Posts with tag: technology

Relationship with estate agent important to househunters

Published On: May 27, 2016 at 1:28 pm

Tags: buy-to-let landlords,estate agents,homeowners,housebuyers,technology

Interesting new research has indicated that 58% of would-be homeowners in Britain are searching for personal relationships with their estate agent.

In addition, house hunters want their agent to have a sound understanding of their property requirements.

Estate agent relationship expectations

The survey was conducted by estate agency software provider Dezrez and looked at key attitudes and perceptions that UK property have towards estate agents.

Results indicated that a huge 93% of potential British home-buyers looked for a property online. 54% said they utilise a mixture of online facilities and estate agents to complete the buying process.

However, some potential homeowners said they would prefer to have a personal agent that can deal with the entire home buying process.

Expertise

In addition, those surveyed said that they rely heavily on estate agents’ expertise for key parts of the process. These were found to be:

72% for conveyancing
62% to arrange viewings and insepctions
53% for making offers
42% for financial negotiations

Justin Morris, chief executive officer of Dezrez, said: ‘buying and selling a home can be an extremely stressful and daunting process and good quality customer service still carries a huge amount of weight. Estate agents are well placed to offer sound, expert advice. They can help to alleviate some of the pressures and concerns that consumers have with managing the process themselves.’[1]

‘What we are experiencing in the property market is some interesting trends that are mirroring consumer activity on the high street. Whilst many people like to be able to search online, they clearly value the customer experience and human touch of face to face interactions. However, without the personal touch online only services aren’t necessarily going to be in the position to replace traditional agents,’ Morris continued.[1]

Relationship with estate agent important to househunters

Technological frustrations

The study also showed that many customers are frustrated with agents who are slower to adapt to using newer digital technologies. 67% of respondents feel that estate agents are not fully utilising technology to it’s full benefit. 44% said that agents must embrace technology in order to be successful in the future.

‘There is a real appetite for change from both estate agents and consumers, especially when it comes to the use of technology,’ Morris continued. ‘Advancements in technology, from mobile devices to cloud based software offer some amazing opportunities for the estate agent of the future. It gives them greater accessibility and freedom and helps them to alleviate some of the pressures experienced by home buyers and sellers.’[1]

Concluding, Morris said, ‘there’s a breadth of technology that can help transform the property industry and enable agents to deliver a professional and personal service across human and digital touchpoints. In order to survive, and thrive, estate agents must recognise and remain confident that they too have the tools available to remain competitive and keep customers satisfied.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/uk-housing-market-agents-2016052611961.html

Technology to check tenants’ social media profiles

Published On: May 26, 2016 at 8:58 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: landlords,letting agents,social media,technology

Cutting-edge technology could be about to greatly assist letting agents and landlords throughout the buy-to-let process.

Tenant Assured utilises automated social profiling technology that assesses tenants’ social media accounts to surmise personality traits. This will allow landlords and agents to chose tenants and check up on their behaviour during tenancies.

Suitable tenants

Before the technology can be used, the tenant must give their consent on which social media profiles can be accessed. Tenant Assured hopes that this profiling can go hand-in-hand with traditional checks conducted before a tenancy agreement, such as referencing and credit checks.

Should a tenant agree to the profiling check, Tenant Assured aims to give an insight into five key personality traits that could affect the potential relationship:

extraversion
neuroticism
openness
agreeableness
conscientiousness

Technology to check tenants’ social media profiles

Checking patterns

In addition, the profiling system gives information which could be of interest to agents and landlords throughout the tenancy.

Checking tenants’ social media accounts will pick up on their travel patterns and assess if they are spending substantial amounts of time away from the property. It will also pick up factors like a change of job or relationship status, which could affect their rental future.

Ben Stubbs, managing director of Score Assured, parent company of Tenant Assured, said, ‘we can help landlords determine the potential problem tenants and help the good ones secure the property they really want.’[1]

‘The insights we are able to collect with the consent of the tenant will protect landlords from costs involved in collecting rent arrears, evictions or repairing damage to their property. Currently, landlords rely on third parties to pull together traditional checks. Our product can add another layer of security to this by helping landlords get to know their prospective tenants so much better,’ Stubbs added.[1]

[1] https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/5/digital-dna-to-help-agents-and-landlords-check-up-on-tenants

How Futuristic Technology Will Change Property Viewings

Published On: March 13, 2016 at 8:00 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: interior design,property app,property viewings,technology

The Sims was a popular game for a generation obsessed with building lavish homes, becoming their very own interior designer and living life out online. But a new report indicates that buying a home in real life may not be too different in the future.

The report suggests that by 2025, property viewings will be technologically advanced, with virtual tours and augmented reality that allows buyers to virtually redecorate a room while standing in it.

The study, commissioned by easyProperty and The Future Laboratory, explores the transformation that the property market will undergo in the next few years.

It predicts that by 2025, the process of buying a property will be much more like playing a game than it is today.

For instance, location is often the number one priority for homebuyers. In the future, drone technology is expected to enable buyers to scout out their potential neighbourhoods before committing to a property purchase.

