13 Examples of PropTech Solutions and Companies

Proptech is a combination of the words “property” and “technology” that implies the usage of technological advancements to create solutions for the real estate industry to accelerate the processes of renting, buying, selling, and management of buildings. Proptech companies specialize in developing and providing innovative solutions that make the real estate industry more efficient, transparent, and accessible.

Proptech solutions have taken the real estate market by storm with a substantial Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.3%. Even though many real estate companies are still watching and waiting, it seems like proptech has become a huge differentiator, especially for those who have just come to the customer-centric mentality.

Examples of PropTech:

• Property listing platforms and marketplaces like Zillow;
• Crowdfunding and fractional ownership platforms;
• Customer relationship management systems (CRM) for brokers;
• VR/AR proptech solutions;
• Property management solutions;
• AI tools for real estate investors;
• Access control systems.

Enabled by technology, such real estate trends redefine the centuries-old approaches to building, selling, renting, and investing in physical space and becoming the key factors of value in the market. In this article, you will overview property tech solutions that allow different real estate players to work smarter, invest time better, and concentrate on profit-generating activities instead of routine tasks.

Types of Proptech Solutions & Their Examples

We’ll cover solutions related to brokerage, transactions, property management, marketing, financing and more. Examples of both startups and established brands are provided.

1. Property Listing Platforms (Zillow)

Remember the good old days of scouring through newspaper classifieds and driving around neighborhoods with a trusty map? Well, those days are long gone, thanks to property listing platforms.

One of the earliest disruptors was Zillow, a property listing portal launched in 2006.

Zillow has all typical property listing platform functionality and beyond:

• Property listings
• Map search
• AI property search
• Filtering and sorting
• Property details and descriptions
• Visual representation of the property
• Mortgage calculator
• Home valuations
• Price and Public tax history
• Agent finder
• Tour requests and more.

Also, there is a new type of property platform focused on co-renting and co-living as a response to the global economic crisis. Allihoop and Common are great examples of mid-term marketplaces offering community living. These platforms are often referred to as Space as a Service.

2. Accommodation Booking Systems (Booking.com and Airbnb)

The set of functionalities is similar to property listing platforms, but not the same. For example, Airbnb, a distinct example of short-term accommodation booking system, prioritizes tailored search functionality, booking management for guests and hosts, detailed property listings, and social features fostering community interaction and trust. In contrast, Zillow specializes in long-term housing solutions, offering comprehensive property listings, tools for buyers, sellers, landlords, and real estate professionals, and community insights to aid in decision-making.

Accommodation booking systems come with:

• Search and filtering functionality
• Integrated payment systems
• Reservation management
• Booking confirmation
• Calendars
• Map views
• Property listings
• User profiles
• User reviews and ratings
• Customer support and more.

Booking.com and Airbnb

In the short-term rental space, Airbnb revolutionized the hospitality industry when it launched in 2008. It enabled individuals to list, find, and book unique homes, experiences, and places to stay. The latest Airbnb news informs about the new creative initiative – Icons. Now, Airbnb users can book a house from their favorite cartoons and immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the story. Homes from Disney and Pixar’s The Incredibles, Up, and Inside Out 2 are already available. You will not get a flying home, but an identical interior and 8000 balloons on the roof are guaranteed.

Booking.com offers a wide range of accommodations, including hotels, vacation rentals, and B&Bs, and allows users to search and compare prices, amenities, and reviews. Booking.com also transitioned from an accommodation-only platform to offering experiences, car rentals, restaurants, and travel services on its platform. This allowed travelers to plan entire trips on one platform.

3. Crowdfunding and Fractional Ownership Platforms (Fundrise)

The main benefits of fractional ownership and crowdfunding platforms are that they allow investors to diversify their portfolios and lower the entry bar to property investments. There are many types of crowdfunding and fractional ownership platforms, but they all have similar functionality.

Basic functionality of crowdfunding and fractional ownership platforms:

• User registration and authentication
• Project submission forms
• Legal compliance checks
• Investment management dashboard
• Property listings
• Sorting and filtering
• Maps
• Secure payment system
• Document management.

