Properti Team
CEO and founder of Properti, Craig Deveson, sat down with editor Liam Garmin on an episode of the REB podcast to discuss AI development in the real estate industry and how simplifying systems for agents can lead to a wider reach, ahead of the REB Innovation Summit on 25 September.
According to Deveson, technology represents a significant opportunity for the real estate industry as a whole to jump forward.
With over 25 years of experience in technology and marketing, Deveson has worked for brands such as Google, REA and CoreLogic before launching start-up Properti in 2019.
According to Deveson, the real estate industry has been slow to adopt new technologies.
“I think in the past, the industry has solved problems in the past with people, not technology,” Deveson said.
While the implementation of technology needs to happen sooner rather than later, Deveson said that principals do not necessarily need to take charge of that themselves, but instead delegate.
“All they need to do is say, ‘I might not understand this but I am willing to invest in somebody internally or externally to bring that in’.”
Deveson said it is essential for agents and the industry as a whole to expand their reach through technology, even if it is done through a cautious and slow approach.
Deveson said a future where AI is drastically reducing admin roles is where the industry is likely headed.
“It will still be very agent focused with the technology which will probably replace some of the jobs in the middle,” Deveson said
Through his years of experience, Deveson identified industry inefficiencies and agent demand for a streamlined system, which led to the creation of Pria, an AI agent that delivers back end information through an accessible and straightforward interface.
“We believe that agents like to operate from a mobile and they would like to operate from a simple command.”
Deveson said Priya allows agents to engage with marketing on the fly, delivering an on-brand message quickly and aligning with their agency’s standards.
He said that at the moment, agents have been struggling to simplify their marketing and expand their social reach, limiting content and channels on which they advertise, ultimately restricting their opportunities.
“The problem we solve is that if you’re advertising just on one channel, you are missing out on people who are passive in the market, which we estimated to be around 40 per cent” Deveson said.
“They need something to prompt them.”
Additionally, Deveson said consistent social media presence builds a strong brand and can inspire passive participants to enter the market by showcasing appealing content.
“Consistency really stands out because people don’t make a buying or selling decision overnight,” Deveson said.
“It’s via referral or via watching what was happening in the market.
“They want to see how you interact, what your results have been and whether or not they like you and can work with you.”
According to Deveson, Properti’s AI-driven template-based system can cut content creation time by up to 90 per cent, streamline workflows and generate up to 10 times more leads than traditional portals.
“We can dramatically reduce the content creation time and the number of systems used within an office and a franchise.
“There’s some great results that can be achieved but overall, it’s that consistency, that reach and that on-brand consistency that wins out,” Deveson said.
Listen to the whole podcast here. Learn more about our AI assistant Pria here.