REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY, BUYING/SELLING
PRnewswire | April 06, 2023
Rently, the leader in self-touring and smart home technology solutions, is pleased to announce a partnership with TURSS, a subsidiary of TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) to provide single-family property managers with an automated leasing application that helps eliminate rental fraud, streamlines business operations, and ensures quality tenants.
Rently's "3-in-1" rental application uses multi-layer security features and innovative AI technology to instantly verify renter ID, income, and credit history. Using information provided by touring renters, Rently's application can be pre-filled up to 30%, connected immediately to bank accounts and TransUnion for financial verifications, and approved within hours.
"Rently is excited to expand our portfolio of smart leasing tools with an innovative product that helps our clients find the best possible tenants," said Merrick Lackner, Rently CEO. "Rently's 3-in-1 rental application continues our commitment to creating real value for our customers."
"TransUnion's TruVision™ Resident Score was specifically created for the rental housing industry to provide the most predictive benefit of reducing bad debt through lower evictions and skips," said Maitri Johnson, vice president of tenant and employment screening at TransUnion. "We provide a comprehensive view of each applicant to help property managers choose the most qualified tenants, while remaining fully compliant with the Fair Housing Act."
In addition to providing renters with a superior experience, Rently's application also saves renters money because it can be transferred across multiple homes under the same management company and used by multiple renters applying as roommates. Renters can also avoid unnecessary application fees by using Rently's iQual+™, a feature that helps them avoid applying to homes they may not qualify for.
Rently's application seamlessly integrates with its popular touring and smart home platform, and managers can view listings and applicants from the same desktop portal. Because it can be easily added through open integration, Rently's application is ideal for clients looking for a flexible "plug and play" solution.
About Rently
Rently is the leader in self-touring and smart home technology. We offer best-in-class proptech solutions for the rental housing industry. We combine top-tier hardware with an innovative software platform that allows real estate operators to optimize their leasing efficiency and expand revenue opportunities. Rently.com
About TransUnion (NYSE: TRU)
TransUnion is a global information and insights company with over 12,000 associates operating in more than 30 countries. We make trust possible by ensuring each person is reliably represented in the marketplace. We do this with a Tru™ picture of each person: an actionable view of consumers, stewarded with care. Through our acquisitions and technology investments we have developed innovative solutions that extend beyond our strong foundation in core credit into areas such as marketing, fraud, risk and advanced analytics. As a result, consumers and businesses can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We call this Information for Good® — and it leads to economic opportunity, great experiences and personal empowerment for millions of people around the world. https://www.transunion.com/business
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MARKET OUTLOOK, REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY
PRnewswire | May 04, 2023
Zillow announced today the launch of the Zillow ChatGPT plugin, which gives users a new way to discover real estate listings.
Users who enable the plugin can use conversational language to ask about specific property listings or share the types of for-sale and rental homes they are interested in, including location, price range, and bedroom and bathroom count. The Zillow plugin then retrieves relevant information from Zillow's extensive database of real estate listings.
The plugin will be accessible to a select number of ChatGPT users today, with broader access anticipated in the future.
"Generative AI is changing the way people search for information. At Zillow, we've been embracing AI and machine learning starting with the Zestimate® in 2006, and later introducing personalized recommendations and natural language search – which means we're well-equipped to help customers search and find homes in this new way," said David Beitel, chief technology officer at Zillow Group. "As the first major residential real estate marketplace to bring advanced, AI-powered search to the home-shopping experience, we understand its immense potential, and we look forward to developing more tech innovations with OpenAI technology in the future."
Zillow is building a housing super app that offers customers a seamless, connected experience across all their real estate needs: buying, selling, financing and renting. It launched natural language search queries on its apps and sites in January, and this ChatGPT plugin is the latest example of how Zillow is using technology to make it easier for customers to find and get into their next home. AI capabilities show up throughout Zillow's products and services, most recently in advancements in the neural Zestimate, computer-vision-powered rich media experiences and AI-generated immersive floor plans.
The Zillow ChatGPT plugin is currently in its alpha phase, providing an opportunity for Zillow to refine and enhance the experience based on user interactions. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has implemented safeguards to minimize inaccuracies and prevent inappropriate responses, but users should keep in mind that at times the experience might not work exactly as expected.
About Zillow Group
Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: Z and ZG) is reimagining real estate to make home a reality for more and more people. As the most visited real estate website in the United States, Zillow and its affiliates help people find and get the home they want by connecting them with digital solutions, great partners, and easier buying, selling, financing and renting experiences.
Zillow Group's affiliates, subsidiaries and brands include Zillow®; Zillow Premier Agent®; Zillow Home Loans℠; Zillow Closing Services℠; Trulia®; Out East®; StreetEasy®; HotPads®; and ShowingTime+℠, which includes ShowingTime®, Bridge Interactive®, and dotloop®.