The report explains: “As drone technology becomes more affordable, we imagine potential house hunters will cotton on to its use for conducting those vital pre-purchase searches – to find out whether the neighbours throw loud parties every weekend, how noisy the traffic is at key points throughout the day, and other information not easily available from an inspection of the house, but vital to long-term happiness.”

How Futuristic Technology Will Change Property Viewings

House hunters will also be able to explore their prospective neighbourhoods using augmented reality technology, by linking their mobile devices to beacon technology.

This will make the process of wandering around a neighbourhood more informative and will include hovering your mouse on buildings to find out what they are.

The report continues: “By linking a buyer’s mobile device to digital beacons that will, by then, be embedded in practically every building and business, property service brands will be able to create neighbourhood cyber-safaris that lead buyers to sites of personal interest in an unfamiliar area.”

The head of technology research firm Enders Analysis, Douglas McCabe, explains: “Beacons will allow estate agencies in the future to turn exploring a strange new area into an entertaining game, a bit like an online game, translated into the real world.

“Deciding to move to a new neighbourhood often relied on a leap of the imagination by buyers. They need to understand that this is a place full of possibilities that will appeal to them on a very personal level. Gamified tours will help them do that.”¹

Once a buyer has found the perfect property in the perfect neighbourhood, how do they ensure the interior design and layout of the home is perfect?

At present, house hunters rely on their imagination to determine what each room would look like with their decoration and belongings.

But in the future, this process will be much easier with technology that allows buyers to virtually redecorate the rooms they are in using smartphones and tablets.

The report says: “Buyers will use a new generation of heads-up display (HUD) glasses – more advanced and user friendly future versions of Google Glass – to carry out virtual refits as they stage physical viewings of the two or three homes on their final shortlist.”¹

Technology could also allow buyers to have a complete virtual tour of a property without having to travel.

But while all of this might sound like the stuff of science fiction, it is not far away.

Matt Ratcliffe, the co-founder of creative studio Masters of Pie, explains: “We’ve been working on showrooms that have virtual reality headsets that enable buyers in China to virtually and realistically sit in the rooms of the beautiful penthouses in London they are about to spend millions on.

“But by 2025, the experience offered by this technology will have become so convincing that it will be difficult to tell the difference between reality and virtual reality – and it will have moved from the luxury sector into the mass market.”¹

If you’re already looking for ways to enhance your property search with technology, why not try this app?

Can you imagine buying a home or buy-to-let property using virtual reality? It may be just around the corner!

¹http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3476453/Is-technology-turning-SIMS-Cyber-safaris-virtual-decorators-make-buying-house-future-like-playing-popular-game.html

What technology is attractive to homeowners?

Published On: November 12, 2015 at 3:23 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: homeowners,housing market,landlords,technology

An interesting new ‘Digital Homes Report,’ released today by Barclays Mortgages has revealed that nearly one third of homeowners believe installing technology in the home will increase its value.

The report centres on the rise of the ‘digital home,’ that includes both connected technology and a digital infrastructure that is integrated into the home.

Equipped

Data from the report found that on average, UK homeowners who said that they would be willing to spend more would be willing to pay an additional £3,310 for a new property fully equipped with the latest technology. This includes smart heating systems and appliances.

Additionally, the investigation reveals that when it comes to choosing technology in which to invest, homeowners are seemingly putting practically first. When selecting where to spend their cash, the most common technologies homeowners are likely to buy in the future are those that support a home’s infrastructure. USB connections (36%), super-fast broadband connectivity (51%), smart meters (35%) and solar panels (27%) were all common features mentioned.

Although it seems something for the future, the survey revealed that nearly half of UK homeowners already have some kind of technology in their home. The most popular of these is fibre optic cabling, which allows for super-high speed interest. 26% of respondents said that they already had this in their property.

The top and bottom five most and least popular pieces of connected technology that homebuyers would be willing to pay extra for were found to be:

Connected technology that homebuyers would pay extra for (by popularity)
Top 5		Bottom 5
1	Solar panels (31%)	1	Smart fridge (4%)
2	Fibre optic cable (21%)	2	Smart Doorbell (5%)
3	Smart security alarm (19%)	2	Smart oven (5%)
4	Sensor technology (16%)	3	Mobile signal box (8%)
5	Smart thermostat (15%)	3	Induction cooktop (8%)

[1]

What technology is attractive to homeowners?

Fascinating

UK property expert and television personality Amanda Lamb, said, ‘it’s really fascinating to see from the Barclays Mortgages Digital Homes Report, how peoples’ attitudes to connected technology are changing and adapting in the modern world.’[1]

‘In my years of dealing with the UK property market, I’ve seen plenty of trends come and go however, digital homes are really here to stay and this space is something I see really growing over the next three to five years. Whilst it will take time for it to be widely adopted by the general public, I see technology integrated in the home being a real incentive for homebuyers, so would encourage homeowners to start thinking about what they can do to future-proof their home,’ Lamb added.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/household/what-technology-attracts-homebuyers.html