I try to review lots of different real estate software tools here on Hooquest. And I do my best to shoehorn those tools into a category.

But some technologies in the real estate industry are just too unique or special to know exactly what to call them. I still want to show them some respect, though, and share some of the coolest miscellaneous real estate tools I’ve encountered.

Restb.ai

Restb.ai is a small Spanish company, of all places, that is making a splash in real estate.

The tool uses artificial intelligence image recognition to tag photos. For example, it can recognize granite counters instead of formica just from the pictures.

This kind of technology has numerous potential applications. You can search homes by qualities in the photos instead of what the agent may or may not have filled out.

AVM tools can use it to scalably identify home amenities and the proper adjustments for those amenities.

It can be linked up with natural language software to automatically generate listing descriptions.

Or it can be used to dynamically generate Facebook ads based on identifying the kinds of homes users have liked in the past.

The applications are nearly endless!

Earnnest

Earnnest is a company founded in 2017 and eager to make delivering the earnest money and option fee on time a breeze.

That was personally one of the biggest pain points in my experience as an agent – especially as an investor-friendly agent in a military community. Many home buyers were out of town investors or overseas military. Getting earnest money deposited within the required 3 days was always miserable.

Enter Earnnest!

Here’s the founder, Rick Altizer, presenting the product earlier this year.

It’s PayPal for real estate!

How many times have you had clients who don’t even have a checkbook? Their bank does not have a physical location on-site to get cashiers checks. It’s just shocking how backwards this corner of our industry is.

With buy-in from franchises and title companies, I am hopeful that Earnnest catches on and can replace the current clunky system.

Stambol Studios

Is VR going to be a thing or not?

I don’t know how big it will be, but it’s definitely going to be a thing. Especially in the commercial sector.

If virtual reality in real estate intrigues you as a way to make you and your business stand out from the crowd, Stambol Studios is your destination.

They have tools for augmented reality virtual staging.

You can take a look for yourself on their Android and iPhone apps, or with your Facebook Oculus.

Imbrex

Previously called RexMLS, Imbrex is a blockchain company that very well may be the future of MLSs.

Unlike other MLSs, it is an open data system that actually pays you to submit your listings

The model includes a cryptocurrency component, but the real value is the decentralization of real estate data.

Perhaps their biggest challenge is user adoption. But they’re working hard at that, signing on brokerages and builders.

And it’s not just America. As a decentralized MLS, it is truly a “global MLS”. They will be an interesting one to watch to see if it’s capable of changing the way agents do business.

dashCMA

There’s a noticeable shortage of quality CMA software. The MLSs’ native CMA tools are lackluster – and that’s being generous. Third-party tools are few and often expensive.

That’s why it’s delightful to see a new entrant into this space! Founded in 2018, dashCMA has already made a splash as an Inman Innovators Award Finalist in 2019.

It includes a free trial, so there’s no reason not to take it for a spin and see if it could improve your CMA game.

It is not as feature-rich as its established competitor Cloud CMA, but it does have comparably good UI and is cheaper.

PhotoPerfect App

PhotoPerfect App is another one who made the rounds at Inman Connect in 2019 and made a good impression.

You probably should be using professional photographers already. They have the professional equipment that will present your home in the best light online (literally).

But if you’re a real estate agent using your camera for listing photos – or perhaps even promotional photos – this app takes it to the next step.

The promise DSLR quality photos and you can edit photos in the app after the picture.

It’s available on Android and iOS.

Agent NEO Pro

Voice search is the next big thing!

I’ve been hearing about this a lot. I personally despise talking to machines. I prefer to push 1 for yes and 2 for no than speaking aloud.

And even to the extent that voice is useful, I’m not sold that it’s that useful in real estate marketing.

But I’ve been wrong before.

If you disagree with me, then you’ll want to check out Agent Neo Pro.

Folks can make apps for voice search technology like Alexa. And that is exactly what Agent NEO does for real estate.

Google and Amazon even run paid ad campaigns for voice, now. I was cold-called by a salesperson just last month for an ad.

Go ahead. Try asking Alexa who the top real estate professionals in your town are. Last time I did, three local agents I know personally were mentioned by name.

Conclusion

Hopefully these were some fun out-of-the-box and thought-provoking innovations in real estate to read about! There’s a lot of cool stuff to make your business stand out other than drip campaigns, email and text marketing, making a landing page, and working social media.

I don’t recommend spending money on any of these unless it is aligned very closely with one of your main prospecting pillars and integral to your lead generation and customer service. Make sure you have the basics down and are making money before you spend on extras. Earnnest and PhotoPerfect App are perhaps exceptions.