The so-called “internet of things” (IoT) – where every “thing” contains a processor and can communicate with a centralised control – isn’t at all a new concept. In fact, the IoT in the 2020’s is reality. And it’s helping us out in ways that maybe you haven’t foreseen.

For example, companies are already using the Iot to optimise their business practices to the utmost degree. Such is the case with the Phoenix, Arizona-based company HomeSmart – which has since gone international. What this company does is, rather than find itself weighted down by paper, or cumbersome – maybe even electronic – systems, they use new technology to optimise the business practice itself.

HomeSmart’s technology is called “RealSmart”. What it does is it fills in any potential gaps between agents and real estate brokers, allowing everything to be done in optimal time, without any delay. The moment that a task is completed, the results appear on the other user’s screen. It highlights its operation in “real-time”, with “automated notifications at every stage of the process.”¹

This is direct utilisation of the theory of the “internet of things”. At HomeSmart, the “things” are each minute step of the real estate process, like documents, and the “brain” that binds it together is the technology behind RealSmart – which is available online or as an app. The central hub holds the whole process together, ensuring that everything runs smoothly.

And it’s growing – hugely. Especially in the wake of the pandemic, which did a number on many businesses in the real estate sector. HomeSmart – who developed their products based on technology and the IoT – was barely affected. Now HomeSmart’s platform has a user base of almost 20,000 agents, and is recognised on both the Inc. 5000 list (where it’s been for 8 years) and the Entrepreneur 2020 Fastest-Growing Franchises list.²

This is just a glimpse of a company that’s focused itself on technology, and done incredibly well as a result, even as movement across the world was restricted and things like open houses became danger zones. By focusing on integrating technology into its process, HomeSmart overcame that. Now it’s an incredibly strong real estate company, poised and ready to surmount whatever next comes its way.

As the president, Ashley Bowers, said, “HomeSmart has continued to raise the bar for what real estate excellence looks like even in spite of some very serious challenges, and we have no plans of stopping.”²

1. https://tech.homesmart.com/
2. https://rismedia.com/2020/09/01/homesmart-international-surpasses-19000-real-estate-agents/