3 ways technology will revolutionise home-buying in 2023

When one thinks of technology in residential real estate, they often visualise a home equipped with smart-home devices, smart appliances, and enhanced home safety devices. However, there are many aspects of technology that greatly impact day-to-day lives of residents. In fact, technology comes into play much before a buyer even considers buying a home – right from designing an apartment to the procurement of raw materials and construction. Moreover, search apps, sales experience, and all the way down to society and community management platforms, all integrate elements of technology in it.

Technology has taken over every aspect of living, including the homebuying experience, which is now exploring exciting new avenues like AI, Big data, and Virtual Reality/ Augmented Reality. While such technologies have improved and digitised parts of the home buying journey, they also drive quality control, safety, transparency, and convenience for customers and developers alike.

Buying a home is a significant chapter in one’s life. Thanks to the technology boom, customers can make informed homebuying decisions remotely. Here are different ways in which technology has completely revolutionised the homebuying experience and has made the homebuyer’s journey much easier.

The Sales Process

Most of us are familiar with the purchase journey on e-commerce apps wherein users can log in, click on desired items, pay with a tap, and wait for their delivery. However, this model could very well be emulated even in a high-ticket price, high involvement, long-term purchase like buying a home. With digital interventions, streamlining of payment gateways, and AI and VR integration, a similar purchase journey could potentially revolutionize not just the home buying experience but also the real estate market in a significant way.

For a seamless sales experience, home buyers are provided with customized, mobile-first technology platforms which could eliminate the need to travel to project sites, reduce waiting time, and also offer more convenience and access to information within a few clicks. Customers could be taken through the entire purchase process online from the convenience of their homes by leveraging zero-touch experience including 3D home tours and virtual walkthroughs, selection of units, along with access to digital documentation and online payments. We are also seeing accelerated technology adoption in other aspects of the homebuying process – such as e-registration and the online process of getting home loans.

For many customers, buying a home is a highly emotional investment. With digital technologies enabling this level of convenience, trust, and transparency, customers could visit projects virtually with their families, even if they are in different cities or even countries.

After-sales

There are expectations of real estate transactions becoming completely paperless. Currently, on the policy side, property registration still requires a minimal amount of paperwork. In the future, however, this could potentially go completely paperless.

In terms of safety and transparency, digital records of real estate, ownership, land transactions and leasing will not only ensure completely legal and transparent operations, but will also minimize errors, and reduce burden on legal machinery, making records permanent, and safe.

Additionally, with the implementation of blockchain technology, real estate transactions can be completed faster with less paperwork. This is because Blockchain allows for the digital transfer of assets, so there is no need for paper contracts or any other physical documentation.

In fact, the government of Maharashtra recently announced the launching of electronic registration of properties. E-registrations of properties are now enabled for agreements of the first sale. To prevent tampering with property agreements recorded via digital means, the government also intends to implement Blockchain technology.

Living Experience

As far as the living experience of residents is considered, much like connected car technology, the real estate industry could draw a parallel and enable multiple aspects of homes – be it operational, maintenance, repairs, etc. – to be managed via a single platform.

With dedicated, optimized property management apps, residents can not only access facility management services like cleaning, repairs, plumbing, etc. but can also track and monitor service requests. Moreover, such property management apps provide a secure platform for storing and accessing important documents such as lease agreements, service contracts, etc., ensuring that all relevant information is readily available and easily accessible. Scheduling and organizing service requests across multiple projects, or within a single building or a society, can all be streamlined with such technology. This reduces the need for manual paperwork, increasing overall efficiency and accuracy.

Conclusion

Apart from these, we have already seen an influx of technology like AI powered chatbots and NLP machines which act as the first point of contact when customers visit a developer’s website. Prop-tech and listing platforms have also emerged as a great convenience for customers to widen their search, and have a good idea about the property and its locality just with a few clicks from their electronic device.  

Technology has become an essential part of the Indian real estate industry. It has enabled the industry to reduce costs and increase efficiency, while also providing buyers with access to more information and a better buying experience. The industry is also moving towards more innovative and sustainable solutions, such as net-zero buildings and smart homes that ensure tangible savings on recurring costs such as monthly maintenance. As the new year dawns upon the industry, technology rides shotgun with real estate, enabling convenience and transparency for home buyers.