KM and IT Find Collaboration Productive

Real Estate Leaps Forward With Self Service

Real estate accounts for an estimated 13%–18% of U.S. gross domestic product. It is an information-rich and transaction-intensive environment, with a multitude of structured and unstructured data sources underlying the processes involved in buying, selling, and managing property. Numerous software solutions, including single-purpose systems, CRMs, and KM systems, have been customized for use by real estate companies to support a range of real estate processes. Websites such as Zillow allow consumers to browse through listings, and numerous online companies provide sellers with quick cash for houses that they then resell.

Immobilium aims to revolutionize international high-end real estate through a marketplace model. Sasha Poparic, founder and CEO of Immobilium, reacted to the economic slowdown during COVID by having his software developers build a platform on which international sellers could list their homes and buyers could purchase them. The company does not take ownership, but serves as a marketplace, dealing only with properties outside the U.S.

“Our technology is so user-friendly that anyone can post their property without an agent if they want,” said Poparic. “They can take pictures, post the latest deed, and get an inspection done in advance.” However, Immobilium also has agents in 60 countries and over 100 franchise locations for those who prefer to have a human in the loop. Each listing is visited by an agent to validate it, and Immobilium has an established network of legal professionals to handle the closings. Immobilium is very attentive to user requests and conveys customer input to the IT department to make modifications. Considerable knowledge is embedded in the platform to automate and facilitate as much of the purchase process as possible.

The goal of Amazon-like one-click purchasing did not become a reality due to the complexity of real estate transactions, but Immobilium did achieve the goal of a global network where the flow is controlled locally. “At the end of the day, a robot can’t sell a house on its own,” Poparic asserts. “People want a human involved to address the intangibles, such as providing reassurance.” However, he believes that within a relatively short time, companies such as Amazon and Google will be in the home sales market and that remote purchasing will become commonplace.

Self-Sustaining Search

Intelligent search represents another core capability for KM and is a key part of the enterprise infrastructure. While important for many enterprise activities, it is vital for self-service, as users quickly become impatient with non-performing applications. In its report on cognitive search, Forrester goes farther and asserts that “cognitive search platforms are set to become the brains of agentic AI” (ndtvprofit.com/technology/koreai-named-leaderin-cognitive-search-platforms-by-forrester-9502987). Search connects content scattered throughout the enterprise and applies AI capabilities to make it discoverable.