How to Build Impactful Real Estate Software Tools in 2023

Impactful real estate software tools leverage the power of technology to drive efficiency and maximize profits for real estate professionals. As technology advances, the potential for sophisticated and effective tools increases. 

To stay competitive in 2023, real estate professionals must take advantage of these new opportunities. Luckily, the PropTech industry has made considerable strides in the past few years, making building impactful real estate software tools easier than ever.

Aloa is a managed service provider with solutions that focus on outsourced software development, and our experience in working with real estate businesses allows us to provide the best customized real estate software solutions for your specific needs. Our solutions are tailored to match the unique nature of real estate software. Our tools consist of features that will maximize value and empower your business.

At Aloa, we understand that creating impactful real estate software tools requires understanding how to leverage technology to its fullest potential. In this blog, we'll go through the basics you need to know in building an impactful real estate software solution, how to get started, what features to consider, and the benefits of outsourcing the development of your software.

Afterward, you'll understand how to build impactful real estate software tools in 2023.

Let's get started!

What Are Real Estate Software Tools?

Real estate software tools help manage a real estate business or property, including anything from listing management software to property analytics, financial and legal documents, and more. For these software tools to be practical, they must be tailored to the specific needs of an individual company or portfolio.

Depending on your business needs, these tools can include advanced features such as automated listing services, document filing systems, or even AI-powered analytics. The possibilities are endless; each business must determine what works best for them.

Such software tools aim to streamline processes, save time, and increase accuracy across the board. As technology becomes more advanced and sophisticated, so will the tools available to help with real estate management. 

Building impactful real estate software tools requires a thorough understanding of the technology and how it can be used to improve business operations.

Getting Started: Building Impactful Real Estate Software Tools in 2023

Building real estate software tools is a decisive process that leads to an effective solution that meets specific business needs. The software should be scalable to accommodate future technology advancements and expand as needed. 

To achieve the goals you've set out for the software tool, you'll need to go through several steps, from identifying the needs of your target audience to choosing the right technology stack and development partner. Before you dive into creating the software, make sure to outline the following prerequisites. 

‍These prerequisites include:

• Features you want to have in the software.
• A detailed understanding of your target audience.
• The overall goal for what you want to accomplish with the software.

Once you have these prerequisites in place, it's time to start building your real estate software tool. Taking into account these steps enables you to create an effective and impactful real estate software tool that meets your business needs:

Step 1: Explore and Vet Potential Development Partners

When building any software tool, exploring and vetting potential development partners is a must. The right software development partner will help you create the best possible version of your software tool and ensure it will bring maximum value to your business.

In terms of how to go about establishing the right team of developers, you have two main options to consider: in-house or outsourced software development. 

In-house software development entails building an internal team of developers responsible for developing and maintaining the software. This is an excellent option if you have the resources to invest in hiring and training a team of developers. However, this route requires more financial investment upfront and can take longer to implement due to having a smaller team.

The second option is outsourcing your software development needs. Outsourced software development allows you to work with a third-party team of developers with the necessary expertise and resources to develop your software tool quickly and cost-effectively. This is an excellent option for businesses looking to build sophisticated tools in a shorter time frame without investing heavily in an internal development team.

Either way you choose, properly vet and screen your team to ensure they can help you achieve your goals. Once you've settled on a solution or outsourced team to work with, you can begin the formal process of developing your real estate software tool.

Step 2: Design and Develop Your Software Tool

Starting the design and development of real estate software tools is when the rubber meets the road. The process should begin with the design phase, which involves outlining the features that will be included and how they will be implemented (UX/UI). You can use the initial features you identified when drafting your prerequisites here.

Usually, your development team can provide additional ideas and inputs or work with you to find the best ways to incorporate your desired features into the software. Apart from the features, the design phase will also take you through the process of deciding on the technology stack you'll use for development, such as languages and frameworks.

While each software development professional or team may recommend a specific technology stack, it's best to research and settle on one that fits your project needs. Work closely with your chosen team in finalizing the features and the technology stack, as this will be instrumental in ensuring a successful development process.

