Tech Won’t Replace Lenders And Brokers, But It Will Change The Way They Do Business
Twenty years ago, brokers and lenders held the keys to the most important real estate information and loan data. Their expertise helped bridge the gap between the property buyer and property seller. Brokers were hired based on how much insight they had into a market.
Now that fintech has entered the equation, the CRE industry has started turning to digital alternatives in order to access real estate data and learn about more loan options. While data has become more accessible than ever, personal engagement is still the most important component of a successful transaction.
“The human side of the lending process will always be necessary,” Eastern Union Managing Director and co-founder Abe Bergman said. “Every deal has a story, and needs an experienced professional behind it to advise how to properly structure the deal for each particular situation.”
Emotional intelligence is critical to building business relationships. To decode a complex transaction, banks and brokers need to understand the specifics of the deal. There is an element to these transactions that cannot be replaced or achieved by a computer, code or automation.
In today’s increasingly competitive business environment, service companies have to manage relationships while adapting to new technology solutions to remain relevant and gain market share. While the commercial real estate industry continues to embrace relationships, it has also begun to understand how technology and big data can improve the bottom line.
“2018 is a tipping point for data in the CRE industry,” Reonomy CEO and co-founder Richard Sarkis said. “We’re blown away with how quickly firms are embracing data.”
Commercial real estate mortgage brokerage firm Eastern Union invested millions of dollars in order to leverage data and develop real-time technology to help the CRE industry do more deals.
In order to bring its vision to reality, Eastern Union recently unveiled its updated user experience via a new website and updated app, both of which are powered by thousands of CRE sales brokers from throughout the country. The website application and customized AI streamlines the acquisitions process, thereby optimizing national deal flow.
Users can type in any address that immediately loads a market-specific map with comps and listings in that area. Below the map, the interface features the names and contact information of the most active brokers in the area, as well as Eastern Union's banking representatives, who can help make introductions and facilitate deals.
“The new easternunion.com was an intuitive and fortuitous experience,” said Alexander Lange from ABP Capital. “I created an account, inputted our lending criteria and got a deal moments later.”
As new technology continues to transform the real estate industry, it is changing the way brokers and lenders do business. More traditional brokerage firms have begun the process of evaluating and adopting new digital tools to gain market share.
“We believe that sharing open data will level the playing field for the entire industry,” Eastern Union President and co-founder Ira Zlotowitz said. “The advancements of the new Eastern Union website and app are not intended to be an industry disruptor. Rather, they are meant to be a business facilitator to be more efficient and profitable.”
It looks like robots won’t be taking over commercial real estate — at least, not yet. Until then, Eastern Union’s data engine will provide access into the CRE information landscape, adding value to all types of users within the transactional life cycle.
This feature was produced in collaboration between Bisnow Branded Content and Eastern Union. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.
