Every year, we take few moments to step back and look at technology trends that are brewing – to take stock of where we are and think about where we’re going. It’s a brainstorming exercise that helps us better advise our clients and helps guide our thinking internally at 1000watt.
We thought it would be good to share the results of this exercise with the readers of this blog too.
Of course these are all highly speculative, but we like to think they all grounded in reality. So here they are, in order of decreasing likelihood:
1. Tablets turn the corner
When the iPad launched this year, we anticipated that it would turn the industry on its heels. 8 million units later, Apple can say it has an bonafide hit on its hands. Next year, we’re going to see the tablet form factor expand significantly. Google is set to release its tablet version of Android – Honeycomb – in Q2 of 2011. Microsoft too is rumored to be tilting after this windmill again too. Tablets have long been touted as the future of the real estate transaction and perhaps 2011 will finally be the year it happens.
2. The HTML5 Show
2011 will be the year that HTML5 really breaks out. New web-based applications, many based on their tablet (iOS) counterparts, will proliferate. Google’s Chrome Web store already shows us what’s possible today. Bottom line: web developers will be liberated to create truly new user experiences. Franchise/brokerage websites will need to pick up their game.
3. Sites get social
Social networks help connect us and lubricate the flow of information between contacts, friends and family. As we become more and more conditioned to share, we will expect this behavior from every web site. In 2011, I expect to see more real estate websites make better use of our existing profiles, particularly using Facebook Connect, and better integrate our social graphs into the real estate experience. Redfin launched this yesterday. I expect many more to follow.
4. Mind my fat fingers
Multi-touch will increasingly become the de facto way many consumers interact with the web. As we move away from the mouse and pointer as our primary means of digital interaction, we’ll need to rethink applications and web sites accordingly. Simplified interfaces and navigational structures will be required, and we’ll start seeing even more gesture-based interactions (check out Andy Rubin’s demo of the new version of Google Maps) as content and data become liberated from their rigid display.
5. Mobile video takes off
Verizon will light up its 4G (LTE) networks in early 2011. Handset manufacturers won’t be far behind, with devices that can make better use of these bandwidth increases (if the networks can keep up). Faster mobile broadband speeds next year will mean live mobile video can really take flight. I’m not bullish on the face-to-face aspect of video conferencing, but the “you can see what I’m seeing” aspect is very exciting. Especially for real estate.
I hope this short list helps you think through your technology planning for the year to come. There were many more trends that didn’t make the cut but I hope to detail in subsequent posts.
What do you think will be big in 2011?
Local, Mobile, Social and the future of real estate
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Abortar masterpiece, you gays aré great.
Thank you.
Gustavo
Who better to make predictions on the future of RE technology than Joel Burslem; Mr FOREM himself. Great post.
What about mobile apps? There have been a bunch that have made their way into the marketplace… what do you see for 2011? Anything ‘augmented realty’?
I think the apps in real estate we’ll see next year will be more focused on streamlining business processes than any whiz bang features. I am convinced however there is an application to be built around sharing of properties – seems to me there is a need there that is underserved right now.
Very solid list. Not sure about #3.
I’m still waiting for a SINGLE client that tells me they are using social media for real estate. Client – not another realtor!
I was with a new client this morning, a married couple of 20-somethings. They told me they LOVED my web site, it was the best one they had seen and way better than all the others they could find, etc.
So I asked them more questions and they are not reading real estate blogs, using twitter for real estate or facebook, or any of that stuff.
I’ve had over 40 clients in the last 23 months and not ONE of them has any interaction with any real estate related social media.
My guess is that realtors jumped all over this, but are really wasting their time on it. We all know realtors will jump on anything.
Let’s face it, your acquire the client, then you do ACTUAL real estate services for them until they buy, sell or both, then they are off living their lives for another 8 years (or whatever). They are NOT reading real estate blogs, or following tweets from agents, or ant of it.
Rob, a new acquaintance of mine just sold her home via facebook…no realtor involved. Realtors used to brag about how important their network was, yet few know how to do that with today’s technologhy…not that they ever really did it before.
Word of mouth marketing happens through facebook, you just need to figure out the most effective way to do it. It’s a more personalized approach, which is something most agents lack the know-how to do.
As every major company knows, their approach to marketing is outdated, and they have to change, and to be successful they need to be everywhere that consumers are.
Realtors are great with having excuses why nothing new will work, but never offer up anything that will work.
I agree with your take on blogs, and their usefulness, but it’s true for real estate websites as well. However, like books and magazines, when the content is relevant to readers and it helps them understand things better or helps solve some of their problems, then they’ll read it…if they know it exists. But, as I’ve always stated, most Realtors have nothing relevant to say.
