Dramatic it may sound, but when it comes to real estate trends, we can’t ignore some of the incredible challenges we’ll face in the coming years. With this in mind, the “death” we refer to is the slow one that will come to projects that, in denying change, continue to use obsolete or inflexible business models that no longer fit the times. Weathering the next few years will mean dealing with tremendous change in the sector, and we’d like to highlight some of the ideas and technology you’ll need if you want your business to stick around.
Sustainability: the magic word (in real estate, too)
If you haven’t already done so, it’s time to start thinking about the natural and social environment and how your projects can serve them better. Some of the most important firms have already begun to move in several directions with the UN Millennium Development Goals in their sights. Building with sustainable materials and processes is one major arm of this real estate trend, and creating energy-efficient, self-sustainable communities is another. At the social level, greater focus must be placed on the promotion of local talent and an effort to employ and integrate members of the communities in which projects are located. Having a long-term growth approach and being willing to invest in human resources are key elements in this strategy.
AI and metaverses
One of the most interesting Arum Talks of 2022 with a Meta director delved into the tantalizing possibilities of metaverses. No social network or other platform has the potential to transform the way we live more than these virtual environments. In the real estate world, the floor is open to creativity and experimentation. Artificial intelligence has the capacity to facilitate real estate sales and help market digital-native products. The leadership and direction of this technology has yet to be decided (Meta (formerly Facebook) and many other companies have thrown their hat in), but at the moment we can already witness flashes of innovation among firms in our sector. An example of this was the commercial event held by Solvia at the Solvia Store, opened by the company last summer in Decentraland, one of the most popular virtual spaces.
Technological integration
In an interconnected world, data have become strategic assets for making decisions and charting paths. Their capture, management and correct interpretation are increasingly crucial in business choices and creating predictive models. Companies that are still dragging along a stagnant, non-digitalized setup or mired in cumbersome programs that don’t integrate easily with other systems have everything to lose. New companies and applications are amply demonstrating how specialized and integrative technology can be used in concert with other software to cover the specific needs of a company and give them more leeway in their long-term growth. Moreover, it’s a philosophy that can be applied to any system or stage of digitalization. As founding partners of LORUM, the company behind the L4RE real estate ERP in partnership with SAP Business byDesign, Arum Group has seen how the adaptability and scalability of this product is proving to be its main asset to companies looking to better exploit their business data.
Data Marketing and Inbound
As noted above, working strategically with data – whether an ERP or another system – will determine which companies can take on complex challenges and adapt proactively to changes in the market. And once you have a data system that reliably delivers information, marketing actions are among those that benefit first. A thorough knowledge of your client and the context in which they make decisions will refine your Inbound Marketing strategies and allow you to make decisions based, not on intuition, but on data. In the tourism and destination investment sector, Arum has integrated HubSpot into our marketing and sales strategies, using the outcomes to help potential customers get the information they need, and providing indicators that validate action plans.
Aspiring to excel rather than simply survive should be the driving force behind our work, and this is even more obvious in an industry like real estate, where decisions must be agile and informed to become transformative. As experts constantly with an eye on real estate innovation, we like to look far beyond the present real estate trends to interesting future horizons and their myriad possibilities.
