Out of the box

The human element and technology in the real estate sector

Ismail Al Hammadi

March 22 2022

The Dubai market and real estate companies are currently focused on exploiting the highest levels of technological development to serve the real estate sector.

This focus has fueled technological companies that are witnessing an expansion in the market, which suggests more future developments in the field of "real estate technology", which cannot be overlooked as it has greatly contributed to raising the level of transparency in the sector, and has led to the development of pre-examinations and predictions about real estate, investors and the market in general.

Dubai was a pioneer in this field, and will continue to be a pioneer in the future, to replicate its experience in neighboring markets, but can the sector absorb this huge amount of technological development, and dispense with the traditional habits that have had a significant impact on the sector’s success so far?

I am surprised by those who tell me that there is an investor who signed a deal to buy a real estate unit as soon as he saw its pictures on a social media platform, or took a virtual tour inside the property, the method that is currently adopted by most development companies to reach the dealers, and I challenge those who prove this.

If buying a car requires you to move to the agency’s headquarters and see it on the ground and try it out before buying it, how about a property that you will live in or invest in to bring you profits, while you pay huge amounts of money and all your life savings?!

The use of technology in promoting real estate does not and does not dispense with the inspection of the property on the ground, and it will not dispense with face-to-face meetings with the seller, or the broker to complete the transaction, no matter how the virtual tours develop.

No matter how skilled the photographers are in capturing the shooting angles, and making the appropriate adjustments to them, to show the property in the best way, it will not show the state of the property as it is in reality.

Technology has contributed to raising the quality of the interior design of the property, and has also supported the real estate sector in expanding and spreading, and helped define the real estate market and highlight its features more to those who are ignorant of it.

Technology has contributed to facilitating the completion of real estate transactions and providing answers to common legal questions about the sector, but it would not have succeeded in achieving sales deals without the presence of the human element, which has the greatest role in persuading the customer of the advantages of the real estate unit, its location, and its investment future.

It would not have succeeded without the presence of soldiers in secret who are doing their best to enhance the value of the sector and its global competitiveness.

Advanced technology has facilitated many things, but it has not erased human cooperation from existence, because humans by nature prefer to deal with human beings like themselves, who understand their intention and what they want.

No matter how much the work of the “virtual assistant” develops, it will not replace the human assistant, and we have several examples in our daily dealings.

The human element is the most important tributary to the activity of the real estate sector, and technology is a auxiliary tool, no matter how advanced it is. Therefore, exaggerating its use and excluding the human element may tip the scales of things, and here we must deal with caution in its use and method of employment.

• Exaggeration in the use of technology and the exclusion of the human element may turn things around.

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