There are a range of exciting developments taking place within the world of commercial and residential real estate. Everything around us is becoming increasingly sci-fi and this industry is no different. From drones to AI, Lilli Hender from Office Genie, discusses a few of the ways in which technology is having a big impact on property – and what the future holds.
Data, data, everywhere
Big data and the predictive analysis it provides is proving useful for those in search of properties to buy. There are huge data sets out there to inform buyers about everything from location to price to property type. Data can be used to evaluate a variety of factors affecting the purchase of a property and the interplay of such factors.
Trends within the property sector and behaviour traits of renters and buyers can be analysed to improve decisions and inform players within the industry. There’s no shortage of data out there and the thing with data is it’s only going to increase in numbers – allowing for more accurate conclusions, thanks to larger, smarter data sets.
Get your head in the (virtual) game
If you’re on the hunt for a property, visiting the spaces can take a significant amount of time. Days can be lost to dropping what you’re doing at work and having to travel and look around the properties. This is where virtual reality comes in.
Want to see a space? Just put on a virtual reality headset and have a wander round. This saves time for both parties: the potential buyer can see what they’ll be signing up for and the owner of the space doesn’t have to show them around.
Drive a drone
Drones work in a similar way to virtual reality. Rather than having to send a surveyor or an architect, you can simply fly a drone up to inspect the exterior of the building. This allows people to see any potential changes or repairs that need to be made.
If Amazon can use drones to deliver parcels to their customers, it’s only so long before investors, landlords, and brokers will frequently be sending drones to check out potential buys. Getting onto the roof of a property need no longer be a problem and other hard-to-access areas can be easily explored.
Do androids dream of property investment?
Now we have the world’s first humanoid citizen, Sophia, it’s only a matter of time before we have AI assistants to help us make decisions on both personal and professional matters. Need help finding the best property to invest in? Ask Robert the Robot or Annie the Android.
An artificially-intelligent being would use big data to inform the answer they give and offer an objective, scientific view on the matter. AI assistants would presumably be programmed to make the pragmatic choice, backed up by relevant statistics and studies.
The sooner the property sector embraces disruption, the sooner members of it will be able to embrace the useful technology and its rewards that are increasingly on offer.