TECHDIGEST – Experts at the recently concluded Africa International Housing Show in Abuja have stated that incorporating property technology, or proptech, can potentially cut project costs by up to 50 per cent.

They stated that avoidable costs such as agent fees can be eliminated through the use of Artificial Intelligence virtual inspection while a simple and transparent process financing platform could be utilised to build investors’ trust.

Speaking during a proptech session at the event, which was themed “Research for affordable housing policy and delivery in Africa”, the experts said proptech would unravel issues on crowdfunding, construction management, alternative financing window, cheaper marketing strategy, among others.

The Chief Executive Officer of Octo5 Holdings Limited, Babajide Odusolu, said technology had been created to fast-track the actualisation of opportunities in the real estate sector, which would reflect on product price.

He said, “Proptech is the use of applications of information technology and platform economics to boost the real estate industry. It is an interface of technology and real estate.

“These platforms using your mobile phones make it possible to scale up businesses speedily. Prop tech will make your business transparent to you and your investors.

“For instance, costs on project developments can be reduced by 50 per cent. A minimum of 15 per cent of project cost goes to compliance and design cost and 35 per cent on land and services but with the adoption proptech platforms, developers can slash compliance costs by half, simply by using technology.”

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Experts at the recently concluded Africa International Housing Show in Abuja have stated that incorporating property technology, or proptech, can potentially cut project costs by up to 50 per cent.

They stated that avoidable costs such as agent fees can be eliminated through the use of Artificial Intelligence virtual inspection while a simple and transparent process financing platform could be utilised to build investors’ trust.

Speaking during a proptech session at the event, which was themed “Research for affordable housing policy and delivery in Africa”, the experts said proptech would unravel issues on crowdfunding, construction management, alternative financing window, cheaper marketing strategy, among others.

The Chief Executive Officer of Octo5 Holdings Limited, Babajide Odusolu, said technology had been created to fast-track the actualisation of opportunities in the real estate sector, which would reflect on product price.

He said, “Proptech is the use of applications of information technology and platform economics to boost the real estate industry. It is an interface of technology and real estate.

“These platforms using your mobile phones make it possible to scale up businesses speedily. Prop tech will make your business transparent to you and your investors.

“For instance, costs on project developments can be reduced by 50 per cent. A minimum of 15 per cent of project cost goes to compliance and design cost and 35 per cent on land and services but with the adoption proptech platforms, developers can slash compliance costs by half, simply by using technology.”

Vanguard

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TECHDIGEST – Propcrowdy, Nigeria’s property technology (Proptech) firm, has launched a crowdfunding intermediary (CFI) platform into the Nigerian market. This is following from the approval of the platform by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

With this approval, Propcrowdy becomes the first and only platform in Nigeria today authorized to perform crowdfunding business under the rules and guidelines of SEC.

According to its promoters, Propcrowdy is an inclusionary crowdfunding investment platform that is set up to make it possible for individuals who earn minimum wage to access and climb up the real estate investment ladder in Africa.

“Doing this also enables us to raise project finance for small construction and development companies,” Roland Igbinoba, Founder/CEO of Propcrowdy explained to BusinessDay.

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The startup is focusing on two main target audience which are Nigerians who earn between $80 to $1,000 per month. It is estimated that over 127 million Nigerians fall in this category and small and medium enterprise (SME) real estate developers whose annual turnover is less than $5million. There are over 3,600 of these SMEs.

Igbinoba recalled that SEC had recently prohibited the activities of all Agritech and crowdfunding investment platforms due to the massive failure and fraudulent activities of many of the platforms.

“SEC had observed with concern the fraudulent activities of some unregistered investment crowdfunding platforms and had strongly advised the investing public against making investment with or through any crowdfunding platform not registered with the commission.

The commission, in recognition of the potential and importance of crowdfunding platforms and the need to protect investors through effective regulation had, in January 2021, published its crowdfunding rules and requested well-intending crowdfunding platforms to register with it,” he said.

He noted that in order to build investors’ confidence and trust, Propcrowdy has taken the long and hard road to securing a crowdfunding license from SEC, adding that Propcrowdy was incorporated in 2019 when there was no regulation for crowdfunding.