All I know, is that what we do to market and sell homes doesn’t work anymore. It’s an obsolete approach. And we better do something about it asap.
Steve,
ONE sale as a result of FaceBook is nothing to shout about. There are also near random sales resulting from homes that were never listed ANYwhere, FSBOs, Craigslist, etc., etc., but nobody is calling those methods the wave of the future.
Would you really depend on homeowners to put their homes on Facebook? Did you know that a large segment of the population is computer illiterate, happy to be, and could no more add a decent “listing” to Facebook than they could do brain surgery. This model is simply not a mass market option.
[I wonder what percentage of people on FB even own homes...this might be an interesting statistic to have.]
At the end of the day, true Professional Agents need a business model that works. Not a “one sale per year from Facebook model.” Or a “heard via a tweet that so and so asked something about a house value..” These are not lead sources for a sustainable business model.
Now, I’m no fanboy of the current system in place, but it’s not completely broken and worthless: A large complete database of all the current properties for sale (the MLS) is not a bad concept. Allowing this data to be searchable by the public for free (the IDX) is not a bad concept.
What’s bad about it is a large percentage of the people involved with it. They add no value, they are not professionals, they know near-nothing and fumble with even the most basic tasks of running the current system effectively.
How are those people going to disappear? That’s the question. THAT’s when things will get better overall.
I just mentally went through my last 12-18 months of transactions and in that, there was just ONE Realtor on the other side of all those transactions that was a Professional and really had their act together. The rest were bumbling through barely staying between the lines and adding NO real value.
Rob – let me be clear about #3. My prediction is that websites, particularly real estate websites, are going to get a lot more social and use their visitors’ social graphs — through services like Facebook Connect, for example — much more intelligently in 2011 to help users find their perfect homes.
Joel,
Thanks for the clarification. 2011 starts in 12 days, remember? LOL
I don’t see it happening. I know a lot of very web savvy agents, and I’ve seen hundreds of agent and broker web sites. (and I design them)
Here’s the problem nobody ever wants to admit. You can’t get anyone to discuss anything in the blogs on these sites other than Realtors. That’s it. It’s realtors talking to realtors. Useless for lead generation.
Why? Beacuse this is not how it works. There’s a short bell curve of real estate interest for non real estate professionals. They decide they are moving, gather data, make it happen, then disappear from RE for another 8 years.
This makes it tough to impossible to sustain a healthy interactive blog over the long haul and it does not build on itself.
My site has this capability, but nobody uses it and that’s fine. It’s still an epic performer for lead capture.
That’s just what I am seeing. In real life, every day.
Ipads are definitely the wave of the future. That is why it is so incredibly frustrating that the Arizona MLS is in the dark ages. The ARMLS system does not work on ipads!
Abortar masterpiece, you gays aré great. Thank you. Gustavo
Well put Rob, and I share most of your views, especially where people make the business more complicated than it needs to be. Field experience and putting your money where your mouth is is a big plus, because talk is cheap. And when it’s your money on the line, you have to make it work because failure is not acceptable. It’s funny how risk can actually add to a projects success. Yes you do have a great site and others should take a peek and see how it can work for them. But don’t worry…they won’t spend the money on it, so you have a wide open field to run with it. Go get em!
Thanks Steve and nice speaking with you.
My site is a little more spartan than I want it, but I’ve been concentrating on content and SEO.
Some day soon I will get a logo, etc.
Currently I’m working on moving an entire relocation site I have to this main site as a “relo section.”
…always something.
Rob, the reason why no one other than agents discuss anything on the sites you refer to, is because there’s nothing on them worth discussing. However not everything that is posted should be posted with the notion that it has to be discusses. If you post a chart about the local market, it should be there for research purposes, not discussions, because it would be a waste of time. However, if you post things that run contrary to what Realtors usually post, then you’ll probably get some traction from it. I bet if someone did a “most realtors suck, but we’re better” post” I bet you’ll get the interaction you (bloggers) crave. The problem with most realtors is they talk alike, and write for other agents. and what’s worse, the believe that everyone else thinks like they do…but thankfully no one else does. Just like the guy that wants to debate Brian about the value of date…that’s a sleeper to everyone other than a realtor.
My bet on key technology for 2011 is different. I bet on multi-agent CRM solutions with social media integration. Social media is not showing big value as a marketing platform. Bless all who argue “But it worked once. I heard of someone who made it work once.” it’s a CRM compliment.
[...] write this post, is that this type of experience is only possible on a tablet. We’ve talked a lot over the last year about how this technology and these devices will start to change the way we think about real estate [...]
[...] this post, is that this type of experience is only possible on a tablet. We’ve talked a lot over the last year about how this technology and these devices will start to change the way we think about real estate [...]