Fundrise

Fundrise is a legitimate real estate investment platform and one of the most popular real estate crowdfunding websites with more than 385,000 active individual investors. The platform provides access to a diversified portfolio of real estate projects, including equity, debt, and hybrid investments, and offers a range of benefits, such as low fees, liquidity, and tax benefits. Also, there is a mobile app so investors can monitor everything on the go.

Image Credits: Fundrise

4. AI Search and AI Recommendation Systems (OnTheMarket and Trulia AI)

The World Economic Forum survey shows that artificial Intelligence is in the top 5 technologies that are popular for adoption for the next five years. Many property marketplaces have already adopted AI for better user experience.

Among the most popular ones are AI search and recommendation systems which are both focused on enhancing the search experience. AI search is often based on NLP, but AI recommendation systems on machine learning. Both technologies have had a considerable positive impact on the quality of returned listings and the speed of the search overall.

OnTheMarket AI Search

United Kingdom property marketplace OnTheMarket has launched an AI search that leverages NLP and ML for faster and more convenient property searches for its users.

Choose the category “Buy” or “Rent” and start casually writing anything about your future accommodation. For example, a “2-bedroom apartment with a balcony near the green zone in London for short-term rent” would be enough.

Start the search. OnTheMarket AI Search analyzes your query, and extracts, and classifies information.

Then it redirects you to the OnTheMarket platform with suitable listings. All the filters are automatically applied.

Also, OnTheMarket integrated here its AI virtual assistant Otiem will enable AI voice search soon.

AI Seach | OnTheMarket

Trulia AI Recommendation System

AI recommendation systems rely on machine learning to process user data about their behavior patterns and preferences. Any interaction with the platform is a piece of the puzzle for AI. Instagram shows us ads and posts based on our prior actions; the same way modern recommendation systems identify which house we are more likely to choose.

Trulia’s AI is more discrete and elaborate than Instagram recommendations. Trulia AI recommendation system is unique because it’s based on leveraging computer vision rather than machine learning. Analyzing the photos in the listings, it can recognize things that users themselves tend to overlook, like preferring wooden floors instead of tiles.

5. AI Document Processing (Docsumo)

AI document processing in real estate implies using technologies like Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Machine Learning (ML), and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to identify, analyze, and transform data from documents. Artificial Intelligence helps to automate document creation, contract approval, document management, and storing.

AI document processing in real estate includes:

• AI document abstraction
• AI document generation
• AI document analysis
• AI document management

AI can process all types of documents circulating in real estate: lease agreements, sale contracts, scanned IDs of tenants and landlords, property deeds, property inspection reports, mortgage documents, etc.

Docsumo

Docsumo uses AI to recognize and extract relevant data from lease contracts and generate lease abstracts. Docsumo offers functionality for general documents and may misinterpret specific real estate documents. Our AI document processing solution has been finely tuned to the unique real estate needs and document types. For example, compared to manual lease abstracting, AI lease abstraction is less time-consuming and more accurate.

AI document processing process:

• The uploaded document is recognized by OCR technology to convert images, scans, or handwriting into editable text.
• ML and NLP analyze the document text and layout to identify the structure and highlight and extract the relevant information.
• The system generates a downloadable abstract, summary, or enhanced copy of the initial document.
• With AI data entry, necessary information from the document is exported to the organization’s CRM or other data and document management systems.

6. AI Property Valuation Tools (Zestimate)

AI property valuation is based on the combination of machine learning and automated valuation models (AVMs), or neural network models leveraging predictive analytics. Such tools are designed to decrease the need for expensive and time-consuming appraiser services. They analyze various sources of information about the property to return results as precise as possible.

Zestimate

Zillow is one of the most modern property marketplaces, so its features keep popping up on our list. Zillow was the first to introduce a full-fledged property valuation tool in 2006. Neural Zestimate uses AI to analyze huge chunks of data about property for the most relevant price results.

Zestimate, Zillow’s AI Property Valuation Software | Image Credits: Zillow

Many platforms like Redfin and Realtor.com have tried to implement AI property valuation systems, but nothing could beat the years of Zillow advancements. As of 2024, Zestimate has an error rate of under 2 per cent.

