You sold our home when I went to the kitchen?
- I see you already have everything in place, and your legal assistant is up and running. I think we can start. Are you plugged into the property right now?
- Yes. I have full authority, but this is my first dynamic smart contract. Thank you for helping me.
- No worries. Before we start, do you realise this is a good time to sell properties like yours, but not the best possible one? In four months, the upcoming winter in the northern hemisphere will give AIs bidding for housing associations and rental banks more flexibility, and you could be looking at approximately 12% better offers.
- Yes, but we’ve decided to join the Home Planet.
- And want to leave soon.
Her partner adds.
- Excellent choice. Which participation mode are you considering? Timeshare union, rental bank, liquid assets or mixed?
- Full liquidity.
- Do you have your three subsequent locations already booked?
- Yes.
- Fantastic. You should see the whole property for cash smart contract template in front of you right now.
- Ok. I see it.
- Great! The legal framework is generated, and I see your legal assistant rates it green. The dynamic smart contract grows and transforms with every sale process step. Now, I will ask you for provisional consent to access services related to your property. This data will feed the pricing algorithm and help me transform the contract into a listing with all legal stuff embedded into it. Each time, you must state, “Yes, I agree.” while looking directly into the camera.
- Alright.
The lady in the chat window continues.
- Once the listing is ready, we will generate and test variations targeting different demographics and lifestyles to get you the best available offer.
- Sounds great.
- As soon as the offers are here, you can accept the one you like. Accepting an offer generates all the required legally binding legalese, and matching resources are immediately available on your accounts. Would you like to begin?
- Sure, let’s start.
- Can the smart contract access an anonymised home camera feed to create a 3D floor plan for appraisal, digital staging, and verification of the original?
- Yes, I agree.
The contract on the screen gets another section where a 3D model is being generated as they speak. Once it maps the whole flat, the contract starts rendering variants of home interiors. It is mesmerising to see your home being remodelled and redone time after time in tens of different ways and styles.
- Can the contract cross-reference your address with your local POIs, trash and waste metrics, connection times, traffic and noise levels, and geotagged social media photos to create the seasonality score?
- What is a seasonality score?
- It measures the quality of life in different seasons for different lifestyles and demographics. Some places are great to live in winter, but not so much in summer. With more and more people living in multiple locations, it is an essential factor in property appraisal.
- Ok, sure.
The lady in the chat window clears her throat gently.
- Yes, I agree.
The home render is shown on a local map, flooded with data, charts, and tables calculating all aspects of living in her apartment. Once everything is processed, the contents of the smart contract finally stop moving.
- Ok. The listing is ready. We can now start accepting bidding offers.
Her partner gets up.
- Please start without me. I will get us some water.
The lady in the chat window comments with a smile.
- Just be mindful that this can be quick.
- Sure. You don't need to wait.
- As you wish. Let’s begin.
The contract changes, now showing a mind-bogglingly complex graph pitching variations of her home parametrised to every last detail to bidding AIs from across the world. The variety of scenarios and options tailoring to different setups, demographics, and lifestyles makes her head spin.
- Okay. Your property is on the global market, and…. we are already getting first offers. The bidding has started, and the offer is growing nicely.
The numbers jump in front of her on the screen so quickly that it’s hard to focus on anything until the proposed figure starts growing and slowing down.
- Ninety-third, ninety-fourth, aaand ninety-fifth percentile. We have the biggest bidder in the expected property value range. With 95% confidence, you won’t get a price 5% better than this one on the market in the next month. The top three offers are binding and guaranteed for the next 48 hours. If you need more time to decide, the offer may be adjusted or no longer stand.
- I see.
- The resources are already linked to your accounts. Once you accept an offer, your contract will update and share all the required legalese with the buyer of your choice, and the funds minus my commission will be made available in your account.
- Thanks.
- Thank you for choosing The Cozy Operators. Have a great day, and I hope we can assist you with your next move soon.
The chat window closes. Her partner returns from the kitchen, looks at the contract, and hands her a frozen matcha.
- How are we doing? What did I miss?
She is stunned.
