Technology makes big promises. In many industries outside of residential real estate, it has made huge, market-making and -driving impacts.

A slew of innovations, from online ticketing, short-term rentals such as Airbnb, and companies like Uber and Lyft have forever changed the travel industry. We can also witness the results of lack of investment in technology with recent storm-related travel challenges at Southwest Airlines. Sorry Southwest: While I love your airline, you will now forever be a business case study for technology underinvestment.

Similarly, technology has massively changed retail commerce, with twenty-first century giants like Amazon changing the patterns of daily consumer behavior, and a new slew of e-commerce companies like Shopify, Etsy, and others that enable boutique clothing, coffee roasters and novelty hat makers to engage with consumers with no storefront – and in some cases – no inventory.

The entertainment industry, too, has experienced the revolution. Movie theaters, cable networks, video rental companies – all have been upended and transformed. In July 2022, streaming video became the number one way consumers watch video, beating out cable television for the first time ever. The impact of streaming technology and AI even has writers and actors on strike – demonstrating the power these changes in consumer technology
are having.

And along comes the real estate industry.