It’s no surprise the real estate industry uses a lot of drones these days (think all that aerial photography on listings) but robots? Really?
A survey by REINZ shows agents are increasingly open to embracing new technology. Already, one per cent of agents reported using robots in open homes.
But, sadly, Dee Crooks, head of communications for REINZ, says the survey is anonymous so she doesn’t know who that one per cent is, despite asking around. Robots are already being used internationally and usually those trends arrive in New Zealand.
She pointed to REX, an American firm which uses robots in homes to answer questions and collect data.
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A Wall Street Journal article explains there are other firms using robots, too.
“Brooklyn-based VirtualAPT invented a robot that makes three-dimensional property videos,” said the story.
“Sunnyvale, Calif-based property manager Zenplace’s robots allow agents to communicate remotely through a screen rather than having to drive around showing properties.”
The article, written last year, describes a woman arriving to look at an apartment to rent in California only to be greeted by “a long-necked white robot on wheels with a screen that looks like a small tablet.”
The face and voice was that of the Zenplace real estate agent which greeted her and told her to follow it around for the tour.
The same article quotes REX board member Scott McNealy going so far as to say the robots REX places in homes “are far more intelligent than a real estate agent”.
Stephen Barfoot, former chief technology officer and new director at Barfoot & Thompson, is not so sure.
“I think everybody has their own experience of artificial reality. I mean, everyone uses Siri on their phones and that sort of thing and I think people’s experience is that artificial intelligence often is not that intelligent.”
You’ll always need the human touch, says Barfoot.
“I think some things are still better to be done by a person and, honestly, I’m not sure how comfortable most people would be in trusting their home and all the contents there to a robot to look after.”
Barfoot & Thompson does monitor international trends and already uses useful tools in its listings, he says.
The background trend is that a lot more people are researching online when searching for a property so Barfoot & Thompson is providing tools to enhance that experience, ranging from drone footage to apps and videos, and Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality.
Artificial Intelligence, for example robots, they are monitoring but not rushing into, he says.
“We want to make sure we get the right technology that fits how we work locally and we want to make sure it’s helpful without being intrusive.”
Augmented Reality tools which run with listings already allow people to redecorate the home to see what it would look like in different colours and materials.
“We’ve currently got that in about 70 per cent of our properties available but we’re looking to increase that to closer to 90 per cent.”
People also love 3D online walkthroughs where they can go through a property at their own pace as if they were at an open home, to see proportions and how rooms flow.
This doesn’t mean people don’t go to open homes, they’re just making better decisions about the ones they do go to, Barfoot says.
“If you compare the combination of our augmented reality and our virtual reality 3D walkthroughs people are spending three times as much time looking at those properties and generating twice as much enquiry.”
REINZ found that 66 per cent of real estate agents using drone footage (up from 51 per cent from two years ago) and now around seven per cent used artificial intelligence. The use of virtual reality “is catching on” with five per cent utilising it and 48 per cent considering using it.
The technology is currently used without the need for special equipment but as people begin to get Virtual Reality equipment in their homes the company will respond with an enhanced experience, Barfoot says.
“Our philosophy really is that these tools are super helpful for people looking for property, so we’re full steam ahead in providing access to these tools for people and we really see them as enabling our sales people to do a better job of marketing the property.”
