Tech Bytes: News from T3 Sixty, HomeScout, Inside Real Estate
T3 Sixty opens submissions for residential real estate website rankings; HomeScout acquires lead-gen company Trinity Oak; Inside RE releases AI assistant.
Editor's note: Technology is a driving force in real estate. From startups to established players, tech companies are constantly innovating, growing and forging partnerships. Here we highlight some of the latest news about the companies that help power the industry.
T3 Sixty seeks entries for real estate website rankings
Leading residential real estate consulting firm T3 Sixty has announced a call for submissions for its inaugural T3 Fusion Website Rankings list, which will highlight "excellence in website design, functionality and performance across the residential real estate sector," the company said.
According to T3 Sixty, the submissions will be judged by collaborators Benchmetrics, ListTrac, LiveBy and MAXA Designs, who will evaluate websites across five North American regions. Rankings will be based on criteria including user experience and useability, design, and performance.
North American residential brokerages with public-facing websites can apply for consideration through February 29. Regional finalists will be revealed in March while the completed ranking will be released during the annual T3 Summit in April.
(Note: T3 Sixty and Real Estate News share a founder, Stefan Swanepoel.)
HomeScout bolsters offerings with Trinity Oak Partners acquisition
HomeScout, which provides consumers with access to a nationwide network of real estate agents, loan officers and title representatives, has broadened its business with the recent acquisition of lead generation company Trinity Oak Partners.
David Camp, CEO of HomeScout, expressed excitement about the acquisition, highlighting Trinity Oak Partners' specialized approach in the lead generation sector.
"They have carved a niche by catering exclusively to the top 100 real estate brokerages, offering an end-to-end system that engages past customers, turning them into repeat clients," Camp said in the announcement.
The company said Trinity Oak Partners effectively brings customers back to brokerages for subsequent transactions by leveraging AI and advanced lead nurturing techniques, a strategy that Camp highlighted as being a core strength of the company.
HomeScout grew out of a merger in 2021 that enabled the newly formed company to offer an array of services encompassing branded property searches, automated home value assessments, neighborhood reports, lead generation, tracking, nurturing and data solutions for partner companies.
The company has focused on tech advancements and enhancements to its consumer engagement platform with the goal of integrating and managing all aspects of buying and selling homes while maintaining the branding and delivery by affiliated real estate agents, mortgage professionals and title companies. The acquisition of Trinity Oak will serve to reinforce those initiatives, the company said.
Inside Real Estate launches AI assistant
Inside Real Estate closed out 2023 with an announcement of its latest tech innovation: Smart Assistant, a generative AI tool that will be integrated with the company's flagship kvCORE platform.
The software company, which serves nearly 500,000 real estate professionals, said in a news release that it aims to stay "on the bleeding edge of innovation," and Smart Assistant represents its latest move in that direction.
"These are the first steps towards our vision of bringing AI to agents, teams and brokerages helping them grow their business and save time, freeing them up to focus on what they do best — building relationships and serving as a trusted expert to their clients," said Nick Macey, president of Inside Real Estate.
The newly integrated feature is powered by ChatGPT. ChatGPT, and generative AI more broadly, has caught the attention of several real estate companies since its release in late 2022. Among them are Keller Williams, which integrated a generative AI feature into its Command CRM in December; Compass, which released Compass AI, powered by ChatGPT, in September; and The Real Brokerage, which unveiled its proprietary GPT assistant, Leo, in May 2023.
Inside Real Estate's Smart Assistant is designed to use a contact's details alongside market and listing data to create personalized text messages, emails or call scripts, the company said in the announcement — adding that it maintains the contact's privacy and security.
"While the future always brings change, good relationships remain, and this is precisely the type of tool to foster and grow those pivotal relationships," said Joe Skousen, founder and CEO of Inside Real Estate.