When technology is applied to improve efficiency, it’s good news not only for individual businesses, but entire industries. This is certainly the case for commercial real estate, and there are a multitude of innovative systems and solutions that are worth talking about right now, so let’s discuss just a few of the most impactful breakthroughs.
Artificial intelligence is a game-changer
Analysts are already predicting that AI will contribute tens of trillions to the global economy over the next decade, boosting GDP by a quarter and influencing a huge range of sectors.
In commercial real estate, there are various examples of how AI can be brought to bear on a variety of tasks, such as:
Sales & marketing
From analyzing market data to empower realtors when it comes to valuations, to providing automated support services so client satisfaction reaches new highs, there’s a lot that automation can achieve in the business of buying and selling commercial real estate. In fact it’s just one of many core business operations which are prime for automation.
Financing
Modern AI tools are able to streamline the process of managing money in a variety of real estate contexts. This can involve automating data entry and loan modeling. It also applies to things like budgeting and cost management for construction projects, with the latest commercial real estate software able to ensure that every decision is data-driven.
Compliance
The commercial real estate game inevitably involves a lot of paperwork, and requires compliance with complex regional and national regulations in order to avoid missteps.
AI software tools can be applied to keep everything on an even keel as a project progresses from the design phase through to construction and then on into longer term management and maintenance.
In all of these cases, it’s about using technology to take the tedious workloads away from human employees, and instead automating them so that they are much less of a burden on organizations. Thus it’s not only the efficiency of particular tasks which improves, but the productivity of the wider workforce along with it.
Smart contracts are an intriguing route forward
We’ve already mentioned the role that paperwork still plays in commercial real estate transactions, and the process of exchanging contracts has always been fraught with the possibility for disruption to occur.
This is where smart contracts, backed by the blockchain, enter the fray. The proposal is that digital protocols can be used to ensure that all parties involved in an agreement are able to enjoy the same levels of transparency and security as one another, with fewer overheads and less chance of delays compared with incumbent methods.
Transactions which might previously have taken days, weeks or even months to go through can be processed swiftly, and in turn this efficiency boost also leads to increased liquidity in the industry. So rather than certain organizations being bottlenecked by cash flow and left in limbo, smart contracts are an efficient and cost-effective alternative.
Building management is made easier through the IoT
Commercial real estate construction and transactions are not the only things being turbocharged by tech. Once business-focused buildings are tenanted, it’s easier for owners to monitor and manage every aspect of a premises thanks to the Internet of Things.
Smart devices allow for remote oversight of everything from security cameras and fire alarms to the heating and cooling of full-blown skyscrapers.
Thus fewer people are required to tackle everyday duties on-site, and much of this can either be handled remotely by team members, such as a commercial property management company in Cincinnati, who are responsible for stewarding several properties simultaneously, or through the use of software automation.
Remote working is increasingly common
It might seem like commercial real estate is not an industry which lends itself to remote work as much as some other sectors, and yet the pandemic has pushed client expectations in a different direction to before, which in turn gives organizations more leeway in terms of how they handle their operations.
Virtual meetings, remote property viewings, and an increased reliance on all sorts of communication tech that doesn’t require users to be in one location at the same time continues to contribute to the shift away from the traditional office experience.
Obviously there are some tasks that cannot be handled remotely, such as those that fall to construction laborers. But automation and robotization are being brought to bear here as well, not only improving efficiency by also making up for worker shortages and even boosting site safety.
Wrapping up
While real estate may sometimes struggle to keep up with tech trends because of strategic issues and the practical realities of the industry, there’s clear evidence that extensive efforts are being made to foster efficiency in many ways at the moment. This points to a more stable future for the whole real estate market.