Real estate has always been an industry steeped in face-to-face communication and relationship building. People — buyers and sellers alike — inherently trust agencies and brokers to help them find the best properties at the best prices in the fastest span of time. This deep-seeded trust, although valuable in forging close customer relationships have, in many ways, stunted the progression of the industry. Customers have never felt empowered to question common practices, or if they have, they have not had the resources on their side to turn to alternative solutions. But the rapid advancement of new technology is changing all of that.

AI, cryptocurrency, streamlined educational platforms, and the rise of big data have forced an industry-wide makeover. Bolstered by increasingly efficient technological platforms, real estate organizations have the power to offer their customers better buying and selling experiences. We’ve rounded up four emerging technologies poised to usher real estate organizations into the 21st century and improve customer experiences.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is infiltrating the real estate arena at a rapid clip. Defined as “ simulated intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like a human,” AI-enabled platforms regularly take in new data, learn, and improve their cognitive abilities to make rational decisions. Real estate platforms are implementing machine-learning advancements as a means of delivering more targeted listing options based on existing user behaviors and data.

Among the pioneers in this growing niche is REX , an AI-driven platform that eliminates hidden real estate fees from the equation.

This platform goes beyond merely noting housing preferences and locations in the initial searching phases; it also takes buying and behavioral shifts into consideration, as well as individual homeowner history. Using personalized data, REX aims to serve targeted home listing placements to potential buyers early on in the search. Additionally, the platform also aggregates and analyzes data to make the seller’s job more transparent and seamless; REX is continually analyzing new housing data to determine sale probability for individual listings — if a likelihood diminishes, sellers and agents can assess how and why.

While the REX platform uses machine-learning to increase efficiency, it is not designed to eliminate agent involvement, altogether. Instead, the expanded data amalgamation helps REX-employed agents to deliver more insights and seamless transactional processes.

Cryptocurrency

It was only a matter of time before cryptocurrency disrupted the real estate market. Digitized coins and tokens, backed by the blockchain and cemented by immutable, smart contracts offer homeowners and buyers a new sense of autonomy. Traditionally, real estate commission fees skyrocket as high as 6 percent — a hefty sum to add on after already making down payments and first mortgages. Moving real estate transactions to the decentralized blockchain enables individuals to connect with agents directly. Platforms like Deedcoin are designed to empower individuals and diminish these fees down to 1 percent. Fueled by its digital coin, DEED, the platform already works in tandem with pre-screened agents in all 50 states. Fully integrated to support the existing real estate market listings, working with a Deedcoin agent does not diminish the number of listings a buyer can access as the platform fully integrates with the current real estate infrastructure. Instead, Deedcoin makes it easier for people to gain more transparency on listings and, ultimately, reduce their spend on commission fees.

Big Data

Residential real estate is not the only niche ripe for an update. In the commercial world platforms focused on organizing big data are tackling operational processes like appraisals. The faster and more accurate the appraisal process goes, the quicker sellers can list their spaces, and interested commercial buyers can launch the next investment pieces in their portfolios. Unfortunately, traditional appraisal processes are rarely as streamlined as buyers and sellers would like them to be. Bowery’s platform eliminates usual waste and outdated procedures typically associated with building appraisals. By moving all data collection to a single accessible platform location, generating standard reporting structures and publishing appraisals for public record Bowery eliminates time and money typically wasted on drawn-out and redundant reporting strategies.

The rise of emerging technology in any industry is often frightening to existing stakeholders. People tend to automatically jump to the conclusion that improved technological systems lead to market job losses. On the contrary, the technological platforms explored in this piece are giving real estate professionals the chance to improve their daily operations and create even deeper customer relationships based on transparency and efficiency.