HomeZada's New AI Chat Assistant Gives Homeowners More Power to Manage their Home
EL DORADO HILLS, Calif. -- Imagine the hundreds of questions that the average U.S. homeowner asks designers, architects, contractors, remodelers, maintenance and cleaning experts, mortgage and insurance brokers, home-financing specialists and others during the course of owning a home. Now imagine if you could get those questions answered instantaneously by the most-recognized experts in the home space and then delivered instantly to your personal device to allow you to make the best, fastest decisions possible. HomeZada, the world's first and only fully integrated, cloud-based platform dedicated to digital home management, is harnessing the unique power of AI to do just that. The platform is adding the AI Chat Assistant "Zada" to its all-in-one suite of apps designed to help homeowners simplify the ownership, maintenance, management and equity growth of what is for most their single-largest investment. According to HomeZada co-founder John Bodrozic, the new Zada AI Chat Assistant provides homeowners with the knowledge to answer any question about home maintenance, home remodels, home products and services, home insurance, home finances and the real estate process. He says it represents the most innovative upgrade to the HomeZada platform since it pioneered the digital home management space in 2012. "HomeZada's mission is to allow homeowners to access all of the data about their largest financial asset in one place," said Bodrozic. "Integrating Zada AI Chat with HomeZada's already-robust blend of unique apps, content and data gives our customers even more of the latest information they need to maximize the value of their homes and save money, time, stress and impact on the environment." Bodrozic says that homeowners spend considerable time looking for answers on remodel and renovation projects; product and brand comparisons; architect, contractor and designer searches; and how-to questions about new installations, maintenance and repairs. First-time buyers are most interested in home finances, insurance and the overall home-buying process – and a typical internet search for these topics leads to results that are often cluttered with irrelevant links and an unorganized cluster of saved bookmarks in the browser. "The new Zada Home AI assistant was integrated into the secure HomeZada application specifically to allow homeowners to ask complex homeownership questions that will empower them to better manage, maintain, protect and improve their homes." HomeZada customers can use "Zada" to accomplish the following: Engage in an interactive, two-way conversation about any home and residential real estate-related subject Answer questions about home management in a clean and clutter-free user interface Provide a long-threaded conversation that remembers previous questions and answers, allowing homeowners to explore answers at a deeper level than search engines Suggest additional questions with every answer Integrates with maintenance tasks to provide "How to…" instructions for every task Offer a remodel template with an automated budget range for each project item Provide a customized list of product and brand options for every remodel Save all questions and answers and link the chats to specific tasks and projects Allow previous chats to be searched to allow homeowners to aggregate their collective home research and knowledge in one place. Consistent with the nature of AI, HomeZada is committed to continually upgrading its AI Chat Assistant and other platform capabilities to give homeowners the latest information to allow them to make the best decisions possible about their homes. For a how-to video about HomeZada, go here. To see how HomeZada integrates its Home AI Chat Assistant into its suite of home management services, click here. About HomeZada HomeZada is the home industry's first and only fully integrated, cloud-based platform dedicated to digital home management. Created by project management pros in 2012 who wanted a similar, all-encompassing digital platform for their home, the Northern California company offers an all-in-one suite of apps able to schedule maintenance and repairs, streamline remodeling projects, document inventory for insurance purposes and manage all finances associated with the home. For the homeowner, the result is maximum property value and peace of mind and a significant savings of time, money, personal stress, and impact on the environment. For information, visit https://www.homezada.com.

