Real Estate Companies Turning Into Tech Companies?

[Denis Gvozd]

I've been integrating technology solutions for real estate businesses for years, and as you might guess, this niche tends to be pretty conservative about new tech. It's often tough to even get in the door with a new platform or system because many firms stick to their tried-and-true methods. But once we do start a project and they see the benefits, things change. Tech can help a real estate company scale its operations without just hiring more people, which is huge. In fact, some of my clients have kept me on as a tech partner for over 10 years now because the systems we put in place became core to their business growth. 🎉 (It's been awesome to see these formerly tech-shy companies now thriving with the tools we built together!)

Lately, I've been hearing a buzzworthy phrase: "transforming a real estate company into a tech company." 🤔 The idea is that a traditional real estate firm should start thinking and operating like a tech firm. I've even heard someone at a conference say, "Real estate companies will become tech companies that just happen to work in real estate." At first, I thought it was just a catchy soundbite. But now I'm hearing this concept more often in everyday business conversations. It seems like more real estate companies (developers, brokerages, property managers, etc.) are trying to act more like tech companies – whether that's by building their own software, investing heavily in digital tools, or hiring tech talent in-house.

I’m really curious what everyone here thinks about this trend. Is this actually happening in your experience? 🤷‍♂️ Have you seen any traditional real estate firms genuinely reshape themselves into tech-focused companies? Or do you think calling a real estate company a "tech company" is mostly hype or marketing fluff (maybe something to impress investors)? For those of you working in real estate or proptech, do you feel like every real estate company is now kind of a tech company in how they operate?

I also wrote an article about this trend - Turning a Real Estate Investment Firm Into a Tech Firm - and would love to hear what you think about it.