Tech makes our lives easier, although one could argue that it also makes home buying tougher in this hyper-competitive housing market. With so many things moving faster—from listing a house to making an offer—sitting by and waiting for the perfect home to cross your path doesn’t work anymore.  

And why is everything moving so fast? Yes, the market has been saturated with buyers and short on sellers. 

But aside from that, the real estate landscape is changing. Technology is swiftly becoming the rule, not the exception. Buyers instruct their realtors via text, sellers insist on a state-of-the-art online slideshow before they’ll agree to list their home. Home features that were once thought of as futuristic impossibilities are now commonplace. 

So how can you successfully navigate this new world?

In the article, “15 Technology Trends Disrupting Real Estate Today,” Forbes took a look at the many ways things are rapidly evolving in real estate. We’ve highlighted just a few of the FAQs house hunters are asking as they enter this changing landscape.  

Is it safe? 

While home buyers are usually concerned with how safe the neighborhood is, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought another type of safety to the forefront. Today’s buyers are also focusing on high-tech health features. They’re interested in special HEPA filters with UV lights, touchless entry and automated sanitization measures. 

When it comes to home security, traditional alarm systems are no longer the Cadillac of protection. Buyers are looking to make use of smart technology to protect themselves and their abode. These can include both interior and exterior monitoring capabilities through Wi-Fi enabled doorbells with video and a myriad of other possibilities. 

Nick Pino of Techradar has some recommendations for snazzy new gadgets designed to safeguard your home and look good doing it: 

• Kwikset Kevo Smart Lock – This smart lock allows you to use a key fob, cell phone or even an actual key (gasp!) to unlock your door. Have a friend coming to watch your pet while you’re gone? You can grant them an eKey that expires after a set time. 
• Kuna Light Fixture – It looks like a stylish light, but it’s so much more. At the bottom of the light is an HD camera that records anyone near your door. It also allows for two-way communication so you can interrogate anyone who seems a tad suspicious.

Adapting the technology to make those measures happen will be key in the success of new real estate. 

How much is it worth? 

It’s fun to go online, price your current house and be pleasantly surprised that it’s worth more (sometimes a whole lot more) than you paid for it. Ah, but therein lies the rub. 

Soley using an Automated Valuation Model (as many of those “enter your address and we’ll give you the value” websites use), doesn’t take into account traditional comps or comparable homes that have recently sold in your area. If, for example, the house next door sold last week for $50k under the market price (unlikely in today’s environment, but bear with us), that won’t be reflected in the online valuation. 

Today’s smart realtors—hopefully you have one of those—will moderate the automated valuation with traditional comps to get the actual market value. 

Is there a 3D Video Tour? How about a live video?

House hunting can be exhausting. Not only the physical process, but riding the emotional ups-and-downs. You fall in love with the on-paper layout and exterior of a house only to see the inside and learn it isn’t at all what you want. Or the view from inside shows your neighbor’s brick wall. 

Enter 3D tours. Find a house, go online and take a tour. See a dealbreaker and you can rule out that property, saving you, your realtor and the seller valuable time. 

Take it a step further. Maybe there’s a house that looks interesting—both on paper and online—but you’re still not convinced. Or, perhaps you’re not local to the area. Off goes your realtor to the property to walk through it while on a live video! That’s pretty darn close to being able to check it out yourself.

Can’t you just text me?

Let’s be honest. If you could text rather than make a phone call, wouldn’t you? (We know some of you love to chat on the phone, but you’re rare and beautiful unicorns. The rest of us just don’t wanna.)

As homes are now often sold before they’re even on the market, having a realtor who will text you—and respond to you quickly—is a huge advantage.

Whether you’re buying or selling, if it’s been a decade or so since you’ve been involved in the process, the experience will be much different than you remember. We’d venture a guess, however, that most of these innovations will be for the better.