LIEB BLOG

Legal Analysts

Showing posts with label Real Estate Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Real Estate Technology. Show all posts

Monday, August 25, 2014

Should I get solar? Not yet, transparent panels are the future

Transparent solar panels may be here sooner than you think.

Accordingly to Slash Gear, a team at Michigan State University has developed "a transparent luminescent solar concentrator which looks clear to the eye but can still harvest energy from wavelengths of light invisible to humans". Unfortunately, the team has not achieved panels that are efficient enough for use on your home just yet, but it seems that great strides are being achieved relatively quickly.

So, before you say yes to solar panels being placed on your roof, maybe you should just wait a few years to redo your sunroom with transparent solar panels and generate some power in the process.

Sunday, March 09, 2014

Smart Home Must Haves

Donald Bell of CNET goes through simple smart home upgrades that are must haves for those techies in the real estate world.

Mr. Bell discusses the best in smart lights, outlets, smoke detectors, thermostats and locks that will change your home and change your life.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Google's Project Tango & The Interior Design Profession

If you haven't yet read up on Project Tango, you should.

This technology will enable 3D scanning of indoor environments with your cell phone or better yet, Google Glass, in the very near future.

Imagine a world where you put on your Google Glasses and its Apps suggest furniture that fits the space and thereafter places visuals of the furniture before your eyes.

Will you need an interior designer in the future?

As we always say to real estate brokers at our School, we are out of the days when you could simply match clients to earn money as a professional and we are now part of a value-add industry.

Perhaps, you will still need an interior designer in the future, but their job will have a different purpose.

Only the future can tell.

Friday, February 14, 2014

StreetEasy is Free

Zillow just announced that StreetEasy is now a completely free service and no longer has its $10 per month fee for advanced search features.

Plus, StreetEasy now has a terrific new website - so, go check it out!

Now users can get access to past sale prices, building permit applications, tax abatements and much more.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Google and the Smart Home

Google is on its way to creating the “Smart Home,” revolutionizing the way we live in the home and bringing advanced technology to everyday appliances and devices. In the beginning of January, Google bought Nest Labs for 3.2 billion dollars. For those of you that do not know, Nest is the founder of the Learning Thermostat, which adapts to your daily routine, saves energy in the home, and can be controlled from your phone. Millions of Americans have outdated and complicated thermostats that are left at the same temperature all day, which, in turn, waste energy and increase heating bills. The Nest Learning Thermostat brings efficiency to home heating and is the hottest home appliance on the market. More and more homeowners are attracted to the idea that the home will now “adjust to us” and our schedules.

There are already talks of Google creating more tools and appliances that are connected to the internet. This “Internet of Things” began with the smartphone but is expanding to include vacuums, toasters, thermostats, refrigerators, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and many other mundane but essential household items. Some are afraid that the Google-run Smart Home will invade homeowners’ privacy by gathering and analyzing their personal information in order to improve the Internet of Things and user-based advertisements. However, Tony Fadell, CEO of Nest, has recently announced that there will be no change in the current privacy policy for Nest. This technology should considered as something that is exciting and revolutionary and will only make our lives easier.

Tony Fadell  is also the co-creator of the iPod and iPhone. Instead of selling the company to Apple, he has decided that Google is the company that can best support Nest’s growth and development.  Google understands Nest and is eager to take people’s interests to a whole new level.