, making a hook which gets them more attention and more prospective buyers.
Additionally, it appeals to early adopters and global buyers who may be searching for somewhere to park their fast-rising bitcoins for more dependable gains.
How you are going to use it in 2020: The jury’s still out on bitcoin as viable money for property acquisition.
There are various cryptocurrencies on the market, and until there’s more stability in their evaluation, it would be tricky to understand how it can become a significant player in the real estate business, though they will without doubt continue to be utilised as an occasional notable exception.
However, what cryptos are built-on, blockchain engineering, has many useful applications for real estate and associated industries.
According to the National Association of Realtors, since the blockchain generates an instantly verifiable, secure public document, it can accelerate transactions by enabling property and naming documents, insurance information and several different items required during the mortgage and the sales management system closing procedure to be obtained more quickly and reliably than ever before.
The International Blockchain Real Estate Association (IBREA) is now working to create and implement standards for the development of best practices to drive the adoption of blockchain and bitcoin from the real estate market.
The more these practices are described and regularized, the more these technologies will continue to be implemented, developed and viewed as reliable.
Mobile applications
You use apps all of the time, and if anything, you are too addicted to your phone and tablet computer, right? Most of us have our favourite apps, and there appear to be more daily. But how do you use programs more efficiently to build your company and allow them to be adopted into the company digital strategy?
How it was used last year: For a lot of us, cellular apps are critical for everything, but they’re usually considered a shortcut into the “real” version of our CRM, workflow system, trade management website or other tech.
Systems and procedures are ideally managed on a notebook but can be handled on the program if needed. Many times, the trade-off contributes to diminished performance but increased convenience.
Even social media is often easier to handle on a computer, even though it is accessed almost exclusively on an program. In actuality, some settings can only be corrected via the online version of several platforms, and distribution and sharing is often considerably easier through the entire version based on mobile data capture.
How you are going to use them in 2020: As we become increasingly used to being working from anywhere, the newest mobile programs will boost our productivity and help us stay organized.
Keeping tabs on all the information generated by all our different email and social networking accounts, direct gen platforms and even face-to-face meetings (I know, right?) Can be challenging without the intervention of a web agency, but smarter apps will be able to help you wrangle all that information and use it to grow your company.
If you are part of a group, you have to have a workflow program. Slack is the one on everyone’s lips at the moment, and it appears to be a favorite because of its simple, intuitive and strangely friendly user interface.
Asana is another favorite, as is Trello, which generates workflow boards which assist you not only share and collaborate but also more efficiently monitor your private progress.
Need an assistant but can not afford one? Look no farther than 24me, among the most recent “smart” assistants. Contain your calendars and schedule tasks, and allow your helper prompt you when you have things to get done, especially crucial when your business covers things like facilities management.
It will even let you know when you’ve got a little downtime and make recommendations for jobs you could fit into your program.
It is a brave new world, and each year seems to bring new technology trends which are daunting at first, but finally become essential. As opposed to dismissing or dreading change, keep searching for ways to make it work for you.
And remember — if everyone’s talking about it, there has to be something there. Do not be afraid to jump onboard and discover out how you can put these technologies to work for you and your company.