Once that is settled, it's time to move on to the actual development phase. During this stage, you'll work closely with your team to ensure everything goes according to plan and that all features are implemented correctly.

Step 3: Closely Monitor Testing and Launch

After creating a minimum viable product (MVP), you and your development team should perform testing and debugging to ensure the software functions properly. Testing and debugging should be done internally and externally, with key stakeholders or third parties giving their input on how the product works.

Testing your real estate software tool entails using processes like A/B testing, unit testing, and system integration tests. This is a critical step in the development process as it will ensure any potential bugs or errors are ironed out before the software launch. Performing these tests increases confidence that your software tool is ready for launch.

When launched, it's important to note that launching does not mean a final product. Instead, it is just one of many steps in improving and refining the tool over time.

Step 4: Release Your Software Tool and Monitor Performance

After you've tested and debugged your software tool, it's ready to be released into the wild. Before releasing it, ensure that all stakeholders are on board with the features and performance of the tool — this will provide a smoother launch process.

Make sure to incorporate performance monitoring mechanisms into your post-launch process. Establishing a performance monitoring plan will help you identify any potential issues that arise after the tool is released and track overall performance and usage metrics. 

By closely monitoring the performance of your real estate software tool, you'll be able to make updates and adjustments quickly should any issues or user feedback become apparent.

Step 5: Increase Awareness and Accelerate Adoption

Launching your real estate software development tools also means increasing awareness and accelerating its adoption in the industry. You can use various marketing and promotional tactics to drive awareness and adoption, such as content marketing, social media promotion, email campaigns, and influencer outreach.

It's also essential to ensure that your software tool is accessible to all stakeholders in the real estate industry and that it is optimized for mobile use. Mobile optimization makes it easier for potential users to access the software tool wherever and on their devices.

With a strong marketing plan to increase awareness of your software tool, you'll see better adoption rates and more users over time.

Essential Features of Real Estate Software

Impactful real estate software must include essential features that make it easier for the targeted user to navigate, control, and utilize the tool. Depending on your specific needs, these features can vary greatly. 

Here are some of the key features to consider when building an impactful real estate software tool:

Client Side Features:

For real estate software tools that focus on the client side, it's essential to have a seamless UX/UI design that makes the tool easy to use. These features make working with and communicating with your business or realtors a more straightforward process:

• Profile Creation: Client-side users should be able to create and manage a personal profile with ease. Profile creation can include options to log in securely, set preferences, and access details for future reference.
• Search Functionality: An excellent search function should allow clients to quickly browse properties according to their specific needs, such as location, size, price range, etc. You can also include property comparison features to let clients view multiple properties.
• Property Viewing: Clients need to be able to quickly view properties online and have access to detailed information about the property, such as photos, videos, maps, and descriptions.
• Lead Capture and Follow-Up Tools: A lead capture tool helps you track potential leads, while follow-up tools enable you to stay in touch with them easily.
• Real-Time Notifications: Notifications can be sent automatically to stay in touch with your clients and update them on the latest developments.

Agent and Brokerage Side Features:

For real estate software tools directed at the agent and brokerage side, it's essential to have features designed to help manage portfolios, analyze data and track KPIs. This includes the following features:

• Property management and analytics: For real estate software tools that focus on the property side, it's critical to have features such as comprehensive property analysis, listing management, and performance tracking. These features make tracking properties over time and monitoring their performance easy.
• Multiple Listing Service (MLS) Management System: A listing management system allows you to easily manage listings and quickly update information with just a few clicks. This also helps in tracking property performance over time.
• Workflow and Process Automation: Automating repetitive tasks and processes can help streamline your workflows. This includes automating email campaigns, task management, and more.
• Document Management and Tracking: Document management and tracking help real estate teams to track documents related to contracts and monitor transaction management efforts. By using document processing, real estate teams can free up time to focus on more strategic tasks, such as building relationships with clients and closing deals.
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM): A real estate CRM platform makes managing and tracking interactions with your clients easy. With it, you can tailor your communications based on their needs and quickly access customer information and preferences. Some CRM solutions also enable professionals and businesses to conduct lead generation through managing new leads using marketing automation capabilities like email marketing, text messaging, sms verification service, and digital marketing.
• Marketing Automation: Creating marketing campaigns for social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter all require time and effort to create. A Marketing automation feature in your real estate software tools can significantly streamline this process. With marketing automation, you can schedule and automate your social media posts across multiple platforms, saving you valuable time and effort.