Chime Technologies Extends Impact of AI for Real Estate with New Chatbot Feature
Chime AI Assistant will enable real estate professionals to respond, qualify and engage prospects 24/7 PHOENIX and LAS VEGAS, July 23, 2019 -- Inman Connect 2019 -- Chime Technologies, an operating system for the real estate industry, today introduced Chime Assistant, an AI-powered chatbot. A part of the Chime ecosystem, the add-on feature will be available this fall and enable brokers and real estate teams to capture new leads directly through website chat 24/7 and leverage the system's intelligent interaction for better lead qualification and conversion rates for incoming leads from other sources. To learn more, visit www.chime.me or stop by the Chime booth (#704) at this week's Inman Connect 2019 event to see a demonstration. Quick Links: Learn more about our AI-driven Chime Assistant in our latest blog post. See all of the innovations Chime offers via our real estate operating platform HERE. Watch our informational video HERE Consumers are increasingly looking for high-touch interactions with real estate brokers. The proliferation of mobile technology and social media channels has made instant connection and accessibility a critical factor for establishing leads and nurturing them further through the sales funnel. And yet, agents cannot be constantly tethered to a device to respond and nurture leads. By providing AI-powered chatbot functionality, potential clients can interact and ask questions via a broker web site while Chime Assistant handles the request – even in the middle of the night. Featuring a 30 second instant response and intelligent interaction that mirrors chatting with a real person, Chime Assistant can automatically classify leads based on information gathered during the conversation. Agents will then be notified with a qualified lead and can take immediate action. Intelligent automation removes the manual work and costs associated with lead capture while simultaneously elevating conversion rates. With Chime Assistant agents can: Leverage Automated Lead Qualifying – enabling them to respond to and qualify new leads 24/7 even while in the field showing houses, putting together a contract, or at the closing table. Ensure Conversational Lead Capture – providing proactive opportunities to engage web site visitors as they browse, while gathering preference data and contact information for CRM integration. During the event, attendees can schedule a demo at the Chime booth (#704) to see the AI-powered Chatbot in action and enter to win an Apple Watch. Additionally, Wednesday, July 24th Chime will participate in the Booth Bar Crawl Happy Hour event from 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. on the show floor and Inman show attendees will have an exclusive opportunity to receive $100 off the monthly fee of the Chime enterprise package for new customers. "In the digital age, consumers are looking for immediate gratification and quick answers to their questions. Brokers already know their web site can be a powerful lead generation tool, but by leveraging our AI-powered chatbot they will soon have even more opportunities to make a connection – even if they aren't in the office," said Mike McGowan, Vice President of Sales, Chime. "Our introduction of Chime Assistant will ensure agents can capitalize on web-based leads and won't lose out to a competitor simply because they weren't available. No matter where a prospect may be in the sales cycle, we have the proven tools and technologies to help real estate teams manage their leads and move them faster to close." About Chime Technologies Chime is an all-in-one Sales Acceleration Platform for the real estate industry headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Its award-winning productivity suite offers a robust set of features that help real estate professionals and teams of all sizes run and grow their business. Chime Technologies operates as a US subsidiary of Renren, Inc. (RENN). For more information, contact [email protected] or 888-682-4463, or visit www.chime.me.

Alain Pinel Realtors Launches WeChat Micro-site for Chinese Real Estate Buyers
APR is the first U.S. real estate firm to launch a micro-site on China's WeChat. SARATOGA, CALIF. (NOVEMBER 15, 2017) - Alain Pinel Realtors (APR), the Bay Area's largest residential real estate firm, announced today a partnership with Chinese luxury real estate marketing agency, Caimeiju, making the brokerage the first U.S. real estate firm to launch a micro-site on China's WeChat. With more than 963 million monthly active Chinese users, WeChat is well positioned to assist Chinese buyers interested in buying real estate around the globe. Known as China's "app for everything," WeChat offers everything from free video calls and instant group chats to news updates, shopping, bill payments and easy sharing of large multimedia files. According to The National Association of Realtors, Chinese buyers purchased $31.7 billion worth of U.S. property between March of 2016 and 2017. In 2014 APR began promoting its brand and luxury real estate listings in China on Caimeiju.com/apr. Since then APR has embraced the China market, including sending multiple delegations to showcase Bay Area real estate at luxury property events in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. APR's decision to launch a WeChat micro-site with Caimeiju is in response to the increased social and online behavior of Chinese citizens. "Chinese buyers tend to do a lot more research than other consumers. Brand recognition is vital," said Michi Olson, vice president of Global Business Development and Relocation at APR. "Many of our agents already use WeChat to communicate with their Chinese clients on a personal level and can now do so easily at a brokerage level." Olson says she plans to make WeChat a feature of her meetings and discussions at LPS Shanghai 2017 in December, when she and her APR delegation will be in China. The new WeChat micro-site provides a central digital location on WeChat for sharing APR's company information, Bay Area market data, translated exclusive property listings from Caimeiju, and even a Chinese language Bay Area MLS search. "Because of stricter capital outflow restrictions, buyers who can invest in overseas luxury properties tend to be more more sophisticated about their options; they focus on quality over quantity," said Jeff Toth, founder of Caimeiju. "APR has been an innovator in this space and innovating on WeChat is an extension to make sharing information in China even easier." Caimeiju was founded in 2009 to provide luxury marketing solutions to high-end brokers, Realtors and developers selling to China's elite. About Alain Pinel Realtors® Alain Pinel Realtors (APR) is the largest privately owned residential real estate company in Northern California and is consistently ranked among the top 10 largest residential real estate firms in the United States based on closed-sales volume. The firm has 1,400 agents in more than 30 offices throughout Northern California. APR was founded in 1990 by Chairman and CEO Paul L. Hulme, and is based in Saratoga, Calif. Visit us at apr.com and china.apr.com.