How your clients will be buying property in 2025

Could you imagine your clients submitting an offer on their future home without having been inside it? The days of physical visits could be long gone by 2025, says Private Property CEO, Simon Bray

Technology has revolutionised property search; advances such as virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence will signal a further sea change in how people research and find property in the future.

By 2025, the days of looking through dozens of unsuitable options will become a thing of the past as hyper-personalised property search becomes a reality. Artificial intelligence that can understand what matters to users will learn their likes and dislikes. This, together with “big data” gleaned from their online profiles, will make property search smarter and more efficient as buyers are only matched with suitable choices.

While some of this might sound far-fetched, the reality is that all of this technology is already available today, albeit in limited use. Emerging technology tends to be expensive but once costs drop, virtual reality headsets, augmented reality and 3D worlds will become key components in how property is marketed.

1. Virtual reality allows you to walk through and interact with a computer simulated environment that mimics real life using a headset. With its capacity for walk-throughs, physical viewings will become practically obsolete as users explore multiple properties across different geographical areas from any location. The technology will be a boon for developers, too, as potential buyers will be able to explore a property virtually before it is even built, giving them a real sense of what the space will look like.

2. Augmented reality brings property search to life by overlaying data over the physical world around us. Instead of the traditional floor plan, buyers will be able to view a 3D holographic image of a property. The technology will allow them to switch between internal and external views, change the colour of the walls and even try different decor options, all while seated at their desk. Other uses could include implementing GPS geo-location technology to identify houses for sale in a particular area, then transmitting overlaid data to a user’s mobile phone when they point the device towards a home for sale.

3. Virtual neighbourhoods and 3D interactive city maps will become the norm by 2025, meaning researching an area will become simpler. Your clients will be able to access geospatially accurate 3D representations of the world that include a huge amount of detail, right down to the level of buildings and their interiors. This, combined with video footage from drones, will provide potential buyers with a complete picture of an area before they commit to buying.

The challenge for property platforms and estate agencies would be to evolve and integrate these technologies into their business or risk being side-lined by emerging tech companies.

Words Simon Bray

Simon Bray, software designer, online marketer and avid surfer, is the CEO of Private Property.

 

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