Real estate sign innovation
By: J. David Chapman/July 26, 2018
Recently, I picked up a sign for a listing only to see a bullet hole in the middle of it.
I’ve also been known to tell homeowners that the condition of my yard signs is an indication of my experience. Let’s just say they don’t hire me for my signs. Maybe that will change.
They say we should not reinvent the wheel, but what about the sign? Real estate signage has evolved very little in decades. This may be about to change. Compass Real Estate claims to be an innovator with a purpose. Its goal is to build a modern real estate platform by pairing our industry’s top talent with technology, making the search-and-sell experience intelligent and seamless.
This company grew from a single Manhattan office known as Urban Compass. It is now in major markets all over the U.S., building a national platform selling luxury, trophy, and iconic properties. It has analyzed every aspect of our business and its use of technology is impressive.
In keeping with that theme, why not signage? The company sees things that have not changed in a long time as opportunities and disrupters. The prototype sign it has designed looks like a huge lollipop and employs tech-enabled smart technology.
These battery-powered signs are there to gather and transmit data. Brokers will always know where their signs are deployed and, at $1,000 per sign, this might be the most important data of all. Sensor-enabled signs can gather data points on homes and buildings such as movement, traffic, noise, temperature and light. The signs have lighting and text options, modifiable with the use of a mobile phone application.
The key to the smart sign is in the sign’s ability, through sensors, to initiate a sequence of events that ends up with the real estate agent connecting with the buyer. I compare the new sign technology to lockbox technology. I’m guessing there are still sales associates out there using combination lockboxes; however, new lockbox technology that offers property information and access to data can add real value to agents and clients alike.
My guess is sign technology will go the way of the lockbox, and soon add similar value. For now, I just hope to keep people from shooting and stealing mine.
J. David Chapman is an associate professor of finance and real estate at the University of Central Oklahoma (jchapman7@uco.edu).