Igbinoba quoted Williams Omoruyi, Head of Product Design, as recognizing that low income earners and small real estate businesses in Africa lack the financial capacity to scale, adding, “at Propcrowdy, we are solving the twin problems of social impact and inclusiveness for those at the bottom of the pyramid and creating wealth and economic development for small and medium sized real estate developers.”

He said that funded developers on the platform must meet Propcrowdy’s requirements of environmental, social and governance factors alongside the security and financial metrics in the appraisal and investment decision-making process.

Igbinoba emphasized that success for Propcrowdy would be measured by how much they have been able to successfully democratize real estate investments within the low- and medium-income category in Africa, thereby empowering them and improving their wellbeing.

He assured that their contribution to net zero and the reduction in carbon emissions is of utmost importance.

He recalled that, in 2021, Propcrowdy received family, friends and angel investments of $500,000 to enable it to procure its license and continue to build its products and required infrastructure for monitoring compliance as required by the SEC, disclosing that he round of investments was led by Proptech54 – a proptech-focused accelerator program helping to nurture and scale proptech startups in Africa.

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TECHDIGEST – The global real estate space has enjoyed a torrent of investments over the years, with funding for commercial real estate rising to a whopping US 1.3 trillion in 2021 (a 55% increase from 2020). With radical growth arises the need for expansion and sophistication, resulting in the demand for a robust alignment between technology and real estate to scale the sector and help leapfrog the barriers inhibiting growth in the industry.

Tech deployment in the property space is known as “PROPTECH”. It encapsulates varying property technologies, such as smart home setups, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, asset management software, cloud integration, and several other tools.

Ugo Obi of Tilden Development Limited enlightens us saying that “the Nigerian real estate industry is one of many to have embraced technology, especially in property evaluation, development of online marketplaces, smart homes, prospecting, and marketing”.

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What does the future hold for tech-real estate integrations in Nigeria? “Here are some of the tech implementations transforming the property industry in Nigeria” Mr. Obi elucidates.

1. Real Estate Marketplace Software

The most extensive adoption of technology in the Nigerian real estate industry is the development of marketplace software and listing platforms, ensuring buyers and sellers can function more efficiently. Before the advent of marketplaces, it was business as usual, where a person interested in renting, leasing, or buying real estate would have to meet with an agent in person to assess the property.

Now, with a few clicks on your phone’s screen, you can access thousands of homes, shops, and more. These platforms also offer chat features that enable buyers and sellers to communicate directly without third-party interference.

2. Virtual Property Inspection

Virtual property inspection started off as a temporary fix during the global COVID-19 pandemic and has metamorphosized into an integral and interactive asset in the global real estate market. Inspection is top of the to-do list when negotiating, leasing, or buying a property.

A virtual inspection is a more convenient and cheaper alternative than traditional approaches. It provides clients with an immersive experience of the features of a particular home or building without spending valuable time and money on physical inspection.

Although still a developing phenomenon in the Nigerian market, a virtual inspection could redefine consumer experiences, build trust in the ecosystem and improve the accuracy of property information shared with the audience.

3. Smart Home Technology

The adoption of smart home technology is also steadily becoming prominent in Nigeria, especially in luxury residential and commercial spaces across the nation. A typical smart home or office offers convenience, remote control, customization, energy efficiency, flexibility, security, and future-proof features. In terms of valuation, one would expect a smart home to attract more investment compared to a traditional home, and rightfully so. There is no doubt that Tech integration in real estate development drives up the value of any property.

Mr. Obi insists that “Although the trend of automation and convenience is still relatively new in Nigeria and slackened by the limited access to broadband internet, it is poised to revolutionize the real estate industry in the coming years, and promises that Tilden Development Limited will be at the forefront in ensuring its adoption”.

Source : Nairametric

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TECHDIGEST – Technological innovations have eased the way things are done across the work-life environment globally. Every facet of human activity is becoming increasingly powered by digital technology.

As it is obtainable in diverse industries, technology is also impacting the growth of the real estate or property industry in many different ways.