Zestimate analyzes:

• Property features
• Sales of comparable houses
• Historical sales data
• User-submitted data
• Market conditions and trends
• Tax assessments
• Neighborhood characteristics
• Listing and rental data

7. Virtual tours and Visualization (Getfloorplan)

Future homeowners heavily rely on the visual representation of the property and only then look into the listing description details. Interactive floor plans, VR, and virtual 3D tours are perfect options for creating truly immersive experiences for their potential clients. Also, a Zillow survey shows that 78-86% of sellers are more likely to hire an agent that includes virtual tours, interactive floor plans, and/or high-resolution photography peaks into the listing. So, adopting technologies for advanced viewing and imagery is highly beneficial for real estate agents.

Interactive floor plans, VR, and virtual 3D tours are AI proptech solutions that leverage computer vision to stitch photos to appealing environments. Also, those technologies are used for redesign when AI generates the interior and general image of the property.

Getfloorplan

Getfloorplan is an AI-based service used for a more appealing visual representation of the property. It utilizes artificial intelligence to create 2D and 3D floor plans and VR 360-degree tours for real estate properties.

Getfloorplan Demo | Getfloorplan

The service uses AI algorithms to analyze various data sources, such as property listings, floor plans, and 3D models, to achieve higher accuracy. This proptech solution identifies key features of a property, such as room dimensions, door and window locations, and stairwells, and uses this information to generate detailed floor plans and room designs. It is rather useful for showing perspectives of the newly built empty flat that has the potential to become a cozy home.

8. AI Assistants and Chatbots (Ask Redfin)

A real estate AI chatbot uses NLP technology to understand and respond to users 24/7. They understand user queries and respond to them like a human would.

AI assistants and chatbots in real estate are used for:

• Tenant Inquiry Management
• Instant Property Information
• Appointment Scheduling
• Booking and Reservations
• Automated Check-In/Out
• Customer Support and More.
• Redfin AI chatbot

Redfin is one of the most popular property marketplaces in the US and in March 2024 they launched their advanced AI chatbot, Ask Redfin. Redfin AI chatbot can provide users with necessary information about the property, upcoming open house, neighborhood, monthly homeowners association fees, market conditions, or what schools are in the district.

Redfin AI chatbot Ask Redfin | Image Credits: Redfin

For example, the user asks, “Can I build an ADU?” and the AI chatbot returns the data about zoning regulations in the area.

Another good example is Airbnb chatbot which will be extremely helpful for hosts to handle check-ins/outs and emergencies like a leaking roof or too loud neighbors.

9. Blockchain and Smart Contracts (SmartRealty)

Blockchain is considered the most secure approach to storing data. It is the most widely known for cryptocurrency trading and transaction tracking in FinTech applications. However, Blockchain capabilities are very compatible with the real estate industry, so many proptech solutions are based on this technology.

Blockchain in real estate can be used for:

• Tokenization of Real Estate Assets.
  Blockchain enables the digitization of real estate assets into tokens, which can be a basis for fractional ownership, making real estate investing more accessible
• Payments and Leasing.
  Blockchain makes payment processes between tenants, property owners, and investors secure, transparent, and fully online.
• Title Management and Land Registries.
  Blockchain blocks all the changes that are not approved by the network, so this is the most secure way of storing records of ownership, reducing the risk of fraudulent transactions.

Blockchain brings transparency to the process of buying property, as it helps owners keep their data safe. The entire process is encrypted, so there is no chance that anyone can step in and disrupt it

How SmartRealty Uses Smart Contracts

For example, the core part of the blockchain, smart contracts, lies in the basis of SmartRealty proptech solution. Smart contracts are not additional papers, but agreements that are written in code and execute automatically. If one of the terms is not met, the contract is terminated. SmartRealty uses smart contracts to enact and maintain rental agreements and property purchases.

Paying rent or establishing mortgages are regulated automatically with the company’s smart contracts. Landlords don’t waste countless hours to collect payments from tenants or terminate tenancies of those who are unable to pay. Meanwhile, tenants are confident in the automatic recovery of security deposits after moving out.

10. Customer Relationship Management Systems (AscendixRE)

The Customer Relationship Management system is a key software for any sales-related activities. Many companies still use Excel as a CRM tool, but they are bound to experience difficulties that more modern solutions solve.

Salesforce dominates the CRM market with its clouds but still does not have a tailored solution for the real estate industry. There are many Salesforce-based CRM systems for real estate, but particularly AscendixRE CRM is worth your attention.

