 |
|
|
|||||
The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. For years, the real estate industry had lacked the data necessary to drive informed business decisions. Data is often fragmented, incomplete, or nonexistent, making it difficult for landlords and real estate professionals to analyze trends, forecast market shifts, and optimize their operations. Our research at RentRedi showed us that 90% of our landlords previously used pen and paper or spreadsheets to manage their rental properties before adopting our software, giving them little access to helpful data. With the adoption of centralized platforms like ours and other real estate technologies, data collection is skyrocketing. Investors, real estate agents, and property managers are adopting technologies that streamline operations, and in the process, those platforms are generating vast amounts of data that can be used to provide deep insights into market behaviors that benefit the landlords providing it. This data revolution presents an unprecedented opportunity for real estate businesses to make smarter, data-driven decisions, reduce risk, and drive growth. By understanding where real estate data comes from, overcoming data overload, and strategically harnessing information, real estate agents and investors can significantly improve operations and drive business growth. How to harness data and use it to your advantage Whether you sell, buy, or manage real estate, data plays a crucial role in providing opportunities for you to make more informed decisions. Effectively utilizing real estate data can lead to improved business operations and increased profitability. Rental property owners, for instance, can leverage data insights to increase on-time rent collection, get better tenants, minimize evictions, reduce vacancies, and streamline property maintenance. Insights can also help establish better operating procedures, such as utilizing 5-pronged tenant screening processes (comprehensive background checks, credit reports, criminal reports, eviction reports, and income and asset verification) to identify high-risk tenants or adjusting lease terms to encourage on-time payments. Running surveys to gather customer feedback can help owners improve understanding of renters needs and what matters most to them. Real estate agents can use the feedback to enhance their communication skills, property showing process, and negotiation strategies, leading to an upgraded overall client experience, more referrals, and repeat business. Likewise, gathering tenant feedback helps property owners understand what matters most to their customers, allowing them to enhance tenant satisfaction and retention. Finally, using a property management system that consolidates, categorizes, and analyzes data will streamline processes, and ensure easy access to critical information, so focus can remain on the most relevant metrics and trends. Specific applications of real estate data Rental property investors can leverage property management software to implement innovative solutions that benefit themselves and their tenants. For example, we analyze data to identify trends, providing it back in usable formats to improve real estate businesses. Turning data from insight into actionable guidance is key. If data reveals that renters using autopay pay rent on time 99% of the timeas opposed to an 88% on-time payment rate for those who dontyou know to offer your tenants (and advise them to set up) automatic payments to avoid missed or late payments and resulting late fees and penalties. Likewise, data may show that landlords are likely to see a 13% jump in on-time rent payments when using a credit boost feature to report on-time payments to credit bureaus, which also helps renters establish credit and raise their existing credit scores. With this information, landlords can consider offering that service to tenants. These actionable insights strengthen the landlord-tenant relationship. Where to find data sources To leverage data to improve your real estate business, you need to know where to find it. Real estate data comes from a wide variety of sources: from public records and market reports to proprietary databases and tenant interactions. To effectively mine real estate data, professionals should start by identifying key data sources relevant to their operations. For example, public records, MLS listings, and property tax assessments provide valuable market insights, while customer surveys and online reviews reveal tenant and investor sentiment. Property listings and market transactions provide data on property sales prices, listing durations, vacancy rates, and location-based demand, as well as demographic data such as neighborhood trends, population growth, and urban development. This type of data provides valuable insights into property valuation and investment opportunities. In the rental industry, tenant applications and tenant screening provide data on income, employment history, credit scores, and rental behavior, which aids in risk assessment. Meanwhile, tracking rent payments reveals payment patterns that help landlords and property managers optimize rent collection strategies. Building performance and maintenance logs also provide helpful data, especially IoT sensors and smart building technologies that track energy usage, maintenance needs, and occupancy trends, allowing for sustainability and cost reduction planning. The challenges of too much data Simply having access to this data isnt enoughits crucial to know how to extract meaningful insights from it. Data can be a powerful tool, but the sheer volume of information available can be overwhelming, particularly while simultaneously managing properties and/or growing your portfolios. Too much data can slow decision making. Organizing, interpreting, and applying the data in beneficial ways for your businesses takes time, is difficult, and can lead to analysis paralysis if done manually. Besides, raw data is not always actionable. Thats why its important to utilize analytical tools and dashboards to translate complex datasets into visual reports that make patterns and trends easily digestible and understandable. Final words The growing availability of real estate data presents both challenges and opportunities. Collecting and analyzing data from diverse sources provides professionals across the real estate industryfrom landlords to large-scale developerswith the ability to make better decisions regarding investment, property improvements, and customer satisfaction. Adopting data-driven solutions can lead to greater efficiency, improved business relationships, and increased profitability. By centralizing information, leveraging analytics, and implementing smart policies, real estate investors can harness the power of data to transform their businesses in an increasingly digital world. Ryan Barone is cofounder and CEO of RentRedi.
