Have banks and lenders discovered the perfect tool for real estate valuations?

Consumers and real estate investors turn to the expertise of banks to offer better mortgage rates, trusted service and the best forecasts on property valuations. Faced with such high demands, how can banks and lenders pros deliver the best value considering all the shifting economic factors, constantly evolving demographics and inability to predict the future accurately?

There’s a secret weapon…

For lending and retail banking professionals, “predictive analytics” will revolutionize the way they do business and the value they can bring to their clients. This powerful tool combines massive amounts of data with incredibly smart algorithms that help the software learn as it crunches more and more numbers — essentially becoming a predictive powerhouse. It’s exactly what we’ve been building at Gnowise, and it’s helped bankers, officers and real estate pros expand their expertise in greater Toronto area (GTA) property valuations up to 24 months into the future.

In particular, we’ve seen several major challenges in the lending sector when it comes to serving the client, and Gnowise can help solve those issues. Our enterprise-level solution can offer considerable advantages that will help you outperform your lending competition. Gnowise provides intelligent appraisal tools which can estimate the value of almost all the properties in GTA with over 94% accuracy and with a high confidence in less than a second. Gnowise also provides accurate future price forecasts for every property in GTA; a huge competitive advantage for its users in investment as well as portfolio risk assessment sectors.

Here are eight ways you can outperform your competition using smarter analytics and predictive data from Gnowise:

1: Smarter mortgage rates

With so many institutions offering mortgages, the competition is fierce. Using Gnowise predictive analytics and smart data, banks can adjust their mortgage rate and lower their risk by having short and long-term market predictions. These predictions can be done based on data across the entire city of Toronto, providing an overview of the local market, or by laser focusing in on key neighbourhoods and geographic zones.

2: Accurately predict earning growth

With smarter analytics, banks can now estimate and report a more accurate year-by-year earning growth on properties. Gnowise enterprise data provides an incredibly accurate two-year forecast, meaning you can provide clients with the tools to make smarter investing decisions. Banks can also adjust their own investment in the real estate market as economic factors and the risk of the real estate market crash fluctuate.

3: Acquire & retain new customers

There are so many real estate options to consider and let’s face it, clients can be demanding. Predictive analytics can help identify exactly which real estate options are the most impactful to the price of a property and the location of the investment.

With Gnowise advanced filtering, you can target the right customers based on market factors like property values, investment potential and the client’s risk comfort level. This makes it easier to identify high-value prospective clients and offer them perfect property options. You’ll be able to offer something different from your competition, gain new clients faster and reduce customer churn.

4: Pinpoint the perfect neighbourhoods

There are 140 Toronto neighbourhoods, each with its own set of characteristics that make for good and bad investment opportunities. Many clients will have preconceived notions of their target neighbourhoods, while others will be looking to you for expert advice on where to invest.

With advanced predictions and access to up-to-date data, you’ll know exactly where property values will increase and decrease over the coming one to three years. You’ll be able to tell clients which neighbourhoods are the most attractive (according to budget and risk levels) and you’ll have constantly updated information on the market fluctuations that can change any future predictions. You’ll be leaps ahead of your client’s “local” knowledge of the market.

5: Outsource your data analysis

It’s a monster job to stay on top of all the data — especially if you don’t have the right tools and people. Data scientists are experts at this; however, most companies haven’t invested in true data departments that can handle new predictive technologies. “Despite the desire to use “big data,” most financial organizations have had limited skills, challenges dealing with data sources and silos, had limited budgets and/or lacked organizational support,” according to The Financial Brand.

Without internal forecasting, it’s incredibly challenging to make accurate strategic decisions. Gnowise eliminates that concern as it constantly evaluates the most current economic data and local real estate factors, then outputs real-time reports based on your search criteria. By analyzing more data than humanly possible, this frees up your time to focus more attention on the strategic execution.

6: Lean on brilliant machines to outpace the industry

What if computers were capable of building on their own abilities, getting smarter and more efficient as they take on more tasks? It’s called machine learning, and it’s happening in many software applications and industries, including Gnowise. Every day you use Gnowise, it’s smarter than the last — and that constantly puts you ahead of the curve.

The world’s foremost business leaders are preparing for this inevitable shift. Shard Pichai, CEO of Google, explains the importance of new tech to the corporate direction, saying, “Machine learning is a core, transformative way by which we’re rethinking everything we’re doing.” While financial powerhouse, Daniel Pinto of J.P. Morgan goes further to explain how changes in the industry must always be assessed and met with the right internal resources. “We have also established teams dedicated to areas such as blockchain technology, big data applications, and robotics.”

7: Attract Millennials and Gen X

The coveted Millennial and Gen X clients are digital rockstars. Nearly 70 percent of all consumer interactions with a bank are done digitally, as indicated on the Pace Report from FIS. “Today’s consumers aren’t looking for a loan, per se. They’re looking to fulfil their aspirations around planned life events. In Canada, more than eight out of 10 young millennials and three-quarters of Gen MX have at least one life event planned that will affect their finances during the next two to three years.”

These clients are highly skilled and comfortable with digital banking and tools — in fact, they expect it. With Gnowise predictive analytics, you can offer these clients a powerful new tool that brings innovation to the forefront.

8: Know when clients are ready for change

“Banks should consider using data analytics to anticipate when significant consumer life events, such as buying a car or house, are likely to occur. Key lifestyle indicators can be paired with models to generate appropriate and timely recommendations customized to the individual,” as the FIS Pace Report also indicates.

With Gnowise data, you can uncover patterns that indicate when the market is heading for higher purchases or sales. You’ll be able to forecast trends that appeal to clients at different life stages and can be there when they’re ready to make that change. And since Gnowise integrates with existing bank software and tools, you’ll have an even more powerful toolkit at your fingertips.

Final Thoughts

It’s an indisputable necessity to keep up with predictive analytics in lending. The Financial Brand not only agrees but is certain that banking pros can achieve great things with new technology.

“This isn’t just some unattainable dream either. Financial institutions who commit to a fully robust data analytics strategy will have the technological power to capture, analyze, and act on these moments as they happen — in real time, and in a programmatic manner. Banking providers that accelerate and prioritize their analytics capabilities will create truly exceptional, meaningful and memorable moments for consumers.”