The property/real estate sector was initially slow to embrace digital transformation. However, with its realisation of the contribution of digital technology in other industries, property/real estate companies are gradually leveraging emerging technologies to reform their industry.

Today, the alignment between property management and technology has given rise to the fast-growing global proptech industry.

Proptech, also known as realtech, stands for property technology and refers to all the software, tools, websites, apps, and other digital solutions used by real estate professionals to optimise buying, selling, researching, marketing, financing, and other real estate activities.

As indicated above, proptech simply refers to the usage of technology and software to assist in real estate needs. These include those of landlords, tenants, investors, brokers, marketers, repair workers, maintenance teams, and property management companies. Proptech also covers smart building technology, space management, and architecture.

The implementation of proptech tools, processes, and strategies is helping to improve the value and performance of real estate and the whole property management ecosystem.

Artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality, big data, and analytics are some of the trends revolutionising the proptech market to enable buying, selling, renting, or managing property.

Virtual reality and inspection drones make it possible for owners, buyers, and investors to visualise or inspect a property without physically stepping into such property. It enables remote transactions and digital contracting that make the customer experience easier and faster.

The use of artificial intelligence, through networks of smart devices and sensors (IoT), helps to power the marketing and investment processes.

Also, proptech solutions facilitate the ease of data collection, automation of paperwork, and cost reduction, and to open more opportunities for business growth, deliver more value to all parties and drive quality communication among landlords, tenants, and estate agents.

FinTech Global reports that the value of proptech companies was $7.1 billion, after the slump in 2020 due to the lockdown all around the world.

A few notable global protech companies are HomeViews (London), Acaboom (London), Ohmyhome (Singapore), Casavo (Milan), McMakler (Berlin), and Knotel (New York). (San Francisco), Divvy (San Francisco), and Homeday (Berlin).

In Nigeria, Fibre, Rumi, Eden Life, Estate Intel, Rent Small Small, Spleet, Property Deal Zone, and Yahshud Property Investment are among the popular proptech industry players.

These companies are making the real estate sector more accessible by simplifying the process for buyers, sellers, investors, and other parties to engage conveniently. They are now enhancing the services in the property technology space with innovative, efficient solutions.

But the lack of transparency constitutes a major anomaly facing the global property/real estate industry. The introduction of proptech in real estate has put greater demands on the need for sustainable transparency and ethical practices.

Property investors, developers, and governments at all levels are beginning to recognise the imperative of real estate transparency to the urban environment.

Real estate transparency is an essential ingredient of a well-functioning economy and society, because the industry focuses on one of man’s greatest needs: Shelter.

Real estate transparency attracts new investments and business activity to a city, helps government and other key stakeholders make smarter decisions about infrastructure, and enables sound long-term planning.

Global real estate services company, JLL, defines a transparent real estate market as one in which stakeholders have ready access to high-quality market and performance benchmarks; where there is certainty, consistency, and rigorously enforced rules and regulations exist.

In this setting, corporate governance standards are found to be robust, and real estate transactions are carried out fairly and ethically.

According to JLL Global Real Estate Transparency Index, 2020, London occupies the top spot as the world’s most transparent real estate market. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sydney, and Washington DC round off the top 5.

Surprisingly, the global top 20 includes several small-to-mid-sized second-tier anglophone cities like Seattle, Denver, Brisbane, and Manchester, with Paris being the notable non-anglophone city.

Real estate transparency in Nigeria is lacking due to the activity of quacks and fraudsters parading as real estate agents in the urban centres.

These unscrupulous individuals have been using the low digitalisation in real estate operations to perpetuate their criminal acts.

Stakeholders such as Real Estate Developers of Nigeria, the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, and others, would do the sector plenty of good by encouraging registered companies to adopt new technologies that are digitalising their operations.

Apart from efficiency, digitalisation would ensure the security of digital documents through the deployment of blockchain technology. This will minimise the incident of forged/fake documents used to defraud clients’ and landowners, thereby safeguarding the interest of stakeholders across the sector.

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) should engage with real estate professional groups, public and private stakeholders to streamline innovative solutions that can be safely deployed to ensure transparency.

