For a year that has been plagued by diseases, protests and economic problems, it could seem a little weird to think of any company as one of the best. Literally every industry on the globe was hit by the economic impact of the COVID-19 and the real estate industry got its fair share of the heat. These factors notwithstanding, some brands made their mark. 

In this article, we'll be looking at the top names in the real estate industry that not only have been around for a while now, but are making a difference. This is important because it is only a natural yearning of most people to want to deal with the best hands in every industry. 

There are a lot of advantages in knowing the perks key players in an industry offer a potential client. In this disposition, it would seem that the number one advantage is the confidence clients get when they know that they'll be sure of getting premium services for their real estate deals. Again,as most of these companies are tech-driven, it comes as no surprise that they generally tend to change the game by bringing innovations to both property owners, agents, and clients. 

Without further ado, let's look at a few of these companies. 

1. Simon Property Group

The Simon Property Group is pretty much the biggest real estate company in this list in terms of share capital and  leasable land mass which measures 241 million square feet. The company may have hundreds of properties across Asia and North America but it is its annual sales across the world that is more awe-inspiring. 

Like every other real estate company out there, Simon Property Group took a great hit when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. But perhaps its extensive network of properties and resources accumulated over the years helped buffer the effect of this year's pandemic ad they adapted to both serve their clients and still make some money. 

2. Rentberry

Rentberry has evolved into one of the leading names in the real estate industry especially in the last two years. Founded in 2015, Rentberry has raised over $12 million in VC capital. With moves into the senior homes space Rentberry is looking to capitalize on the 4% annual growth of care home residents. Unlike classified sites like Craigslist and Zillow, Rentberry brings to the table an all-in-one rental solution. This means that all standard rental tasks can be done without the need for face-to-face contact; something that has been very helpful during the Covid-19 pandemic.

At Rentberry, landlords and property managers can list their properties, manage online rental applications, collect rent, and perform tenant screening. At the same time, tenants can make custom offers, pay their rent online, and sign a digital deed of agreement. 

3. WeSmartPark

Airbnb lets you turn your home into a rental property by turning your home into a hotel, the same way Uber provides a platform that allows you to use your vehicle to transport people around town. WeSmartPark is a digital solution to ease parking problems in major cities through a model similar to Airbnb and Uber.  

They help you monetize your parking spaces. To be specific, they help you offer your parking spots to drivers who pay you to rent them.  From what we know at the moment, WeSmartPark is currently operating in three cities: Barcelona, Madrid, and Santiago de Chile. However, there are plans by the company for expansion and launch into other major cities in the world.

4. DealPath

Just like the name hints, DealPath is a leading deal management platform for the commercial real estate investment sector. Its mission is to empower real estate investment and capital markets with adequate data while enhancing collaboration through purpose-built software. 

The company's cloud-based structure allows them to run an open ecosystem optimized to provide market data, deal management, investor reporting, and asset management for commercial real estate investment. It appears DealPath leans more on the data and AI side of things in this industry as the entirety of its process is geared towards providing enough information and statistics that are relevant to real estate deals.

5. AskDoss

AskDoss is an AI-driven real estate company with a mission to make real estate deals better, faster and smarter. It's a "search and transact'' property website where you get all your real estate needs to be solved. Tech-driven like the rest of the platforms here, you can make consultations, buy, sell and rent properties. In summary, with each passing day, the game is continuously changing. 

Needless to mention, people are going beyond the traditional means of doing things by tapping into the world of technology and AI. An interesting implication of this new kind of consumer demand is that companies in the real estate industry and beyond are going to constantly evolve. This evolution will ultimately do consumers good overall. But it goes without saying that only the best brands will survive.