Real estate transactions are one thing out of many on the very long list of ‘things changed by the coronavirus pandemic’. 

With social distancing and safety measures came the temporary end of in-person transaction processes. No more client meetings, no more property showings, no more traditional closings, and on and on. The only solution available was to turn to PropTech – and fast.

So everyone got started on new CRMs, new team management platforms, online document signing tools, and more as the transaction process was digitized. Now, as the situation may be easing up, the temporary halt on the traditional transaction may be lifting… but will that mean that the enthusiasm for digital solutions was only temporary, too?

We Were Going Digital, Anyways

For years now I’ve been talking and blogging about the importance of digital adoption within the real estate transaction process. A tech-powered business is the way of the future. Yes, the pandemic did propel the industry further and faster than previously expected, but it’s not true to say that it’s what ‘caused’ the digital movement.

The way I see it is real estate’s online integration was already well underway. The entire world was moving, slowly but surely, in the same direction: more tech, more possibilities, more proficiency, and more efficiency. Now, it’s true that the circumstances fueling the digital shift were not nice ones – it came on the coattails of a pandemic...

Unifying Real Estate

And yet, it still catapulted the real estate biz into the future. It got everyone on board for trying out the ‘new normal’ of web-powered transactions.

This is everything we’ve been getting ready for, and now we can move to the next level of digital adoption. Thank God! 

Now, small and mid-sized companies are pushing to be on the Cloud – meaning everyone is on the same page. Until you were plugged into the Cloud, you couldn’t look at your data in a smart way. This created a huge separation in the industry, where some of us were operating from Point A and others at Point B.

But, as everyone adopted the ‘safer at home’ model, everyone migrated over to the web in hopes of survival. It became sink or swim, and now all of us are working from new grounds. This will undoubtedly take the industry to new heights.

To Turn Around, Or Keep Advancing?

Everything has accelerated at a remarkable speed. This is like nothing we’ve ever seen before, and I don’t think that the real estate family should try to revert back to how it was in the past. Just to reiterate — this is for the tools we use, not for the human interaction that is vital to business. 

We’re in 2020 and we have all of the technology and capacity to provide online transactions, so why were we ever stalling in the first place? In-person business will never disappear, but offering digital alternatives is a huge elevation of the industry.

A strong prop-tech tool belt has proved itself to safeguard your business, expand the possibilities for remote deals, and troubleshoot so many of the most common pain-points.

Digital adoptions are pivotal for the tomorrow of real estate, and helping this trend stick around will keep the momentum strong so real estate can advance. 

We already took a quantum leap forward, so why negate all that growth? Instead, let’s get used to our new digital capacities and start flexing our new and improved abilities.