Tayside Solicitors Property Centre (TSPC) is embracing artificial intelligence to help people find their next home.
For decades TSPC has perhaps been best known for its free guide of properties on sale from local solicitors.
But digital innovation is now the key priority of manager Angela Wallace, who was appointed in July.
The print guide stopped last year and TSPC will soon unveil a better website, a rebrand campaign as well as launching an industry leading app by the end of this year.
How TSPC artificial intelligence website and app will work
Angela says the new app and website being developed will “blow your socks off”.
“I was instrumental in the development of the Purple Bricks app and know what worked and what didn’t,” she said.
“The apps out there don’t even touch the sides of where we are going.
“Our app will know, because of AI, what you’ve been looking for.
“So when you’re walking down the street, it will send a message to tell you there’s a property just two streets away that has come on the market that is what you’ve been looking for.
“You can’t get that anywhere else.”
The app is expected to be ready this summer while an improved website, with better functionality, is launching this spring.
Artificial intelligence will also be part of the new TSPC website.
Angela said: “It will ask what you are looking for and a few more questions about your likes and then do the rest.
“It will come back to you with exactly what you are looking for and say ‘we know you said you were looking this type of home but we’ve found this one too.’
“The more you interact with it, the more it learns about what kind of properties would really suit you.”
Technology innovations
The new website will also have better search functionality – for instance asking it to find properties near to individual schools.
Other coming innovations will be the putting QR codes on for sale boards that take people to the schedule.
A further development of the app will be the creation of a ‘property passport’ for important documents.
Angela, who lives in Springfield in Fife, admits the significant investment in tech won’t come cheap.
But she sees it as an investment in the future of the local service in an age when major tech companies such as Zoopla and Rightmove advertise local property.
Despite the emergence of these firms, TSPC says it retain an 81% market share for Dundee city centre properties.
Supporting first-time buyers
TSPC’s rebranding will focus on the word ‘more’.
“We offer more expertise, we market more properties and more choice,” Angela explains.
“We can do more so people can do less. That will be a big message from us going forward.
“While we do more and invest in proptech it won’t take away from our commitment to the community.
“TSPC has also been supporting first-time buyers. We do everything we can to make them feel prepared to make that big step.
“We are holding events where they can get free advice from solicitors and mortgage advisors.
“My goal for TSPC is to continue to grow market share and to be a self-sufficient business so we can still be here to serve the people of the area regardless of what the market is doing.”
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