How Platforms are Transforming the Real Estate Sector

Platforms have profoundly changed our entire way of life. Think Google. Think Uber. Think Facebook… Amazon… Twitter... AirBnB… Virtually every travel website and countless others. All “platforms”.

LinkedIn is the platform most of us in business use to stay connected to other professionals. Although it seems that they are moving away from the platform model to offer more products and services, but I could be wrong.

When I talk about platforms, I personally think of them as any kind of framework for two sides of a transaction/service/content to connect. The companies mentioned above don’t really create or build anything themselves. One could argue that even Apple is a platform in the sense that it built the APP Store and countless number of businesses were built on top of it.

It’s all part of the “connected revolution”. The biggest tech trends to come will also be built on platforms utilizing Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality.

It is safe to say that the platform revolution is upon us and fully integrating itself into every aspect of our business and personal lives. But how will this trend transform the real estate industry? And in particular, the commercial real estate industry?

First, let's assume a couple of really impactful things will happen in the sector from a technology perspective….

1) All data, content and information will be shareable and open.

2) The industry will eventually fully embrace tech once it sees that business can be done faster, smarter and generate better results as a byproduct.

3) Individual company and professionals' websites (as we know them) will eventually be rendered obsolete. Everything will be shared on other larger, uber platforms.

Therefore, it’s not to hard to see that the platform will be what ultimately emerges and dominates the sector from a technology point of view. In my opinion, the sites that will win and “own” the space will be the ones that most efficiently match as many sides of a transaction as possible. When a buyer can find a seller… When a marketer can find a prospect…  When a developer can find a contractor… When a service professional can find a client… those are all of the search queries and connections that the winning platform will serve up!

Of course there will always be amazing products that will be built and take off. I think VR is going to be a game changer, for instance. But the platform will be something that EVERYONE will use.

Some of the platforms will be open. And some will be private like Brevitas (which I have written about previously on my own blog). My prediction would be that we will start to see the industry dominated by individual platforms that:

• help you get only the news you want - The News Funnel

• market a property - Brevitas

• manage vendors/contractors and workflow - Honest Buildings

• get market comps - Compstak

• get access to accurate availability data - RealMassive

• or get information on your own listings with sites like VTS and Hightower.

That is all happening now!

And then ultimately, there will be ONE platform. The “Google of commercial real estate”. Many of these amazing platforms will be rolled up in some capacity or they will grow individually with multiple solutions on them. The killer platform.

That’s what will dominate the CRE space, in my humble opinion.