How Can We Make the Real Estate Industry More Innovative?
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The fundamentals of the real estate industry have remained constant over time, and many experts have stated that the industry is lacking in innovation. Howard Wilner, President of Automax Preowned and a real estate expert, explores how we can make the real estate industry more innovative over time.
Real Estate is Lacking Innovation
Real estate is the largest asset class in the world and is worth more than all stocks and bonds combined. While innovation in the industry is certainly underway, there are many ways in which real estate is much further behind in comparison to other less lucrative sectors, indicates Howard Wilner. For example, the construction process has remained the same over the past century, with not much in the way of innovation to note. Software programs are also lacking and have only begin to modernize in the last few years.
Technology in Real Estate
The use of technology systems in the real estate industry should increase their market share in the coming years, working to create systems that address common pain points for all players in the real estate industry — from contractors to purchasers to engineers and everyone in between. These systems and technologies should be designed and developed with the critical goal of making it easier to build, renovate, purchase and buy properties, cutting off months in waiting times and coordinating multiple resources in one place to ensure the job gets done as efficiently and effectively as possible.
In that same vein, the real estate industry is only really beginning to focus on critical sales data, which helps clients to view timelines, neighborhood comparisons and more. Other unique tools such as Opendoor are just taking off. Opendoor allows users to request an offer for their home from the company. If the seller agrees to the offer, Opendoor purchases the property and flips it to the buyer, which allows the seller to move on to their next home without waiting for their current home to sell.
A Change in Living Arrangements
The real estate industry should also focus on moving toward alternate forms of living to ensure we address the current mismatch between supply and demand, says Howard Wilner. As generations age, it is important to note that living arrangements change, and we are seeing a greater focus on alternate forms of living such as co-living, for example, as well as an increase in demand for entrepreneurial services to be offered in these co-living locations. It is critical for developers to consider demands in housing and how they are changing over time.
Other innovations include allowing customers to buy and sell homes without the use of a broker or realtor, and the development of technologies which will enable entire transactions to be completed through an app.
The real estate industry can be made much more innovative using global technologies, a change in building and development processes, and an enhanced focus on alternate forms of living, states Howard Wilner. What cannot be denied is that the industry is starting to change rapidly, and players must be willing to adapt to these new technologies and practices to be successful in the coming decades.
More on the real estate industry and Howard Wilner:
https://medium.com/@howardwilner/current-trends-in-the-commercial-real-estate-market-79e2bd23c62e
