Key Takeaways
- Real estate technology is a great way to communicate quickly and easily with any number of people vital to your investing career.
- This business is still about people, so be sure your communications are as authentic and personal as you can make them.
- Technology excels at providing you leverage when spreading your message and marketing your brand.
There’s an assumption that automation and modernization is always a good thing; that using technology for real estate purposes is always the best course of action, which begs the question: Is there ever a time when using new real estate technology might be a hindrance? Are all real estate technology trends a good thing? Can even some of the best real estate technology tools leave your business missing crucial aspects that are key for success?
The pros of using real estate technology include the reach of your branding platform and the ability to communicate quickly. The cons, however, are the risk that that communication may not be as authentic and fact-finding as you might think.
Here are some pros and cons of using technology for real estate to help make a more well-rounded real estate investor.
Is Technology For Real Estate Always A Good Thing?
Pro: Fast Communication
We’ve all heard the expression “time is money,” and in the real estate investing trade this is doubly important. Your ability to find deals and move on them quickly is paramount to your success as an investor.
Whether it’s finding folks looking to sell their residential properties or trying to locate potential landlords who might be interested in off-loading their commercial property, your ability to communicate with speed and seize opportunities has never been more important. Tools such as social media, Skype, and text messaging give you an unparalleled chance to be in two-hundred places all at once.
Con: Communication Can Be Impersonal
All that new technology in real estate won’t do you much good if you’re not able to convince people that a deal is a win-win situation for all parties. While using the latest technological developments in communication can automate and streamline your messaging, it still can’t replace human, authentic communication.
Longevity in this business is not so much reliant on your ability to buy the latest real estate marketing technology, or even to raise money, but rather to relate to others in a personal and empathetic way; to understand their concerns and convince them that the deal you’re proposing makes sense.
There are simply far too many individuals who aren’t swayed, or convinced, by digital communication, that it’s important not to neglect the personal touch in your business dealings.
Pro: Leveraged Platform
The concept of leverage is a powerful one in business. When it comes to your real estate marketing, there are a number of fantastic real estate technology tools that can make your job easier and far more effective.
Let’s say you want to promote the content on your website. Well, you could create automation systems that will automatically send a tweet, update your LinkedIn page, publish a Facebook post, or even create an Instagram post each time you publish content to your blog.
What if you’re creating a buyer’s list which you can market your wholesale properties to? Well, instead of manually organizing your leads, you can set up email marketing automations that will let you parse your leads by zip code, income level, or whatever factor you want. Instead of reaching out to these leads personally, you can create pre-written follow-up emails that tell each lead what you’re about, what you can offer them, and how you might be able to do business together.
All of this can be done once, and then never touched again; a truly powerful use of technology leverage.
Con: Too Much Talking (Not Enough Listening)
There’s no question that real estate technology tools allow you to be all places at all times; to spread your brand’s message. What many real estate investors are learning, however, is that as it becomes easier to speak your mind and share your vision, it becomes more difficult to actually listen to the very leads and clients who make up the lifeblood of your business.
Many new investors are so eager and motivated to demonstrate their market knowledge and prove they are a significant player in the industry, they forget that all those endless monologues can fatigue people and deprive you of that most important real estate investing asset: the ability to listen.
Understanding what a particular person’s motivation and goals are is vital to making sure those needs are recognized. While platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and even your blog posts are a great way to form a one-way conversation, they are not particularly good at discovering what someone’s true motivations are.
People will not typically come right out and tell you what their primary goals are (perhaps they don’t even know what they are). Too often, things like eye contact and the ability to read body language can be more indicative of a person’s motivation than anything you can view on a smartphone screen.
What do you think about using technology for real estate? What do you think are the pros and cons? Let us know in the comments below.
