I explored and conversed with tons of real estate tech pioneers on the floor at Inman Connect New York. Some significant innovations are hitting the industry, and I’m excited about how they’re making life easier for agents and leveling the playing field. Here are some of my favorite real estate technology companies from the conference to watch for in 2024.
The Close’s Top Picks for Real Estate Technology Companies
| Real Estate Tech Company | What They Offer |
|---|---|
| NEO | Listing service exclusively for new construction |
| Lofty | Voice AI that engages with your leads |
| Final Offer | Visibility on offers submitted on listings |
| Localize AI | AI plus human engagement to work lead from capture to close |
| Sphere | Virtual walkthrough videos created with your iPhone |
| HomeHQ.ai | AI assistance on listing marketing to improve closing rates |
| Offrs ROOF | AI that integrates with your existing syste |
| Broker Blocks | Intuitive assistance once the lead is hot |
1. NEO (New Estate Only)
NEO is a listing service exclusively for new construction. It allows more sustainable marketing for property developers. Plus, it opens up the market to the international community. One thing about the multiple listing services agents currently use is it’s not an ideal setup for new construction. The days on market tend to hurt new construction as they languish in a system prioritizing the most recent listings. This real estate tech company showcases the listings’ unbuilt features instead of focusing on how long the home has been waiting for a buyer.
Why NEO is on Our List
One of the coolest features of NEO is its ability to allow investors to use Bitcoin at the point of sale in the transaction. That opens many doors for home buyers from countries where Bitcoin is much more prevalent than in the U.S. I definitely see this as a real estate tech trend coming in the near future.
2. Lofty
Formerly Chime, Lofty is looking to dominate the all-in-one space, and it might have the chops to do so. Lofty is an all-in-one exclusive platform, known in the tech world as a walled garden. It now offers voice AI for phone conversations with your clients and leads. It’s scary and exciting at the same time.
Why Lofty is on Our List
The Voice AI is a new feature launched ahead of Inman Connect New York. It receives real-time phone calls and interacts with leads and clients like a personal assistant. I learned it can make outbound calls, as well. So, when you need to contact a client about an upcoming inspection or set a showing appointment, you can relay that to your Lofty AI. That is wild!
3. Final Offer
Final Offer is a real estate tech company that keeps everything in a transaction open to sellers, buyers, and agents. Agents will have some control over how much people see on the platform. Still, when a home is on the market and receives an offer, the software will notify everyone interested in the listing that an offer has been submitted.
Why Final Offer is on Our List
While talking with the ladies at the Final Offer booth, I couldn’t help but think that their product will become ubiquitous in the coming year. It creates a level of transparency that hasn’t ever existed in this space. And with the latest in buyer commissions, the distrust between buyers and agents, and lawsuits making their way through the courts, this could quickly quell some of the chatter. I can see real estate associations adding this kind of software to their menu of benefits to justify those Realtor association dues. And keep an eye out for more real estate tech companies entering this field with myriad ways to elucidate transactions.
4. Localize AI
Localized AI lives within the Localize OS family of services. It combines the power of AI for lead nurturing and follow-up with actual human interaction. The AI, Hunter, will immediately interact with a lead upon capture. But if the lead asks a question the AI doesn’t know the answer to, it refers them to someone, a live human, who can answer it. That person has a strong incentive to help agents get a client to closing by claiming a chunk of the commission.
Why Localize AI is on Our List
I see the value of Localize AI, but it seems like an overreach to charge agents each month for this service and then take a 15% commission at the end of the transaction. Localize AI could be a major contender in the real estate tech company space, I just hope they get rid of the 15% referral fee.
5. Sphere
With Sphere, agents can use their iPhones to take a video of a listing. Then, Sphere will create an immersive walkthrough video for a fraction of the price of Matterport. It’s a new real estate tech company that could be a serious game changer for agents. We, as agents, know the value of a virtual walkthrough in our listings, but paying for a Matterport tour is expensive.
Why Sphere is on Our List
I really enjoyed seeing Sphere in action! I love that Sphere could make this technology more accessible to agents who may not have the budget for the Matterport cameras. Sphere makes it super easy–all you need is your iPhone. The only caveat is that you can only use an iPhone 12 or later model. I only have an iPhone 11, so it didn’t work on my phone. But my coworker, Nick Thomas, has an iPhone 13, so it worked perfectly on his. If Sphere can roll this out soon, I can see them ranking as one of the top real estate tech companies of 2024.
6. HomeHQ.ai
The way HomeHQ.ai works is each agent and listing gets an individual AI bot. So, when a lead pulls up a listing, a chatbot pops up to represent the agent on the listing. The lead receives a friendly greeting, “Hi, I’m [agent’s name}’s AI assistant, and I’m here to answer questions about {listing address}. So, the lead knows it’s an AI bot, but the AI assistant engages in a conversation about the listing to help answer questions.
Why HomeHQ.ai is on Our List
I was impressed with this real estate tech company. It’s not widely available yet, but it can be huge for agents once it gains traction. The thing I loved the most about HomeHQ.ai is the ability to analyze the marketing for the listings and then offer advice on how to improve it. I couldn’t stop reading the AI suggestions in the easy-to-read dashboard. The company designed the dashboard so the broker can see every listing and know what needs to happen to get the listing closer to being sold.
7. Offrs ROOF
What Offrs has that other AI chatbots don’t is that RAIA can engage in conversation with leads, summarize and score every interaction, and seamlessly integrate with existing systems sets. RAIA seamlessly integrates with your current system, feeds leads into your existing CRM, and identifies ones that need immediate attention. These features streamline the process from capture to close.
Why Offrs ROOF is on Our List
I love that Offrs lets you build the system you want with tools you already love. There are tons of walled gardens out there. But for the agents who have been with their current tools a long time, transferring your entire database to another system is a lot more trouble than it’s worth. And that’s not including all of the expertly crafted drip campaigns created over time. For those agents, accessing a powerful AI lead nurturing tool that easily integrates with your existing systems is pure gold. Check out our Offrs review for more information.
8. Broker Blocks
Broker Blocks scrapes thousands of breadcrumbs about your leads so you can provide a tailored experience as they make their way through your sales funnel. Agents can even send the most appropriate and likely-to-be-loved closing gifts based on the person’s personality, hobbies, likes and dislikes, etc. Say goodbye to generic closing gifts and hello to personalized gifts that indeed leave a lasting impression.
Why Broker Blocks is on Our List
Broker Blocks is still in development, but I had a chance to sit down with one of the founders, who showed me how it works. There are two things I love about what this tech does. First, it picks up in the middle of the sales process and guides agents and their clients through to the end of the transaction. It focuses on the point in the sale funnel where the lead is already hot and gives touchpoints for the agent to perform throughout the rest of the process. I love this because no one else is doing it.
The second thing I love is that it standardizes the process and does the heavy lifting mentally for agents. I can’t even begin to calculate the hours I spent trying to decipher what type of closing gifts would delight my clients. Data that tells me what my clients would like and what would be an appropriate amount of money to spend would have been priceless to me as an agent.
Your Take
One of my favorite things is attending conferences like Inman Connect New York and talking to the people behind some amazing real estate tech companies. I love seeing their faces light up as they explain how their tech will help agents in the field. I got to shake hands with these innovators and see their technology in action.
These are just a few of the cutting-edge top real estate tech companies I got to check out this time around. But it’s by no means an exhaustive list. Did you attend ICNY 2024? Did you see some cool stuff I missed? Let me know in the comments!
Tell us about you so we know what to send.
Add comment