At the time, I didn't have any projects that could help them, and wasn't in a position to start anything new.Recently, I believe I have an idea for some technology that I could produce in a month or two that once completed could provide a daily list of every property owner in a given state (or area) who died in the last 24 hours as well as contact information for their next of kin.

Maybe I'm just advocating to look at these guys with a different lens...Especially if you started in RE before low interest rates, low inventory, iBuyers, and technology made it faster for big budgets to find deals. 

While the poor and middle classes haven't seen their income rising much over the last decades, they're surviving thanks the deflation resulting from technological progress and ever cheaper goods being produced in countries like China or Vietnam (although that has been destroying many of their jobs). 

People are emphasizing quality of life and want to be here.Challenge and technology both create opportunities.

Technology is giving us new options, and is disrupting some of the old ways things have always been done.

This is part of why we like short-term rentals for our own direction -- as you can really gain an edge if you can get the backend technology set up well. 

or using available technology to increase sales, profits, etc. 

I do find the blockchain technology extremely useful for some applications and has benefits but "investing" in virtual real estate is more like gambling if you ask me.

Here are some companies with technologies that can be deployed to find water leaks:Water SignalIntelliflowAquarias SpectrumThere are others

Im not completely opposed to changing my intent, but think that i have some decent processes etc that will continue to work (even if requiring some modifications because of the lack of technological assistance) as long as i can get over this small hurdle :)