The real estate industry in many growing or reviving economies still remains unorganized to a large extent. A large part of the game of which assets are for sale or rent depends on and thrives on who has access to such information. This access to information gave the edge to real estate agents in the past and helped them act as effective brokers between the transacting parties.
The growing challenge in this sector seeds from the mix of trained and untrained agents who cater together. Due to the intermix, it becomes difficult to arrive at a standardized set of services that equates to measurable values.
Due to the prevailing industry conditions and the increasing reliance on the digital medium, property portals have risen to manage real-estate investments across different geographies. The global pandemic has undoubtedly served to further fuel the medium’s acceptance among investors and sellers. Their popularity and usage from deal initiators to closures are rising as it fills many gaps compared to a real estate agent.
Let’s see what online portals can bring to the table for the transacting parties, in any real estate deal.
Firstly, the accessibility to many listings of assets in one place is of immense value, especially when they are available remotely, at the click of a button. Think of not having to leave your own space to access a multitude of assets that are both classified and appropriately categorized for your browsing and shortlisting. It is a significant improvement from the existing model of having to travel and incur costs to inspect multiple sites, with little or no prior preview.
An excellent platform for targeted, faster, and easier searches. All stakeholders stand to gain with this feature of property portals. Sellers get the freedom to advertise their properties with pictures, videos, maps, and locality benefits. With the advancement of technology, virtual tours and online meetings between interested stakeholders have not only become convenient but also mandatory given the Covid-19 health guideline and government restrictions. They also get to access a much wider audience, without having to engage multiple agents for the same asset. Buyers can refine their search by setting custom filters that let them view listings based on their specific preferences, budgets, and timelines. The first level of the shortlisting process becomes a lot faster and simpler with clarity on negotiation windows, asset availability timelines, potential paperwork roadblocks if any.
Now to the most talked about and disliked aspect of tackling agents in property dealings. The unregulated and non-standardized brokerage and commission charged can put the best-laid investment plan awry. Portals provide a much-needed relief by standardizing brokerage and guaranteeing services, making it worth the while for both buyers and sellers. The platform also eliminates the possibility of being led towards a particular asset as it will pay a higher commission to the agent. In these cases, the agents tend to prioritize their needs over your requirements for an obvious financial windfall.
Professionally managed and reputed websites are impartial, consistent, and transparent in all processing and additional fees upfront. Aggregators gain an edge since the volumes reduce lead time and costs with the benefits then passed on to the customers on both sides of the table, as lower brokerage. A win-win for all parties.
The advent of portals and along with it access to various data points is a boon for investors who want to gauge the market prices before taking the plunge. Transacting with agents leaves one at the mercy of their statistics, which may be far removed from the asset’s actual value. A fair trade practice feather in the online platform’s cap.
Property portals provide an additional layer of security by offering verified property listings and conducting due diligence to verify the ownership and legitimacy of the property. In recent years, many portals have expanded their offerings to include value-added services such as remodeling assistance, interior planning, landscaping, property valuation, legal and registration services, demolition, and renovation construction services.
A lesser explored avenue of the portal is by the real estate agents themselves, where they can both list and have clients browse the catalog before selecting site visits. Portals are a great way for seasoned agents to display their market knowledge, skillset and address the unique needs of the client of today who is both digitally and market savvy.
Their role is shifting gradually towards documentation verification, ownership vigilance, registration and legal consulting, due diligence and most significantly navigating complex negotiations.
Digital technology is tearing down longstanding barriers in the property sector, regardless of whether or not agents join a portal. The shift is evident in the real estate industry in terms of the way business is undertaken – clearly moving toward an online medium because of its numerous benefits and empowerment to the stakeholders.