Category:
E-Commerce
The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. The famous computer scientist Bill Joy once said, No matter who you are, most of the smartest people work for someone else. If you want to build something on the bleeding edge, you must have an open ecosystem that can pull in as many ideas as possible, skills and talents that exist beyond the four walls of your office building. This is the ethos of open source, the idea that the world is open for collaboration and that diverse people working together can create something beyond themselves. Sadly, weve lost much of this ethos over the past 30 to 40 years. Even though the digital world is built upon open source, almost none of it is open for collaboration today. Recently, open-source providers have come under fire for charging for certain open-source features. Accusations have ranged from spoiling the spirit of open source to offering loss leaders (free solutions that lock customers into APIs or networking effects that are essentially bait for higher-cost features). To explain why this is false, I must explain how weve strayed from the original open-source ethos and why charging large enterprises for certain features is imperative to creating a sustainable path forward. How we lost the open-source ethos Before open source, the term free software was used. It had a sort of anti-capitalist, anti-economic bent. In the 90s, a contingent of people came in and rebranded that as open source, forming an institute called the Open Source Initiative, opening the doors to the masses. When the internet began connecting people of all stripes and backgrounds, the open-source movement exploded. The fundamentals were simple: Anyone, anywhere could take source code, tweak it, and contribute back to the community. Today, the notion that the computational infrastructure for the world should be open for collaborative remixing and the idea that people, whether they’re startup founders or garage coders looking to tinker and customize, can work together has been largely lost. To prove it, simply try customizing your email or web browser. Even though these solutions are largely built using open-source code and operating systems, the second you make any change, all the DRM encryption protocols break down, rendering you unable to listen to music on Spotify or watch videos on YouTube. The spirit of collaboration is gone How did we lose this spirit of collaboration? Part of this shift is simply the evolving nature of software. It used to be you either uploaded or downloaded a program to your computer, and you could inspect the source code. Now, software is hosted and rendered via web browsers and user interfaces, meaning major cloud service providers can use all kinds of open-source code, but they never have to reveal it or share it with the community if they dont want to. This isnt to finger wag. Many cloud providers contribute amazing things to the open-source community. Indeed, their solutions are open in the sense that theyre free to the public. Theyre not open in that they dont accept community contributions, and they certainly wouldnt tolerate someone taking their source code and remixing it, aka forking. Finally, theres an existential clash between enterprises and maintainers, the volunteers responsible for overseeing open-source projects. When enterprise IT departments need something fixed, they call their vendor and work through the kinks. You cant do that with an open-source community. Demanding work from volunteers doesnt go over well. And besides, community maintainers dont understand enterprise needsnot in the intimate way businesses need. Thats because the open-source community wasnt born in a corporate office. It was a grassroots movement of coders wanting to create powerful, novel things. Maintaining the open-source movement requires understanding the needs of this community and the enterprises that now rely on these solutions. The solution providers that can understand both sides and thread the needle between their different needs and motivations will be the foundations of a sustainable path forward. Protect the innovation commons The term commons originates from economicsa kind of open resource thats shared and managed by the community. You can think of it as an Alpine pasture or a vibrant lake sustaining a village. Its precious but vulnerable. The innovation commons is the open-source community. If someone overfishes, overgrazes, or pollutes the commons, it harms everyone else. So, its in everyones interest to protect the commons. Open source has become increasingly expensive to sustain. For any provider, the path of least resistance is to close down the commons and sell anything valuable as a proprietary artifact. But its much more abundant to keep the commons open to as many people as possible, allowing them to benefit and contribute. As stewards of the innovation commons, rather than trying to sell every single tree, its much better if we pick some fruit and bring it to a storefronta stand at the side of the community garden. If enterprises roll up with two-ton trucks and want to take their fill of fruit and vegetables, we can absolutely give it to them and charge money to invest back into the commons to nurse a sick tree or restore fallow ground. From the outside, charging enterprises for certain open-source features may look like the same thing as selling loss leaders. However, there are a million unsexy but fundamental things required to maintain an open-source ecosystem. Bridging the gap between what the volunteer community can provide and what enterprises desperately need fuels these essential components of future innovations. Asking enterprises to pay for much-needed benefits like security, optimization, and real-time notifications is not equivalent to selling them open-source solutions with bells and whistles. Its a mutually beneficial relationship that grows the innovation commons while providing targeted solutions to companies core needs. For example, many enterprises work with older versions of Python. Tech enablers can use our expertise to apply bug fixes and security patches to these older versions, capabilities that wouldnt be possible otherwise. In turn, using those enterprise resources, we can continue shipping thousands of pieces of open source to people for free, maintaining the original spirit of open source and protecting the innovation commons. Today, less than 1% of the world’s population can write any kind of code, but AI will bring the rest of the world along. Can you imagine the potential when the other 99% can collaborate in an open envirnment by simply using natural language or modular tools? I can. And, Im infinitely excited for what the future holds. Peter Wang is the chief AI and innovation officer and cofounder of Anaconda.
