IT and Real Estate Today

In our day and age, it is almost impossible to imagine a world without information systems and technologies. Although it took a little longer for the real estate industry to jump on board as quickly as other industries, it soon did and now reaps the benefits of information technology and its advancements. So many sectors and agencies make up the real estate industry that a network of constant information is necessary to conduct smoothly running businesses in coordination with other companies. A real estate project requires the attention of numerous agencies and companies that must combine their efforts to deal with different aspects of the job that pertain to their respective area of specialization. Real estate information must flow through a network consisting of municipal planners, real estate developers, appraisers, architects, builders, utility companies, building managers, contractors, bankers, brokers, etc. It is clear that all these firms have important relationships in the field of real estate. For instance, it is crucial that the builder and contractor of a particular project have a clear understanding of the architect’s plans, just as much as the utility company must be familiar with those same plans. Without this flow of information, it would be impossible for the builders and utility companies to do their jobs accurately in coordination with the project’s blueprints. Information technology (IT) plays its most important role here, as anyone involved in the real estate field needs similar information relevant to properties and site infrastructure.
Now that we have touched on the importance of information sharing, it is possible to discuss ways in which information technology has made this possible. For starters, even before a project has begun, locating and contacting the right clientele has become much less of a hassle due to new IT. The most obvious technological advancement utilized by the real estate field today is the internet. There are websites designed as online contractor finders, some that even act as bidding sites where contractors lists their service and price and developers bid for their work. In addition, real estate agencies, of course, use the internet to create sites to market their companies and post their listings for potential buyers to look at. There is an array of real estate listing sites, social networks, blog sites, and even viral sites open for use by all sorts of companies within the industry. Some real estate companies even make use of virtual assistants, which are advanced programs that can take care of web design, html, brochure layout, graphics design, document management, and more. The use of all the options IT has made available to the real estate industry has helped many companies improve accuracy, reduce operational costs, create more flexibility and exchange better information.