Tech Advancements in CRE Keep Projects on Schedule, Under Budget
Like any other industry, the CRE sector has been deeply transformed by the recent advancements in PropTech. These solutions can boost buyer confidence, help investors make better-informed decisions, and prevent costly mistakes.
But, even more importantly, new technologies have played a major role in helping businesses in the CRE sector overcome some of their most common challenges: budgeting and timeline issues.
In this guide, we’ll look at some of the technologies that have proven themselves to be real game changers in the CRE development and investment industries.
VR and Virtual Tours Boost Buyer Confidence
According to reports by Fannie Mae released in November 2022, buyer confidence levels have hit an 11-year low and, currently, only around 16% of potential buyers consider this to be a good time to invest in real estate.
On the other hand, for developers and CRE businesses battling with inflation, labor shortages, and lack of materials, it has never been more important to secure a return on investment.
Luckily, new technologies such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and virtual property tours can help CRE brokers build buyer confidence and secure the off-plan investments needed to keep up with the project’s schedule.
Data-Rich BIM Solutions Prevent Costly Mistakes
Modern Building Information Modelling (BIM) solutions are much more than a simple upgrade to traditional 3D models. Beyond simply rendering a building’s design, BIM solutions collect and organise all the critical data about a building and its lifecycle.
Some of the benefits of BIM technologies for the CRE development sector include:
- Minimising the risk of mistakes that can be extremely costly if addressed once the building’s construction is completed
- Preventing health and safety risks, as well as inefficiencies
- Optimising the available space
- Improving communication among the different parties involved
- Shortening the project’s lifecycle and managing milestones
- Ongoing monitoring of costs and stages
- Improving the project’s outcome and quality
Finance-Focused PropTech Can Assist Investors
Technology isn’t just transforming the construction industry, but it is also supporting the various stakeholders and participating entities in each CRE development project. In particular, finance-focused PropTech – including property and project searching platforms – has helped investors make better decisions when investing in real estate.
CRE Development Software Helps Reduce Costs
Macroeconomic fluctuations such as rising inflation and worsening shortages of materials and labor have caused the costs of CRE development projects to skyrocket.
According to JLL, this year businesses in the sector will see costs increase by an average of 4-7%, and they’ll need to deal with buyers whose budget has been stretched thin by the hardships of the past years.
It is possible to cut your projects costs with Northspyre and other CRE development software solutions that allow you to manage expenses, timelines, labor, and milestones from a single, user-friendly interface.
Communication Solutions Can Help Developers Coordinate Teams
Every CRE development project involves a myriad of stakeholders, agencies, professionals, contractors, and third-party service providers. And, often, project managers and developers find themselves liaising with multiple parties at once.
Thanks to new collaboration and remote communication platforms – including Asana and Monday -, CRE businesses can more easily coordinate teams and ensure that real-time and accurate data is immediately available to those who need it.
Property Management Systems Can Boost Returns and Occupancy Levels
Although the pre-development and construction phases of CRE development projects are considered to be the riskiest ones, it is important not to underestimate the challenges that the last stage of a project’s life cycle can bring on.
During the Operation step, a building is ready to be occupied, and project managers need to work with marketing agencies and real estate brokers to recoup their investment and maximise their revenue. However, stabilising a building’s occupancy levels to 90% or above can be challenging in today’s property market.
In this environment, CRE developers might benefit from partnering with property managers or using property management solutions that can streamline compliance, automate repetitive tasks, reduce labor costs, and boost occupancy.
Blockchain Can Streamline Property Transactions
Although blockchain is a technology still in its infancy, it has already transformed several industries, from the entertainment sector to the financial market.
In real estate, blockchain has the potential to streamline and secure transactions, facilitate the transfer of ownership, and cut the costs and timeframes involved with the buying or selling of properties. While blockchain adoption levels in CRE are still low, the increased affordability and efficiency of blockchain-based solutions have made them a must-have for all CRE businesses projected into the future.