Article content
Mikayla Alston
5 min read
Back in the days, most of the processes that were running in a real estate company were kept hidden from everyone else. Only the chosen ones could gain knowledge of prices, objects, and other details. Today, however, everything is available on the Internet. Now we only need to gather this information to streamline processes in a real estate agency and increase revenue.
While years ago real estate agents struggled to get the data because of all the secrecy, today the problem is very different - there is so much information that it’s hard for a human to gather and process all of it. That’s where web scraping comes to rescue.
What is web scraping?
It’s a process of gathering data from the Internet. You need a special tool for it - a scraper. It will crawl through websites and acquire the information you need. Then it will process this data and present it to you in a format that’s convenient and easy to work with. Thanks to web scraping, real estate agencies can obtain the required information quickly, and be sure that data is up to date.
Although before we dive into all the benefits of web scraping for real estate, there is one detail you should know. While data gathering is completely legal - well, until you try to get into restricted areas - most website owners try to protect their content from scraping. They do this because they don’t want the content to get stolen or used by competitors. That’s why a lot of websites have some kind of anti-scraping protection.
One of the most useful tools that will help you bypass restrictions are proxies. They will let you avoid bans. But also, they will let you change your location so that you can gather the data that’s relevant for a certain target audience. Residential proxies are the best choice for web scraping because they offer real IPs that will let you stay unnoticed. Infatica offers plenty of locations and a large pool of real IP addresses so that you can remain anonymous when scraping. You can choose a plan suitable for your needs. And if you’re struggling to figure out your requirements for proxies - simply drop us a line at sales@infatica.io, and we will help you make the right choice.
Why data is crucial for real estate
It’s virtually impossible to win the competition in the modern rapidly-moving world if you can’t get relevant data quickly. If you aren’t the one who quickly takes over the property and finds a customer, it will be someone else who simply knows more.
With web scraping, real estate agencies can get fresh data every day and be aware of:
- Popular locations,
- Types of properties that are sold,
- Types of properties that are demanded,
- Prices,
- The activity of other real estate agents,
- And much more.
Besides letting a real estate agency operate productively, this data can also help agents spot tendencies and predict how the market will look like in the nearest future. Therefore, they will be able to make better data-based decisions and take the right actions.
Why should real estate use web scraping?
Scraping will automate data gathering and save a lot of time for you. Imagine how amazing it is to get fresh, understandable and useful data every day you come to your office. With scraping, it's a reality.
Accurate up-to-date data
It’s hard for a human to process tens if not hundreds of resources every day. And the data should be gathered on a daily basis because in real estate business things can change overnight. A scraper will go through all the relevant websites and fetch you the information you need to know. Therefore, you will be supplied with the latest data every day.
Moreover, since a scraper will organize the information for you, it will be easy to compare different objects by certain criteria such as prices, location, amenities, type of property, and so on. You will be able to find out quickly if there is a parking space near the object or some other details you need to know to sell the property.
Speed and convenience
It will take hours for a human to go through all the relevant websites and gather the information. Let alone the structurization of it. Moreover, unlike robots, humans make mistakes - it can lead to false data that will sabotage the work of a real estate agent.
Scrapers don’t make mistakes, and it will take them minutes to process all sites and fetch you the information. All you need to do is to tell the bot which data you need and provide it with residential proxies so that the scraper can avoid blocks. That’s how web scraping can save up a lot of time for you and guarantee that you’re getting only true information.
Competitive advantage
Wins the one who knows more. The more information about the real estate market you have, the better decisions you can make. If you have all the data about objects - you can sell them faster. If you know what buyers need - you can satisfy their needs and increase your revenue. If you know what other real estate agencies are doing - you can come up with a better plan that will help you win the competition.
Moreover, when you know all the details about the market, you can spot some trends and figure out what will be the next big thing. Then you can get ready for it and begin acting while everyone else is just beginning to understand the tendency. In other words, the more data you have, the faster you can make decisions, get new deals and close them. Web scraping is exactly the tool that can supply you with as much information as you need to win the game.
The bottom line
Technologies are meant to improve our everyday processes, and we should take advantage of new tools. Web scraping can revolutionize the real estate industry by changing the way agencies work. Today only some companies utilize data gathering for their business. So it’s interesting to reflect on what the real estate market will look like when most agencies begin using web scraping. And until they don't implement data gathering in their processes, it’s your chance to jump on the first position.
