A pilot project in South Burlington, Vt., is using blockchain technology to digitize real estate transactions and make them speedier to process. South Burlington’s city clerk’s office has teamed with Propy Inc., a Palo Alto, Calif.–based real estate blockchain startup.Real estate transfers in the city will be recorded on a blockchain that can be accessed through an app or website by multiple entities involved in the transactions. It digiti
Following the largest data breach in the nation’s history, Equifax announced that it is extending its free credit freezes to consumers through June. The data breach this past fall exposed the personal information of about 143 million Americans, and has even prompted warnings from housing analysts that the breach could impact buyers’ ability to complete a home sale.The personal information stolen by hackers could compromise consumers’ Socia
Following last year's Experian data breach, many people froze their accounts to safeguard them from potential identity thefts. But with the spring homebuying season on the horizon, don’t forget to remind potential home shoppers that they may face some hassles getting approved for a mortgage if they don’t remember to unfreeze their credit first.Lenders tend to pull reports from the three main credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion
How long does it take your website to load on a mobile device? Google recently announced that starting in July, page speed from mobile devices will be a factor in its search rankings.Google says the update will likely only impact the slowest sites on the web. About 70 percent of websites take about 7 seconds to load on a mobile device, according to Google’s research from 2017. But users often expect it to load within 2 or 3 seconds.Use Goo
In FBI surveillance video, a young man of about 18 sits at his computer in his room. His mother, donned in a white bathrobe, approaches with a plate of cookies, sets it on his desk, and walks away as he continues to stare intensely at his computer screen. He’s not immersed in a video game. This man—perhaps a recent high school grad still living at home with his parents—is a typical hacker. And he's one of many who are increasingly disruptin
The traditional black-and-white business card is dying out in some professions, but salespeople and marketers are reinventing their look to keep others intrigued.The Wall Street Journal reports an increase in the do-it-yourself business card, marked by unusual designs and materials. Business cards are being made of everything from metal to plastic and even wood. Some are larger than your traditional business card, while others are much tinier to
More companies are hoping to capture an internet domain name beyond the standard .com, and some are willing to pay premium prices for a domain that ties into their industry.Donuts Inc., a domain name provider, announced what is believed to be one of the largest sales to date for a premium domain name in real estate–related industries with the acquisition of “home.loans” for $500,000. Donuts holds a giant portfolio of top-level domains on th
Firmware upgrade speeds up camera rotation to improve time-to-tourHave suggestions for products that you’d like to see reviewed by our real estate technology expert? Email Craig Rowe.Matterport has announced that a recent firmware upgrade has reduced the amount of time it takes to capture footage when creating an immersive 3-D listing tour.The firmware update increases the speed at which the camera rotates, allowing more square footage to be s
The cryptocurrency bitcoin is increasingly coming into play in real estate transactions across the globe. One recent listing describes a 9,000-square-foot beachfront Malibu home on the market for $45 million, and the owner says he’s willing to accept bitcoin as part of the payment from a buyer.“I’ve been interested since [bitcoin] started, and I’m always watching what’s going on,” Wei Tzuoh Chen told CNBC. “It’s going to be the
5G is one of the buzzwords at this year’s CES, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas Jan. 9–12. The promises are big behind the fifth-generation wireless technology that is expected to make smartphones and other devices ultrafast.5G is to be 100 times faster and five times more responsive than 4G and 4G LTE systems, the technology currently being used. For example, you’ll be able to stream high-res VR content without
This website includes images sourced from third party websites including Adobe, Getty Images, and as otherwise noted.