Property Management Features

Apart from client, agent, and brokerage features, real estate software tools also cater to property managers. PropTech companies have developed software tools to help property managers with maintenance requests, landlord-tenant communication, and more. These features include:

• Maintenance Request Management System: A maintenance request system allows tenants or renters to easily submit requests and track progress. Such a system helps property managers track repairs, stay on top of deadlines, and respond to tenants promptly.
• Landlord-Tenant Communication System: Communication features enable seamless transactions between landlords and tenants, making it easier for both parties to quickly communicate about issues related to the property.
• Automated Document Generation and Filing: Managing property entails handling many documents, such as lease agreements and contracts. Automating the process of document generation and filing can help property managers save time and increase efficiency.

Factors To Consider When Building Real Estate Software Tools

Considering the essential features of modern real estate software development tools, there are still a few additional considerations to consider when building your own tool. These include:

Scalability

As usage grows, it's essential to ensure your software can handle many user operations without disruptions or slowdowns. Scalability also means ensuring your developed solution remains flexible enough to accommodate new features and technologies over time. Ideally, your scalability plan will account for potential growth in user base, data volume, and more.

Scalability also includes planning for future innovations, such as creating a mobile app version of your real estate tools or adding additional features that enhance your real estate agent software solution. These scalability considerations make it more likely that you'll reel in potential clients that use your platform to perform key day-to-day operations.

Security

Security is the most essential aspect of any software development project. It's important to ensure your tool can protect sensitive property information and communication from unauthorized access or hacking attempts. Data encryption, authentication measures, and user rights management - all these features must be considered when building a secure real estate software tool.

Remember, referrals, client contact information, and property pricing details are valuable assets for real estate professionals. Therefore, it is crucial to prioritize the security of your software to build trust with your users and protect their confidential information.

Regulatory Requirements

Depending on the country, region, or industry that you're targeting, there may be certain regulatory requirements or standards that you need to adhere to. This includes guidelines such as EPRA for Europe and the NAR for the United States. Ensure your tool complies with these regulations while providing a great user experience.

Integration Capabilities

Integrating capabilities into your tool make it easier for you to connect with other services and platforms. This includes integrating with real estate CRM software tools, payment gateways, and lead nurturing pipelines similar to Salesforce. Integration capabilities can also enable data exchange between software systems, such as accounting or customer support.

Aside from integrating with other software tools, your ideal real estate solution will allow you to integrate various data sources. This means seamlessly importing property listings from multiple listing services (MLS), gathering market data from reliable sources, and integrating with popular real estate websites and portals.

User Experience

Last, the user experience is critical regarding real estate software tools. An intuitive and engaging UI design will help make your tool more attractive to potential customers. Focus on creating a smooth user experience with clear navigation and visual elements that are easy to understand.

Key Takeaway

Real estate software tools are becoming increasingly important today as they provide businesses with a competitive edge in the market. The features and capabilities of these software tools enable businesses and professionals to enhance their industry reach and create avenues for growth.

Incorporating the right solution also allows users to establish a unique competitive advantage that sets them apart from other key players in the industry. Taking the time to properly conceptualize, build, and launch top-notch real estate software tools in 2023 can help your business stay ahead of the competition and unlock its potential for success.

Now more than ever, businesses recognize the importance of custom-made real estate software tools. For more information on getting started, reach out to resources@aloa.co, where you can gain valuable digital expertise and strategic foresight into current industry trends.