Digital Disruption in Real Estate: 3 Companies Transforming Property Transactions
Digital disruption has hit the real estate industry, where innovation is redefining how buyers, sellers and traditional players interact.
In this article, we present three real estate companies executing innovative digital business strategies and transforming the real estate industry in the process.
Editor’s note: This piece was updated in June 2020.
Digital Disruption in Real Estate
As technology continues to evolve rapidly, digital innovations and disruptions are impacting a wide range of industries across the globe. Companies who digitally innovate stand a chance to overtake entire markets.
Using digital platforms, companies are increasingly able to scale revenue and increase profit margins, plus offer an above-and-beyond user experience. New digital tools make buying and selling easier and more accessible, even in traditionally “brick and mortar” industries such as commercial real estate.
The right digital products can dissolve bottlenecks in industries traditionally burdened by complex sales processes or heavy human reliance.
Large transactions involving multiple buyers, complicated legal parameters, and the presence of intermediaries–like brokers–make an industry ripe for digital disruption.
One look at that list, and it’s no wonder real estate is currently experiencing tremendous innovation.
Combine this with today’s customer expectations for an easy and fast buying experience on transactions large and small, and it’s clear disruptive technology is needed for real estate businesses to remain competitive.
Real estate isn’t the only industry that revolves around complex and nuanced sales. Disruptive digital technologies are transforming industries and allowing businesses to scale through automation. Watch the free webinar on demand: “Automating Sales Processes to Scale (A Practical 3-Phase Strategy).”
Three Companies Capitalizing On Disruptive Trends in Real Estate
The real estate industry is ripe for digital disruption, given the many technologies available today and the opportunity to move a traditionally in-person transaction experience into the digital realm. Here are three real estate companies leveraging disruptive technology and innovative business models for transformative results.
>> Learn how enterprises can increase revenue by 23% with digital business strategies.
Bungalo
Bungalo Homes, a subsidiary of Amherst Financial, is a real estate company changing the way we think about home buying. Using an online platform, Bungalo allows people to find and close on recently-renovated, move-in ready homes, digitally.
Bungalo’s model is different in that they buy the homes, renovate them (add the latest appliances, smart home features and other amenities), then allow buyers to purchase them at a set price. The homes are listed on Bungalo’s platform seven days before they hit the larger market.
Bungalo addresses traditional real estate pain points by offering financing, convenient self tours conducted on the buyer’s schedule, and assistance with mortgage details–not to mention no-haggle pricing.
>> Case Study: How Bungalo achieved digital innovation enabled by a web app built on Microsoft Azure Cloud.
Web-Empowered Home Buying with No-Haggle Pricing
Bungalo’s disruptive technology enables real estate buyers to search, buy and close on newly refurbished homes all from the comfort of their computer – an experience that is increasingly desired across industries.
They offer no-haggle pricing, taking the hassle and stress out of negotiating and offering an experience more consistent with online retail shopping than traditional real estate purchases.
>> Discover web app development services designed for products that dissolve bottlenecks.
Atlant
Perhaps the most extreme example of digital disruption in commercial real estate is Atlant, marketed as the ‘world’s real estate blockchain platform.’
Taking advantage of one of the most popular and powerful emerging technologies, blockchain, Atlant allows users to invest in and trade tokenized properties to rent apartments online, eliminating the high fees usually associated with these transactions.
Described as a next-generation real estate platform, Atlant is accelerating the adoption of the sharing economy and aims to not only offer a unique experience for renters and buyers, but to transform the way digital real estate transactions take place.
Real Estate on Blockchain
The technology implemented by Atlant allows users to invest in real estate tokens, which represent shares in real estate assets. They can then trade these tokens in for property, using processes taking place in the blockchain.
The technology is highly disruptive and progressive, offering a secure experience that’s tamper-proof, as well as streamlined and easy-to-use. Atlant’s network is peer-to-peer, so users can trade parcels of land and bypass intermediaries in rental deals to save time and money.
Atlant uses technology to eliminate inefficiencies in the current real estate market, doing things that were only a few years ago unimaginable.
Opendoor
Real estate company Opendoor is changing the way people sell their homes, offering a revolutionary new way to list properties online. With an innovative web portal that makes use of the latest technology, Opendoor allows users to sell their homes directly to the company, eliminating the many headache-inducing steps generally associated with selling a home.
With Opendoor, sellers do not need to list or show their home, nor do they need to wait through the stress and uncertainty of months on the market. Opendoor makes competitive cash offers nearly instantly, takes care of financing and provides a flexible timeline for move-out, allowing buyers to focus their energies on finding a new home.
Digital Home Sales with Zero Wait
Opendoor is disrupting the usual trends and practices in real estate, eliminating numerous steps traditionally associated with selling a home. Opendoor takes advantage of technology to collect unique input from the seller through an online form, ensuring all offers are precise and accurate, tailored to the sellers’ home.
They conduct neighborhood assessments provide customers with data-backed offers, eliminating the need for in-person meetings or logistical hassles. Opendoor not only facilitates home inspections, they also take care of resulting issues, like needed repairs.
Opendoor offers an end-to-end process managed by a single entity as opposed to dozens of players. Sellers can sell their home without ever listing it on the market.