Big Data - it is here to stay, and will change the way we live, work and play. The processing of Big Data will help determine who to marry, where to live, where to retire, and what employment opportunities are available. Figuring out ways to use it will allow YOU and your company to be more proficient.
It will allow comparisons like never before, like where to live if you want to live the longest. Recreational enthusiasts can quickly evaluate work and home locations that best fit their lifestyles. Health-conscious families are always exploring evolving lifestyles and healthy living options. In addition, any one of these buyer segments can drive a market’s appreciation, which is a leading factor for wealth creation for U.S families.
The real estate buzzword is “BIG DATA.”
Wikipedia defines Big Data as a collection of data sets so large and complex that they are difficult to process using on-hand database management tools or traditional data processing applications. The big data processing challenges include capturing, curation, storage, searching, sharing, transferring, analysis, and visualization.
Larger data sets are possible due to the assemblage of single sets of related data that can be supplemented with additional relative information allowing correlations to “spot trends.” The result is larger aggregate data collections that are meaningful if properly filtered and processed.
Companies that process Big Data in real estate can trade for over 100x in earnings, elite pricing previously only reserved for technology stocks. Moreover, what historically took a building full of servers is now executed on a hosted website with intense security protocols for a few thousand dollars per month. Intranet connections between companies can transfer millions of records across the world in SECONDS.
The technology world has changed, and in the future, it will change even FASTER!
You can now:
Isolating factors that are important to you is the key to gaining “laser focus” and obtaining the knowledge that allows you to be the “best in class”. For example, successful home investors focus on a zip code or a neighborhood where they know every house and stay updated daily and weekly on what is happening in the market, not just by searching the Internet , but also by driving and walking the streets of the areas where they want to invest. Investors not only search the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), but also research foreclosures, tax auctions, go to homeowner association meetings and community outings. Finding the anomalies of the outliers in a market is the key to effective investing. Investors know that money is made on the “buy side”
While the mind is an incredible processor, interpreting data via spreadsheets or databases is key to seeing what is happening today and comparing that information to the past.
There are many positive and effective ways to use data. There are also strong limitations on private companies that could use the information inappropriately. The magnitude of data available and the uncertainty about what information is available are the first challenges in acquiring and analyzing it. Some of the data is relatively unstructured, which makes it quite difficult to analyze. Organizing and analyzing unstructured data is an area of intense research and activity. Even if the data is in well-organized tables, the volume of data and number of fields compound the difficulty in extracting meaningful information.