AscendixRE offers:

• Deal Pipeline & Analytics
• Geomapping search
• Listing management and property tracking
• Capture Inbound Inquiries from LoopNet&CREXi
• Commission tracking
• Secure collaboration Rooms
• Mass emailing
• Integration with Outlook and Gmail
• CRE brochure builder
• Stacking plan module
• Concierge & CRM customization service

All the nuances that we’ve learned over the 16 years in commercial real estate have been incorporated into the functionality of AscendixRE CRM.

Who Can Benefit from PropTech Solutions

Like any other industry, real estate has several key players: owners, developers, investors, brokers, tenants, property managers, and lenders. Mastering online platforms at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic may have been a harder pill to swallow, but as soon as real estate professionals got used to it, they saw multiple opportunities for their businesses.

Owners

Owners can make their property more secure, comfortable, and sustainable with a combination of IoT, AI, and cloud technologies. Tools like access control systems, smart building platforms, and energy management solutions allow them to remotely monitor and optimize building performance. This helps attract and retain tenants while reducing operating costs.

Developers

With relevant data highlighting the process of construction and subsequent exploitation of the building, developers can create more reliable, well-maintained, and energy-efficient buildings. Various construction software, AI, 3D printing, and robotics technologies drastically accelerate the construction process. Having this data at the early stages ensures a higher return on investment later.

Investors

Investors are the first to win with the introduction of investment management solutions powered by blockchain technology in real estate. This technology is a great example of proptech solutions that facilitate the decentralization of monopolies and the elimination of middle links (servers) that are traditional bottlenecks in terms of secure buying and selling of a property. This way, transactions are completed faster and with no intermediaries involved.

Except for faster and more secure transactions, blockchain serves as a basis for proptech platforms specialized in fractional ownership (tokenized ownership and management of multi-party investments) and crowdfunding (decentralized fundraising platforms allow direct investment in private real estate).

Another aspect of real estate investments is leveraging data. Using traditional analytical methodologies, investors should keep a major focus on collecting and analyzing data. This may take years of market analysis and the loss of the best opportunities. That’s why there are so many AI tools for real estate investors that help them to manage their assets and make more informed decisions.

Among others, AI property valuation proptech solutions allow investors:

• Make faster and lower-risk investment decisions.
• Identify undervalued assets and market anomalies that may have been overlooked otherwise.
• Continuously monitor portfolio value and track macro as well as micro trends to guide buying/selling decisions.
• Dynamically assess the impact of expected future changes on current property prices through predictive analytics.

Brokers and Tenants

Brokers, traditionally, balance multiple operations at a time including lead generation and countless negotiations, email campaigns, etc. That’s why 35% of real estate agencies consider automation provided by proptech solutions in their processes while 61% are already relying on it in their routine work.

For example, brokers who use CRMs have drastically enhanced their operations and reportedly improved the level of satisfaction among their customers.

Tech-powered brokers can improve the process of:

• lead generation
• lead categorization
• email marketing
• negotiations
• opportunities tracking
• market analysis
• sales prediction

Custom CRM solutions, AR/VR, and various AI tools ensure more effective property listing and communication with clients for brokers. Meanwhile, buyers get a better user experience with user-friendly property platforms and integrated AI technologies.

Build Custom PropTech Solutions with Ascendix

There are plenty of ready-packed proptech solutions on the market. Real estate leaders, however, pick customized tools that provide the desired flexibility and the ability to invest precisely in what they need. With 16 years of experience in the real estate market, Ascendix provides custom proptech solution software development to acknowledged real estate market players like JLL.

Ascendix can assist you with:

• Custom proptech software development, including creating custom AI proptech solutions.
• Integrations. Whether it’s integrating existing solutions or developing custom features, we can help you integrate AI solutions or any other additional services to fit seamlessly into your existing software ecosystem.
• Consultancy. We can help you choose suitable proptech solutions or AI technologies taking into account your needs
• Technical Audit. Our team conducts audits of existing software tools, enhancing them with AI capabilities and other requested features.

Ascendix offers rich expertise in proptech software development, including AI-powered ones, and flexible engagement models. Contact us to improve and enrich your software with some new features to pivot fast in an ever-changing real estate market.