The new home construction industry is out of step with the digital revolution, unchanging for the past few decades in how builders sell and acquire home buyers. As builders find themselves immersed in the 4th Industrial Revolution and a time of major upheaval, they must ask themselves about the path ahead and answer the question, “how do I stay relevant in an industry that is changing rapidly and in dire need of disruption?”
Q: How do you plan to evolve and keep up with the tech revolution that is happening in the real estate and construction industry?
We will partner with cutting-edge firms like MHB, outsource more of our marketing to keep up with the high-tech marketing/sales techniques that big builders implement but smaller builders cannot afford, and beef up our focus on and resources dedicated to modern marketing in general.
Q2: What technology trends do you see revolutionizing the new construction industry over the next 12-18 months?
Online shopping, especially with real-time pricing, customization and visualization for homes is now a reality. This is the case for shoes, prescription glasses, cars, and everything in between, and there is hard data showing younger buyers WILL buy homes without even seeing them or a model in person. VR, AR, and interactive floor plans are also booming and where the future lies. Lastly, real estate agents (and even in house sales reps) are becoming endangered species!
As technology evolves, especially in the real estate industry, we see consumers taking the driver’s seat when it comes to expectations on the overall experience, speed of acquiring a home, both in the discovery and the transacting process, and the need for more personalized experiences with brands.
Q: How do you see the builders and their teams facilitating new consumer experiences within the home building industry?
With interactive floor plans, virtual models, more customizable options, etc.—the anytime ability for anyone anywhere to be able to find, customize, price and purchase a home WITHOUT ever leaving their home OR interacting with a sales rep.
One of the reasons you were attracted to the myHouseby platform is the way we acquired consumers on the builder’s behalf and offered a single marketplace for home buyers to discover, design and start their transaction process with our builder partners.
Q: How do you see builders like yourself using myHouseby to increase profits and gain visibility?
A: Our firm is highly focused on what we do, where, and whom we do it with. MHB allows us to target specific demographics OR, cast a wide net so the clients we want find us, especially those that are not local or working with an agent. We do not suffer from a lack of leads, we simply want higher quality leads, and MHB will be perfect for that. Better leads mean more profit and less lost on misguided efforts. A dollar invested in getting off on the right foot early is worth hundreds on the back end! We also expect to be able to spend less overall on marketing and in-house sales staff since MHB will be more effective than standard industry techniques.
Q: You are a savvy, tech focused builder and principal at Newcastle Homes. From our recent partnership and your investment in myHouseby, you are constantly evaluating technologies to help you succeed. How do you see myHouseby being different from other builder services being offered to builders?
myHouseby is more user-friendly for both the builder and the client, more visual for the client gives the client more ability to customize the product, and offers real-time, clear, client pricing.