IMPORTANT NOTICE!
The niche of proptech is currently striving as never before. The real estate industry gradually gets a hang of advanced technological solutions, which allow multiplying the global value of real estate services. Companies are fast to employ whole departments of proptech experts, who would implement software solutions to fit the niche and help businesses catch the ‘hype wave’. Let’s take a look at some innovative tech solutions that will help you get into the proptech software competition.
Proptech in numbers
In the first half of 2018, the investments in the proptech industry reached $5 billion. The industry is quite new: just a couple of years ago, no one heard about it, and now astronomical sums are being raised for proptech services. One of the latest examples is Kodit.io, one of the proptech startups, which raised $13 million for a house buying automation tool.
Proptech keeps rocking the entire real estate industry. In fact, proptech means the application of all the cutting-edge technologies for trading real estate objects in a more efficient way. Besides trading, it also has an impact on building, utilizing and leasing property.
As mentioned above, the industry adopted this trend in an excellent way. Statistics and surveys show that proptech attracts not only attention but also talents and finances:
- Companies plan to hire up to 20 proptech specialists in 2019;
- Investors are focusing on smart homes and are ready to support new ideas and products in this field.
Let’s find out what types of proptech apps may drive your business, which startups succeeded in 2018, and what technologies to employ to develop a solution that will renovate the industry as we know it.
3 Successful Examples of Proptech Startups
When planning to start or upgrade your real estate business, or thinking over an excellent programming solution for the industry, you have definitely faced some questions. What kind of solution should it be? Which type of software will be the most profitable? In this rapidly developing sphere, there are a lot of options. Thus, we have prepared a proptech products categories list:
- Facilitating products;
- eCommerce platforms and marketplaces;
- Real estate web and mobile apps;
- Social products;
- IoT elements;
- Construction and design apps, etc.
Still, there is no better way to get to know the proptech industry than taking a look at its most successful startups. Here is a brief overview of several of the most successful projects in the USA:
- Founded in: 2010
- Value: $35 billion
WeWork is one of the most successful proptech startups that bring together people who can design a lovely workspace and those who need to refresh their environment. The company also provides great co-working spaces and amazing offices in several locations worldwide. However, business isn’t always flawless: in 2018, the company’s founders claimed their net loss was nearly as high as the revenue.
- Founded in: 2008
- Value: almost $30 billion
Airbnb was one of the pioneers of the proptech galaxy. The tool allows finding accommodation for a short stay. Hotel rooms, entire apartments and even castles are available. You can find more than 4 million listings worldwide on this platform!
- Founded in: 2013
- Value: $2.2. billion
The company delivered a mobile app for property industry representatives. The solution simplifies the realtors’ job and automates routine tasks. On the company’s website, one can find properties in 20+ locations all over the US.
5 Key Technologies That Speed up Proptech Industry Development
Among the many aspects stimulating industry growth, we defined those which have the greatest impact in 2019:
Space as a Service. This is a new model that embodies the following principle: a landlord does not just provide tenants with property they need but also offers a full spectrum of services to use it efficiently. Here, we mean everything from space design to cleaning services.
As you can see, in this case, the role of a landlord transforms completely. Now, one does not simply allow others rent a space in a businesses center but also provides all the services for making the tenants feel comfortable utilizing the property’s features.
A few lines above, we mentioned the WeWork startup that is based on this model. Its investments and revenue are more proof that the Space as a Service approach is worth your attention.
5G Modifies the Game Rules. Information has become highly accessible. The possibility to reach out to everyone you want, from wherever you want, has changed the consumers’ demands. Now, people expect lightning-fast connection to be available at home, at the office, in shopping malls and on the streets.
Proptech business owners and enthusiasts should take into account the changes 5G connection brings. Industry followers and builders should construct assets that are able to adapt to 5G technologies seamlessly. Software engineers, in turn, should develop programming solutions that will be able to support 5G. At the same time, both physical and digital products should meet the tenants’ and users’ needs in the best way.
Virtual Reality and Proptech. Before renting an apartment, you’ll want to see it. This requirement gets even more critical when you plan to buy property. Each visit may take a lot of time, but opportunities provided by virtual reality take care of this problem.
Virtual Reality in real estate technologies allows potential tenants or buyers to have a lovely walk around the apartment without leaving their homes or offices. There are 2 options available:
- A 360-degree video built with panoramic photos;
- An interactive tour around the property.
Integrating such features into a typical real estate app, you even can allow tenants to have real-time conversations with realtors or property owners.
Another great example of how VR improves proptech is architecture visualization. It is hard to sell a house that doesn’t even exist yet. With the help of VR, property owners can get the opportunity to present it to potential buyers before it is constructed.
Smart assets for a better experience. In the global perspective, each real estate object will become an element of the IoT network at one point. Thus, developing your vision of a brilliant proptech solution, keep in mind several points:
- Automation. The future is about the minimization of routine actions and focusing on those which require attention. This is why a well-thought-out fully-equipped smart property is in trend right now. Technologies for automated doors, windows, household appliances drive the industry development.
- Integration. Integration is crucial. Building a property technology app, take care of integration features and allow your customers to synchronize it with their system seamlessly.
- Smart assets. For example, drones will come in handy when developing a panoramic view of a landscape around the property. Smart assets can contribute to security features and provide even more convenience to potential tenants or buyers.
Big Data. There are myriads of objects on a real estate map of the world, and a single system that stores the information about all of them doesn’t exist. However, consumers expect to get a response to their queries about apartments available in a certain region immediately.
Thus, you, as a proptech enthusiast, need to develop a system that can collect and process data, as well as provide the needed answer as fast as possible. How do you reach the highest speed? Big Data is the answer. A big data engineer can contribute to your project and accelerate data processing.
3 Features to Improve Your Proptech App With
Now that you are aware of technologies for proptech industry, it is time to decide on the functionality your app should include. We analyzed the most popular products and defined the following features:
- Geolocation. Integration with Google Maps is required. Provide the exact location along with tips on how to get there to improve the experience.
- Payment options. These days, it is not enough to offer Visa and MasterCard for payment options. Implement other methods like Paypal or even consider cryptocurrency for this purpose.
- Chatbots. No matter what software product you plan to launch, interaction with users is important. To provide immediate answers and basic information, try chatbots and watch the number of satisfied app’s users grow.
In Conclusion
Follow these principles to launch a viable proptech tool:
- Always keep in mind typical demands and users’ expectations;
- Keep a hand on the pulse of modern trends and technologies;
- Deliver bugless products with intuitive design;
- Improve functionality constantly.
Do you have some questions about proptech startups, solution development and promotion? Just drop us a line, and let’s add your company’s name to the list of successful startups!
