Overview

As we kickoff our first-ever newsletter of our new series “APIs for Real Estate”. Our aim is to provide thoughts, tips, and solutions around all things related to APIs for the Real Estate industry.

I’d like to layout some of the basics as to what APIs are, what they are used for, and why they are important to the Real Estate industry as a whole. It is an exciting time to think about the future of connectivity and how data is shared, accessed, and collected for the benefit of all.

An API is what?

First things first, an API, which stands for Application Programming Interface is used to connect your favorite applications together. here is a handy picture:

In simple terms, it is a bridge to get data from one side of the cliff to the other.

Virtually any type of mainstream app like Slack, Google, Facebook, all have APIs that are used to connect other applications together to communicate back and forth.

Why should Real Estate care about APIs?

This is a valid question. Ultimately, right now we are at a turning point in the way technology is interacting with our everyday lives. Real Estate is no exception to the revolution. Real Estate has in a more traditional sense, been slow to adopt mobile apps, web apps, and really much technology for automation. But as data becomes more accessible and technology becomes easier to create, it’s only a matter of time before the demand forces the industry to hire software engineers, fund proptech (property technology) startups, and make the full transition.

Some of the biggest hurdles that the industry of proptech is facing is the way data is connected and shared. There are a lot of large corporations that are not tech companies, that want to rebuild the same MLS or Zillow site to be their own proprietary software. Which is a step in the right direction, but the reason companies like Google and Zillow exploded was because it was accessible to everyone.

As things continue to grow in proptech and the world of Real Estate, APIs and connecting to systems is becoming increasingly critical. The companies that play well with others and make it easy-to digest and integrate systems together will be future players.

How will APIs connect Real Estate to the Digital World

The demand will only increase for connecting MLS data, public data, investment apps, property management apps, and the likes; together. As new startups open shop, they will, and already are, focusing on connecting data together. Taking current legacy ways of pen-n-paper to emails or excel sheets and bringing those to be in a central database that can be shared between your slack, google drive, calendar, you name it.

All of this is dependent on APIs. By building an ecosystem of Real Estate technology and having simple, developer friendly APIs for the world to leverage and bring more value to the end-user. Will be the cause of an explosion of growth or the industry. As more attention and momentum is and will happen to the industry, it’s only inevitable. APIs will connect and already are connecting the world of Real Estate together.

Conclusion

APIs are the key to powering everything we take for granted. They are the reason information is shared, connected, and collaborated on. It is important that we do our part to help the technology industry for Real Estate to be more developer friendly and embrace a greater “startup — silicon valley” mentality of innovation. It will benefit the people who matter most. Agents, brokers, appraisers, renters, sellers, buyers, and the list goes on.

Subscribe for the next newsletter where we’ll dive into building APIs for Real Estate.

About the Author

David Biga

David Biga is the CEO & Founder of Particle Space. A previous tech-founder of numerous startups, David turned his attention and passion for the Real Estate industry by first creating a solution around the Property Management industry. Through that experience, David saw a major need in bridging the gap between data and people for Real Estate.

At Particle Space, we make it easy for real estate businesses to connect and access their real estate data in one platform. We do this by providing our customers’ with a suite of business tools and APIs.

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