Creating Solutions for clients that don’t know what they need.

Part of the issue with any technology is that it was designed with a particular audience and use case in mind. If you leave that audience or use case type then the technology is going to be less and less likely to gain traction.

However, most technology companies don’t want to create custom (or even configured) solutions for each client. Each iteration away from the main product means more maintenance, more potential for bugs, more cost that can’t be spread across the entire set of clients. Technology companies are – typically – in the business of scaling their solution.

Real estate firms are a bit different. We are in the business of serving clients that have very specific, market driven issues. If we treat them like a technology company would we guarantee that we do not get them the best solution. The number of variables that go into a good solution are immense and constantly changing (per market, client and type of location).

This is a key reason why “big” technology has yet to break into the real estate space – it doesn’t have the right mindset. Their tools and apps are typically overdesigned for the use case they are going to encounter. Even CoStar runs into the issue with their comps system. Not all comps are the same or should be matched up.

Something to think about if you are trying to do technology in the CRE space.