Can PropTech help combat real estate challenges created since the outset of COVID-19?

For generations, the real estate industry has followed a more conventional approach in serving tenants, buyers, and sellers. Telephonic coordination with property agents, multiple and disappointing physical site visits, lack of transparency and long drawn process for legal agreements, etc. were routine activities in this space. However, with COVID-19, the entire industry had to quickly pull up their socks and go digital at every point possible.                                          

While the industry was already going through various digital makeovers pre-COVID-19, the pace was slow and low scale. The pandemic has acted as a fuel that not only accelerated digitalization in real estate but has also shown parties (developers, property owners, and customers) a new side that nobody ever imagined. Thanks to proptech platforms that denote the new tech-driven solutions, the traditional real estate transactions have got digitised and up-scaled exponentially. 

Proptech solutions have brought in lot of innovations that make the customer journey simpler and easier. This coupled with targeted marketing approach by developers and real estate players who have doubled their engagement on the platform especially post COVID has made home-buying a very convenient experience. Solutions such as video walkthroughs, real-time query solving, online property booking, etc. have enabled customers to understand the nitty-gritties of the project including accessibility, location, and nearby amenities, at the comforts of their home. This is why most property developers and landlords are collaborating with real estate platforms to bank on the benefits and serve customers more seamlessly than ever before. 

How Proptech is revolutionizing existing realty services 

Proptech leverages a combination of tech advancements such as AI, ML, Cloud, Data Analytics, etc. to drive huge amount of personalization leading to higher engagement and superior experience. For instance, Proptech helps property seekers search and choose the most suitable location for staying depending upon various data-points such as place of work, children’s school, budget, preferences, travel time etc. Proptech services enable transparency in every stage of transaction and leave little room for biases that offline is prone to. This means better selection and ability to take a faster decision.

Driving property transactions via video walkthroughs

Proptech is leveraging video walkthroughs heavily to help tenants and buyers give a glimpse of a property anytime, anywhere. By offering a lifelike experience, video walkthroughs help in showcasing properties in real-time to help decide whether it suits the customers’ needs. This saves unnecessary physical visits and huge amount of effort and disappointment which was common previously.

These walkthroughs have replaced the physical site visits, and interestingly customers have started relying on it, as it's the best way to stay safe and continue to look for their dream home! Virtual video tours have emerged as an excellent alternative for developers to keep the real estate engine pumped up during the on-going crisis. 

Replacing conventional marketing with digital solutions 

At a time like this, when conventional marketing is increasingly turning obsolete, developers are synergizing with Proptech platforms to engage with their prospective audience. Most marketers are rolling out personalized video presentations, e-mailers, Digi-tours, etc. on these platforms and in return, the proptech tools help them engage with the right audience using AI and ML and save time and effort at both ends. As customers get familiar with these new changes, the perception that properties can't be sold online gets eliminated, slowly but surely. 

Those who will be early movers to adopt these digital solutions will have a higher chance of creating a dependable customer base and drive more engagement than peers. Besides, as more and more people come online, this is the right time for marketers to use a combination of these digital tools and social media channels for marketing real estate projects and attracting more leads for quick conversion. 

What lies ahead? 

COVID-19 has certainly pushed players to develop innovative solutions in the real estate space, which didn't exist a few years back. It clearly shows how a crisis, apart from challenges, can also bring opportunities to reshape the existing business models and deliver unmatched customer solutions. While this is just a starting phase, we all know that the future is unpredictable, and uncertainties like this can generate more innovations in the times to come. Against this backdrop, investing in Proptech or associating with Proptech platforms seems to be the best solution for anyone involved in the realty space to win the battle against any crisis, now and beyond.

Saurabh Garg

Guest Author The author is Co-Founder & CBO, Nobroker.com