– Robert Kazmi, Koombea
Real estate companies have long relied on their websites to deliver convenience to their users. However, simply sharing property listing information and photos is no longer enough to please users and stand out among the competition. Modern web development trends are sweeping through every industry, but in a competitive industry like real estate, staying on top of the latest development trends and service offerings is essential.
Some of the features and services we will cover are not necessarily new. However, many real estate websites are not taking advantage of them and missing out on easy wins. So let’s take a closer look at some of the top trends in real estate web development.
Price Estimates
One thing that both buyers and sellers are interested in is price. The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated that many people might be willing to sell their homes for the right price even if they hadn’t seriously considered moving at that time. On the other hand, the pandemic has also driven a demand for housing, and there are many new buyers in the market who want to buy a home.
Potential sellers want to know how much their house could be worth on the market, and buyers want to know how much a home will cost, specifically every month when they start paying their mortgage. Pricing and mortgage estimate tools have been around for a long time on third-party websites like OwnUp. However, many real estate companies don’t integrate the tools into their websites.
Adding additional features that help potential sellers understand how much their house could be worth could help your real estate business secure more clients. Additionally, when you give your buying users the ability to accurately estimate what a house will cost every month, you give them more information that will help them decide to make a purchase with one of your real estate agents.
Enhanced Listings
In the past, property listings would include just the basic information about a property, including floor plan, price, and pictures. Today, modern home buyers expect much more when they interact with a property listing. As a result, the cutting-edge real estate companies have begun using Virtual Reality (VR) home tours to augment their property listings. Virtual Reality is an emerging technology that not only delights users with its capabilities but, in the case of home tours, it also provides users with an in-depth look at a home without having to visit it in person.
VR is great for people at the beginning stages of the home buying process. They can tour an unlimited number of homes from the comfort of their couch. Then, when they find a property or two they want to see in person, they can reach out to an agent to schedule a showing. VR tours also help save agents time. Real estate agents can direct buyers to the VR tours as a way to narrow the list of properties they want to see in person. This gives real estate agents more time to interact with potential buyers and facilitate sales.
While Virtual Reality is a HiTech way to enhance product listings, there are several other ways real estate companies can enhance their property listings as well. For example, home buyers are really interested in the local area, especially if they are unfamiliar with the area. Therefore, a good way to enhance your property listings is to include detailed neighborhood information such as average property value, nearby schools, churches, businesses, etc., the mean income for the area, and so on.
Detailed Scheduling
Scheduling showings is the top way for real estate agents to increase the number of properties they sell. While scheduling features are not cutting edge like VR, many real estate websites do not have simple, detailed scheduling features for users. In many cases, an interested buyer will have to contact a real estate agent to schedule a showing, limiting the number of showings an agent books.
Adding a scheduling feature to your property listings gives users a convenient way to schedule a property showing at an available time that works for them. This feature will also help agents book more showings and likely sell more homes. Simplifying the scheduling process allows users to schedule a showing online when they have free time, which is likely outside of business hours. In turn, real estate agents have more free time to show homes and interact with potential buyers.
Final Thoughts
The Covid-19 pandemic has driven a surge in the housing market. As a result, real estate has never been more competitive than it is right now. If you want to succeed as a real estate company, you need to please your users, whether they are potential buyers or sellers. HiTech advancements like VR and AR are getting most of the attention regarding development trends. Still, as we have demonstrated in this article, there are simple things you can also do to improve the User Experience and simplify the process for your customers and your agents.
