Location Intelligence is the State of the Art Technology in Real Estate

The odds that anybody would book a trip through a travel agent in this day and age aren’t very high unless of course a one-of-a-kind trip is involved or the person isn’t technology savvy. The reason behind this recent trend of the layman embracing technology as in the example of booking tickets online is its easier and convenient booking online rather than through a travel agent.

While looking for a house or an apartment on rent though, it’s imperative to consult a pro. More often than not the prospective buyer would be visiting and touring properties in-person that are “for sale” accompanied with a realtor, broker or a leasing agent which defeats the purpose of engaging a pro in the first place as they are supposed to be looking for properties for sale for home buyers. Therefore, it’s high time that real estate is reformed so that the entire booking of Real Estate can be done online.

Arguments are rife that while similarities do exist between travel and real estate there are quite a few significant differences as well that makes the analogy less than befitting. It’s quite obvious that a real estate transaction would be relatively higher than travel and an unforced error in real estate in comparison with travel would have devastating effects.

The other basic difference between travel and real estate is that in-person tours are conducted for a potential buyer or renter of real estate. Travel on the other hand is a remote activity. Analysts believe that great many consumers are inclined to purchase vehicles online which are a larger transaction on an average in comparison with yearly rental of an apartment.

Even though home buyers and renters might be able to visit a potential property as many times as possible but the sheer distance of touring properties is an inconvenience. Moreover, there is hardly anybody who appreciates hopping from property to property. If nothing else, successful Real Estate ERP portals are far more dependable and infallible rendering consumers further confidence about the quality of a property.

The Real Estate industry has lagged because of two main reasons and they are a) completing transactions online isn’t widespread yet but that is about to change b) Information for consumers online is lacking causing consumer confidence levels in their transactions to be low. As a result a pro’s involvement is necessary. The solution lies in being confident that information is complete. Eventually completing transactions online successfully is indeed critical. However, consumers would have to be mentally prepared to move forward. Location is that all-important motivation for Millenials in particular. Employers in increasing numbers are therefore setting up shop in highly urbanized areas for the purpose of competing for talent.

Other than a map interface, the intelligence of Real Estate ERP sites regarding information on locations is limited for the most part. Neighborhood descriptions are SEO oriented and cannot be digested easily. Even after streamlining the surface of neighborhoods concerns remain that even comparatively “good” neighborhoods may have sections that aren’t quite as “good. Photos are crucial for Real Estate sites as it’s a proven fact that potential buyers considerably increase if there are topnotch photos.

Majority of the Real Estate portals do have quality photos but potential home buyers want quality photos of bad properties as well. Home buyers would be ill-advised if they were to select a bad property based on a good photograph of it.

Confidence of the consumer can be won if Real Estate sites have layers of intelligence to pinpoint a location which is pretty much what a Realtor does for their clients. There are innovative location intelligence products for consumers to assess and drill-down to the address level besides zip code or neighborhood. Property and location levels are the other layers where content is reviewed.

Some of this intelligence can be achieved if there is property appraisers in-house coupled with reviewer’s consistent expertise as infrequent transactions aren’t conducive for generating content by the user en masse. Content generated by the user is more authentic though. Intelligence centralized at that level would result in enhanced consumer experience in comparison with the offline version. The high volume of transactions that occur in residential Real Estate are up for grabs by the winning portals.