The Compass smart sign by brokers Mike and Marta.Compass
Mike Davis and Marta Maletz make up the real estate team of Mike and Marta at Compass Real Estate in New York.
Davis says that when he started in real estate fifteen years ago, print was the holy grail for selling New York City real estate.
“It was the NY Times Sunday Real Estate section and the Village Voice, and ten years ago, the top 10 brokerages started launching sophisticated-looking websites featuring a sale in the carousel display on the home page,” said Davis. “Five years ago, non-broker aggregator websites like Zillow became popular because they consolidated listings and today, information is literally back in the hands of the consumer.”
“Real estate sales now rely on mobile apps with cutting-edge design and functionality, real-time data, streamlined communication tools, property analytics, branding, and marketing,” said Davis.
In 2018, Compass drew a line in the sand and turned the traditional real estate ‘for sale” sign into a smart sign. Working with New York-based industrial design firm Aruliden, they developed round smart signs and rolled out 550 of them to select agents like Mike & Marta.
The Compass smart signs light up whenever anyone or anything moves within 20 feet of the sign. Buyers can access the signs by Bluetooth and Waze. The sign serves as a hub of information and interactions related to the house being sold which connects back to the Compass app. If a buyer or seller has the Compass app open on their phone when they pass by one of the smart sign sends information to the app about the home.
Joseph Sirosh, CTO, Compass says that technology has changed how real estate agents sell.
“Our signs utilize Bluetooth and Beacon technology in harmony with position and proximity sensors,” said Sirosh. “We also include smart batteries to help agents know when the sign needs attention along with QR codes to help users without our mobile app. We are looking at adding augmented reality (AR) and machine learning, cellular chips and voice integration down the road.”
The Compass smart sign. The signs light up when a person is 20 feet away. Buyers can connect with Bluetooth.Compass
“Agents historically have been able to spend only 11% of their time with their clients because they spend most of their time on manual, repetitive tasks,” said Sirosh. “There’s a lot of efficiencies to be gained in client-agent interactions, and we’re building the capabilities agents need to transition into being full-time advisors to their clients and technology has brought new efficiencies for buyers, sellers and agents through the web, cloud and mobile applications.”
Sirosh says that technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) help price homes, create recommendations and make the process of transacting real estate efficient.
Compass is building what they say is the industry’s first end-to-end platform, which Sirosh believes will make the real estate agent more productive.
“This approach is unique, most real estate technology focuses on potential homebuyers who are searching online, but because nine out of 10 people use an agent, we believe the best approach to improve the home buying and selling experience is to empower agents who support the entire transaction, from search to close,” adds Sirosh.
Marta Maletz, broker, Mike & Marta, Compass, says that the use of apps and tech in real estate has affected the old pattern of seasonal markets.
“People traditionally bought in spring and fall and now with people glued to their phones and apps, that no longer applies. It’s really become a 12-month market, technology has also made more data available to the consumer, helping them be more educated regarding comparable sales, time on market, etc.,” said Maletz.
Maletz adds that the Compass apps work like an interactive Pinterest board between buyers and sellers and their agents. “This helps us group comparable properties for sellers letting them know how their competition is doing. Buyers can stay ahead of how their favorite listings are performing, get immediate updates on price reductions, status, etc.”
“I feel being an agent with this tool makes the whole buying and selling process easier and more streamlined for my clients,” Maletz.
“Our vision at Compass is to blend man and machine to disrupt the global real estate market and help everyone find their place in the world,” said Sirosh. “We build “AI to empower agent intelligence” and [..] no one has achieved the blend of the natural intelligence – that hundreds of thousands of enterprising real estate agents bring to this market – with the agent intelligence that cloud, mobile and AI technologies can deliver. The platform makes it possible for agents and technology to work together to transform the experience of buyers and sellers in real-estate.”
Sirosh says Compass is focused on building a platform that includes a variety of technologies including marketing technology, new media, web and mobile, core engineering systems, security engineering, data and streaming platforms, image and video processing, search, data science and AI.