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REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY, MORTGAGE AND LENDING
Businesswire | May 12, 2023
VTS, the commercial real estate industry’s only technology platform that unifies owners, operators, brokers, and tenants to capitalize on opportunities revealed in every square foot of their properties, today announced that it has launched a revolutionary new tenant experience technology offering, VTS Activate, which builds upon the proptech leader’s existing history in the TenEx space. VTS Activate goes beyond the strengths of both VTS Rise and Lane to deliver owners and operators with the unparalleled technology and insights – not just within a building, but across an entire portfolio, creating the ultimate experience for tenants and delivering value like never before.
VTS entered the tenant experience space in March of 2021 with the acquisition of Rise Buildings, and continued its significant investment in the space with the acquisition of Lane in October of 2021. By bringing the best of both softwares together and executing on VTS’ ultimate vision, the team has engineered a transformative technology for its customers to solve today’s unique challenges, including low tenant demand, evolving tenant expectations, and the persistence of hybrid work policies.
VTS Activate is a new solution that enables CRE owners and operators to create a fully integrated office experience. Built with critical technology to retain tenants while differentiating their assets and portfolio, with data and connectivity powered by the VTS Platform. VTS Activate provides tenants with a seamless on-site experience, and the capability to manage their day-to-day needs and activity within a building on one centralized app. VTS Activate is also the only TenEx solution to provide ‘one-app, access anywhere’ functionality – opening a landlord’s entire portfolio to tenants by providing them the capability to choose where they want to work, giving the workers of today the flexibility they demand and delivering a higher level of value. VTS Activate allows owners to turn their portfolio into an interconnected branded ecosystem – they can now deliver their tenants with offerings and experiences across the many places they choose to work.
“Given the challenges of today’s commercial real estate market, retention is of the utmost importance for landlords, and they need to be armed with a solution that activates every tenant, space, and team within a building – deepening relationships with occupants and their talent, while gaining insights that help teams understand their tenants, how they’re using space, and the value they get from it,” said Nick Romito, CEO of VTS. “The launch of VTS Activate brings this all together in one app for owners and operators, and is the result of our considerable investment and commitment to providing the industry with the ultimate tenant experience solution – one that puts the tenant at the forefront.”
With native operations features and sophisticated tools to deliver the right communications, content, and experiences to the right audience, VTS Activate delivers a seamless and personal end-to-end experience at scale, driving engagement and increasing sentiment. Through insights that measure sentiment health and activity, landlords can best anticipate tenant needs, navigate renewals, and expand relationships.
“Emerging on the other side of the pandemic, the notion of where we work has significantly expanded, and a ‘workplace’ is no longer solely a tenant suite – it's a home office, flex space, breakout rooms, and more. VTS Activate provides landlords with the digital infrastructure to accommodate the mobility of today’s tenants, as they look to their landlords and building operators to connect spaces in a way like never before,” said Gijo Mathew, Chief Product Officer of VTS. “Additionally, owners continue to struggle with uncertainty about tenants, their likelihood to renew, and how they’re using space. The data and insights that VTS Activate yields allow for a greater level of clarity on tenant behavior to dictate improved operations, the health of tenant relationships, and ultimately, the best portfolio strategy.”
Beyond insights, access control, and operations management, VTS Activate is a direct, branded channel between the landlord, building manager, tenant companies, and their talent, so the right message can be delivered to the right audience. VTS Activate delivers sophisticated marketing capabilities that allow community managers to create highly configurable, branded programming across their spaces and tenant network. With the tools to create and deliver compelling experiences and offerings – from events and perks, to flex and retail offerings, and more to keep tenants engaged and coming into the office.
“At Tishman Speyer, we are constantly considering what’s next for the industry and appreciate that VTS seeks to do the same,” said Joe Doran, Chief Financial Officer at Tishman Speyer. "We are committed to building community and connection, and products like VTS Activate are all about bringing people together – bridging the physical experience to a digital platform.”
About VTS
VTS is the commercial real estate industry’s only technology company that unifies owners, operators, brokers, and tenants in a single platform to capitalize on opportunities revealed in every square foot of their properties. In 2013, VTS revolutionized the commercial real estate industry’s leasing operations with what is now VTS Lease. Today, the VTS Platform is the largest first-party data source in the industry, transforming how strategic decisions are made and executed by CRE professionals across the globe.
With the VTS Platform, consisting of VTS Lease, VTS Market, VTS Activate, and VTS Data, every business stakeholder in commercial real estate is given real-time market information and workflow tools to do their job with unparalleled speed and intelligence. VTS is the global leader, with more than 60% of Class A office space in the U.S., and 12 billion square feet of office, retail, and industrial space is managed through our platform worldwide. VTS’ user base includes over 45,000 CRE professionals and industry-leading customers such as Blackstone, Brookfield Properties, LaSalle Investment Management, Hines, BXP, Oxford Properties, JLL, and CBRE. To learn more about VTS, and to see our open roles, visit www.vts.com.
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