Category:
E-Commerce
The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. The way we produce and consume food is changing. Not only is the current food system a threat to our health, its also a threat to our planet. As a food producer, the challenge is clear: How do we transition toward more nutrient-dense, environmentally responsible food choices without compromising taste or accessibility? Modern food production has often emphasized convenience, leading to highly processed products that lack substance and sustenance. However, traditional diets, such as the Mediterranean diet, offer a time-tested solution. Rooted in whole, plant-based ingredients, these diets highlight a variety of grains, legumes, and plant-based proteins that provide essential nutrients while reducing the environmental footprint of food production. By returning to these principles, we can create a more sustainable and nutritious future. Learn from traditional diets For centuries, Mediterranean communities have thrived on ingredients that not only support long-term health but also align with sustainable farming practices. Unlike modern industrial agriculture, which prioritizes monoculture crops and mass production, traditional food systems accentuate biodiversity and soil regeneration. Ancient grains like buckwheat are regaining popularity for their rich nutrient profiles and minimal environmental impact. Legumes, such as chickpeas and lentils, are packed with plant-based protein, fiber, and essential minerals while also playing a crucial role in the rise of sustainable practices in modern agriculture. We need to take inspiration from these traditional approaches and champion minimally processed ingredients for the sake of human health and ecological stability. Interestingly, many Americans report that while traveling in Italy, they experience fewer food intolerances and improved digestiondespite indulging more during their vacations. This may be attributed to Italian cuisines deep-rooted tradition and propensity toward whole, minimally processed foods and traditional dishes made with simple, high-quality ingredients. Innovation to address modern challenges Traditional food systems are not the sole answer to todays complex issues of food security, climate change, and health. We must also leverage technology, research, innovation, and a little bit of creativity. The use of spirulina is the perfect example of how innovation can build on traditional principles to create more sustainable and nutrient-dense food options. Called the food of the future by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, spirulina is a blue-green algae with superfood benefits which has been consumed for centuries, providing a rich source of protein, vitamins, and minerals. What makes it especially promising for the future of food is its minimal environmental footprintit requires very little water, land, and energy to produce. It also contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gasesproduction can be carbon neutral or even carbon negative, as the growing cells sequester CO2. Many brands are now incorporating ingredients like spirulina into their product offerings, from snacks to beverages and even in more unexpected areas like pasta. For example, at Felicia we source Italian Apulia Kundi spirulina directly from our spirulina park at the Italian headquarters, a facility dedicated to growing these precious microalgae by using the water resulting from the pasta-making process. The water is purified and reused to make the pasta, fostering a virtuous circular economy. This type of sustainable production is a crucial step in our shared journey toward a healthier planet and population. But for innovation like this to really make an impact, it needs to happen at every stage, from food production to product design and consumer education. Creating variety in ones diet doesnt have to be complicatedit can be as simple as incorporating diverse grains, legumes, and vegetables into daily meals and building a colorful plate to delight the senses, without compromising on taste. As brands, we hold a responsibility to our consumers to create the products that make this possible. By embracing both traditional wisdom and modern innovation, with renewed passion, creativity and care, we can reach a thriving future. Carlo Stocco is managing director, North America at Felicia and Andriani.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||