With the guidance and support of NITDA, tech developers and innovators would be empowered to give priority attention to the creation of innovative digital solutions for the emergence of more proptech startups in the country’s real estate industry.

In the long run, digital transformation of the property industry would promote engagement between PropTech and property businesses, while also providing opportunities to network with property professionals and technology investors.

Inyene Ibanga is Managing Editor Techdigest and writes from Wuye District, Abuja; email: inyeneibanga@yahoo.com.

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By Abbas Badmus

TECHDIGEST – Property Technology (PropTech) is the use of information technology (IT) to help individuals and companies research, buy, sell and manage real estate.

Proptech uses digital innovation to address the needs of the property industry.
It also covers smart building
construction, space management and architecture.

Examples of proptech startups or companies in Nigeria are Eden life, Estate Intel, Rent Small Small, Spleet, Yahshud property, among many others.

Proptech is designed to streamline and connect processes for participants in all stages of the real estate market, including buyers, sellers, brokers, lenders and landlords.

Popular proptech technologies include virtual reality softwares that allow website visitors to virtually walk through properties, softwares for reporting repairs, splitting rent payments and crowdfunding new real estate projects.

A few goals of real property technology include reducing paperwork as well as making transactions quicker, more efficient, and more secure.

The current wave of proptech is driven by a range of new technologies available, such as artificial intelligence and big data, which has already disrupted other areas such as finance.

The application of these new technologies is furthermore shaped by social distancing requirements and regional lockdowns arising out of COVID-19 that have introduced changes in the way people are required to deal with real estate.

There are currently many startups trying to target every segment of the property market chain, attempting to disrupt and improve how the current market players (developers, buyers, sellers, renters, investors, and real estate professionals) design, construct, market, discover, transact and operate real estate.

Hostel.ng is Nigeria’s new property tech startup that promises to ease the difficulties students experience in their search for decent hostel accommodation in tertiary institutions.

The Founder/Chief Executive Officer of Hostel.ng, Davidson Okafor, said the platform is structured to save students from the antics of fraudulent persons posing as hostel managers.

Davidson disclosed that Hostel.ng was birthed out of his harrowing experience in securing hostel accommodation as new student in the university during an exclusive interview with TechDigest.ng

“It was so difficult finding hostel accommodation as a new student, even after finding the hostel I loved, I almost lost my hostel rent to scammers posing as a hostel managers. When I discovered that many of my friends in school had similar experiences then I realized how big the problem was and decided to solve it”.

He explained that the e-property platform will not only take address but it will also impact the economy in terms of boosting employment opportunities for the students and revenue for government.

“It will help create wealth for students helping them to sublease their rooms. We also make the lives of their sponsors easier by reducing the financial burden on them with our “rent now pay later” feature.

“Our solution will not only help students but also the hostels providers, making their lives a lot easier, selling more rooms which in turn generates more income for them”, Davidson added.

He disclosed that the platform is partnering with several public and private organisations, and is open to further collaborations with startups to enable students get access to dependable hostel providers and earn money to pay for their hostel accommodations.

“We have partnered with Kwaba for rent financing. This partnership has allowed us make the lives of students more comfortable, enabling them to access more money to pay their hostel rents. Our partnership with Deexperience agencies in Anambra state will enable more students get access to better hostel providers.”

Currently, support for the Hostel.ng platform, comes from “Lagos Innovates’’ program of the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund and mentorship initiative from Tomi Davies through his TVCLabs accelerator.

The lack of adoption for the products and difficulty in acquiring early funding are among the major challenges facing proptech startups in Nigeria.

There is also the need to for relevant government authorities to streamline and harmonize regulatory framework to guide operations in the property management sector and curb quackery.

Therefore, it is imperative for the creation of an all encompassing platform where the apex IT regulators, especially National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), land/housing authorities, financiers, and private investors and property management companies can synergise on the appropriate technologies to adopt.

In addition, government and financial institutions should do more in making early funding accessible for proptech startups in order to strengthen the capacity of the digital economy to address the shortage of decent housing and quality shelter for all.

Abbas Badmus is Staff Writer TechDigest

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