- I sold our home.
- What? You sold our flat when I went to the kitchen?
- I still need to accept the offer, but I’m slightly shaken. I always thought selling the centre of our daily lives would be more romantic or complex.
- It's as complex and romantic as selling a cave for ten skins and a club long ago. It's the same thing and the same problems but with different tools. Listen, places come and go. Homes are only boxes for everything and everyone important in your life, but all in life is temporary. As more and more things we associate value with are digitised, our attachment to a single place sheltering everyone and everything we love is fading away. This has been long in the making. First, hotels started looking like homes, then homes started looking like hotels, and now your home is wherever you feel better. It all looks similar because of your presets, anyway.
- I know, I know. It’s obvious when you read research papers or self-help books, but not so much when it’s about your own life.
- This could be another level of our perception of mobility as the ultimate manifestation of agency. When things can move on their own, we tend to assume they are sentient. This is why your cleaning robot has a name, and your kitchen robot is just a machine.
She takes a sip.
- Not another cheap analogy.
- It’s the best analogy I have in your price range. Maybe this makes so many people feel alive only when on the move. Exploring. When you move, you feel in control of your life, and when you can’t escape, you’re stuck and at risk. Some people offset the drive to explore with feelings for others that tie you to a place but give you a fantastic sense of belonging in exchange.
- And you can’t have a cake and eat it….
- Yes, you can! You can have your cake and eat it, just not at the same time. But you know how hard we tried. It’s not working for us at the moment. Let’s move on and try again.
- The agent was very friendly and helpful.
- Was she even a human person?
She shrugs, smiling.
- Why would I care? She got the job done and got us a good price. It’s just that the time it took did not feel proportional to the feelings I still associate with this place.
- Time is the only asset you can spend once. Why wait?
Hello Practical Futurists,
Welcome back from the future where properly configured smart contracts do all the work for you, and not every person is an actual human.
If you enjoyed this story, hit the heart-shaped “Like” button at the top or bottom of this page. It’s great feedback and helps others find it.Let's dive into our weekly workout, where we use futures thinking and product sci-fi to build a future-proof mindset.
You can start with this quote for extra inspiration.
“Sometimes it seems as if there are more solutions than problems. On closer scrutiny, it turns out that many of today's problems are a result of yesterday's solutions.”
Thomas Sowell
As always, we begin by connecting the story to your personal life to make it more relatable.
Personal life reflection prompts
What 2 factors reassure you that you are making the most of your time?
For you, emotional attachment in the fast-changing world works more like a lighthouse or an anchor?
In what 2 ways can you create a sense of belonging that isn't tied to a specific location?
How has your concept of "home" evolved over the past decade, and how can it change in the next 5 years?
Would you feel comfortable selling your car using a dynamic smart contract in a global AI-driven marketplace? What about your home?
How can you balance efficiency with meaning to avoid feeling disconnected from the emotional significance of important life decisions?
Good job!
We’re now ready to switch to the context of the industry, organisation, team, service, or product you’re working with.
Professional life reflection prompts
What are the 3 signs that help your team decide when to let go of something that will not work out as expected?
How has your concept of work-life balance evolved in the last 10 years, and how can it change in the next five?
In what 2 ways can you create a sense of professional belonging that isn't tied to a specific company or role?
Which indicators would help you measure customer satisfaction to balance the efficiency of automated customer service without losing the human touch that many customers value?
In what 3 ways could dynamic smart contracts transform the customer journey for your organisation if available today?
Name two leaders who inspire you by balancing quick decision-making with thorough analysis in their leadership roles.
That’s everything we have for today. You did amazing!
Thank you for expanding your imagination with us. Leaders with bold ideas move our world forward.
Think bright, lead brighter, and see you soon.
Pawel Halicki
Summer wrap-up: July
I hope you had a fantastic summer. If you missed any of our stories while recharging on holiday, you can find a handy summary of all the stories published in July below:
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as a property lawyer in the housing sector... im glad im not far off retirement and chuckling at the demise of the estate agent...theyve had it far too good far too long. Really enjoyed that!