The Real Estate Industry Will Be the Next Frontier for Disruption

The National Association of Realtors’s new report highlighted a loophole in the real estate industry’s use of technology. According to the 2014 Profile of Real Estate firms, brokerages are not encouraging agents enough to use social media, video and transaction management tools in their jobs as detailed in an Inman.com report.

While the NAR report was quick to point out that brokerages provide agents platforms for conducting comparative market analyses for customers, and paperless tools to sign contracts and organize their digital records, it brings to light the fact that some technologies remain underused in the sector. It also underscores what experts have been saying all along—that the sector is indeed “ripe for disruption.”

In a recent opinion piece on Entrepreneur.com, Renters Warehouse founder Brenton Hayden said that the industry “is one that has grown complacent” even though there’s no shortage of technology within reach. He pointed out the sector’s dire need for disruption to turn the situation around.

“Even though technology and consumer acceptance have grown, with instant information access, and consumers becoming more comfortable with the idea of selling their own homes, the real estate industry has struggled to keep up with the changing tide,” Hayden wrote in his column on Monday. “In short, this industry is waiting for the right innovation to come along and turn it on its head.”

Hayden also noted real estate agents’ diminishing role in the industry as multiple listings sites rapidly become popular as a go-to place for real estate information. That is not to say that real estate agents are no longer needed, but rather, emphasize on the need for them to adapt and use technologies to beef up what they can bring to the table. As Hayden puts it: “However, a differentiator that separates the wheat from the chaff is long overdue. This will allow the real estate agents who are worth their weight in gold to have a chance to shine.”

In a separate report, another expert highlighted the need for the online real estate advertising niche to be “disrupted.” Will Caldwell, CEO and co-founder of Dizzle, a mobile real estate tech company engaged in helping agents generate word-of-mouth leads, said that agents have to focus more on using performance-based marketing to their advantage even though it’s still not being that accessible to real estate agents.

“Performance-based marketing helps both advertising companies and agents make better decisions, as it makes both parties more successful. Customers who find success with your product and can effectively measure their return on investment make for far better customer relations and retention. To me, this is just good business,” he said in his column on Inman.com, offering tips on how to make most of this form of marketing.

So far, some companies are disrupting their niches in their own ways. In the real estate crowdfunding scene, for example, Realtyshares have developed a platform that developers and investors can turn to for their project’s funding. Then there’s Realbiz Media Group, Inc. RBIZ in the field of video marketing, which is quickly tapping more agents as clients with its suite of proprietary video marketing software that realtors can use to create and promote virtual tour listings.

Here’s to hoping that more disruptors crop up in the sector to help real estate practitioners focus on things that matter.

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