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We’re living in a “proptech” renaissance. Several cutting-edge proptech companies (short for property technology) have recently emerged from the woodwork to alter and elevate the real estate industry. Some of these companies work exclusively with immersive technologies to streamline the home viewing process; others dabble in blockchain technology to redefine home ownership; and some companies, like Nobul, want to change the entire way real estate operates.

In this article, let’s focus on Nobul, which Deloitte recently crowned the fastest-growing tech company in the country. The company’s commitment to transparency has caused the industry to re-evaluate several of its practices. Below, we explore the things before Nobul and how things are now.

“Opaque and Challenging”: The Way Things Were

In a recent interview with Superb Crew, Nobul CEO Regan McGee referred to real estate as “an industry that has – for decades – been widely regarded by homebuyers as opaque and challenging.”

He isn’t wrong. In the past, verifiable agent information, consumer resources, easy valuations and insights were challenging to come by – if not downright impossible.

When you searched for an agent, you had to gamble on your parents’ recommendation – or whatever smiling face you saw on a bus stop ad. You had little recourse for finding an agent’s transaction history, verified reviews, commission rates or services. Meanwhile, agents used aggressive salesperson-style tactics to nurture their inbound leads, leaving consumers feeling swept up and choiceless.

Elsewhere, sellers had to jump through pricy, time-consuming hoops to evaluate their homes properly; consumers had to fight tooth and nail for actionable resources on mortgages and affordability; and you had to just hope the daily newspaper had insights about market conditions.

It was opaque. And it was challenging.

Transparency and Accessibility: How Nobul Empowers Modern Real Estate Consumers

Nobul addresses each of the grievances above.

When it launched in 2017, its flagship offering was its revolutionary “agent matchmaking” service, which uses an AI algorithm to vet and recommend agents. To elevate transparency, the company demands the full specs on a real estate agent: their transaction history, pricing, service list and real reviews. All the things you couldn’t find before. Moreover, Nobul encourages agents to compete for a buyer or seller’s business by offering lowered rates or better services. This service has helped add transparency, accountability and credibility to the industry.

As the company grew, it added new services and functionalities. Now on Nobul, you can find a free, fast home valuation tool that lets you know what your property is worth. You can peruse consumer-centric tools like affordability calculators and mortgage comparisons. And consumers can read real-time market conditions indicators to tell them if they’re in a seller’s or buyer’s market.

It’s all part of a new, transparent real estate ecosystem. While some industry stalwarts complained about Nobul in the early days (no one likes to work for their supper when supper was free before), practitioners have come around to the idea. The consumer-centric platform adds some much-needed credibility to an industry once aptly defined as “challenging and opaque.”