Yahoo! launched a desktop Twitter monitoring app using Adobe Air. Nothing groundbreaking here. But it does raise a question: When will someone in online real estate develop an Air app for monitoring listings? Sure, mobile is important, but most of us still plant our butts in front of a computer for most of the day. Real-time updates on the desktop would be killer for serious home buyers, or people thinking about selling. Or how about real-time market analytics from the MLS delivered the same way? NASDAQ does it.
Zillow’s going to set up newspapers with online real estate sections. Good move for them. But why must newspapers continue to punt? At least there’s dignity in a Hail Mary when the clock’s running out. There are options.
I was in Vegas this week at the Prudential Convention. They have some interesting new things cooking. But they also have one old thing I think will become increasingly relevant: The largest VOW network in existence, a product of the company’s acquisition of eRealty several years ago. It will be interesting to watch the network’s progress as VOWs go mainstream, and brokers start to grok the difference between traffic and prospects.
A company called Hunch was launched this week by one of Flikr’s founders. Here’s how they describe themselves:
Hunch is a decision-making site that gets smarter the more it’s used.
After asking you 10 questions or fewer, Hunch will propose a concrete and customized result for hundreds of decisions of every kind: What kind of car should I buy? Should I switch to a Mac? Should I dump my boyfriend? Where should I go on vacation? Should I get a tattoo?
Sign up for the beta. It’s pretty cool. I’d like to see something like this in real estate. A ton of data is great, but a smart decision support tool is even better. And what a great tool for qualifying prospects!
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I would assume that a real-time regional listing/market analyzer will be on the horizon of real estate software development. Our company has been developing HomeQuest for some years, which users are quite happy with so far. But especially as things pick up in the spring/summer months, having some kind of real-time listing updater that could be scrolling across the top of your monitor, with flags for specific parameters, would be killer.
Brian,
Your comment about Hunch and how you’d like to see something like that applied to real estate hit close to home for me. That is a core component in our solution at http://www.FindBuyers.com. Unlike most real esate sites that let buyers search on location, price, and number of bedrooms and baths we give the buyers the ability to define all the minute details that go into making a purchasing decision of a home. Things like their must haves, like to haves, don’t care etc (separate dining room, desired move in date, what floor they want to live on for condos, etc) and then the system, akin to an online dating service, not only matches them to the appropriate homes but also calculates the percentage of relevancy of the match. So in essence we are assisting the buyers and sellers in making informed decisions based on their criteria not on our criteria. So i guess your wish has already been addressed at our site. Come by and have a look.
Regards,
Eldad Moraru
FindBuyers.com
Eldad:
I went to check out your site. I started to go through the process as a buyer, but stopped because the form required me to submit some pretty detailed and sensitive information with no clear explanation as to what lies on the other side of the submit button.
Brian,
Good point. Couple of things. 1. Most of that information is optional. As for sensitive info, we never share private identity stuff with ANYONE. You remain anonymous through the process to the other party (ie sellers). 2. To alleviate the “what’s on the other side of the submit button” we’re currenlty finishing up what we are calling a Test Drive feature where you get to do all that you just did without actually registering first. So you get to see how the system works and the results and only register (ie create a user ID and password etc) after you see the whole thing.
What do you think?
Eldad
Eldad:
I think you are moving in the right direction. A test drive would be great. Right now I am left wondering to whom – specifically – my information will be sent and what I will be get (or subjected to) once they get it.
Brian,
Thanks for the feedback. We spent a LOT of time up front thinking through exactly what concerns buyers, sellers and agents would have with our solution and took great care in developing the process to take all those fears into account. I think the challenge now is communicating that to the users and putting their minds at ease as to what we do and more importantly what we don’t do with the information supplied. As you know you can only do so much at any one time but certainly putting our user community at ease is a top priority. Stay tuned for more changes to come to make this point clear to everyone.
I think Hunch is ok. Just ok. Seems ripe for spammy commercial abuse and is basically a glorified version of the “What Kind of Kisser am I” widget.
One cool RE application of it could be neighborhood selection.
I need to try that app out, I was just thinking the other day that there must be an easy to use realtime solution. I have also been playing with TweetDeck quite a bit, but I am not sold on it yet. @garrons
Brian,
As promised we have completed out buyers’ Test Drive functionality. You get to use the system without registering. Give it a try: http://www.findbuyers.com/Web/TD_BuyerPropertyProfile.aspx
Remember though we are focused on the DC Metro area for now (DC, MD and VA) so keep your search to those areas so you can see results/properties.
Our thought is that buyers can see what makes us so different first without making the commitment but once they do they can opt to register and take full advantage of ALL the features we offer.
Let me know what you think. Feel free to Tweet me directly, post here or email me at eldad@findbuyers.com.
Let me know what you think.
Eldad
[...] wrote about Hunch after signing up to test the site a few months ago, noting its still-ambiguous relation to [...]
Brian,
Your comment about Hunch and how you'd like to see something like that applied to real estate hit close to home for me. That is a core component in our solution at http://www.FindBuyers.com. Unlike most real esate sites that let buyers search on location, price, and number of bedrooms and baths we give the buyers the ability to define all the minute details that go into making a purchasing decision of a home. Things like their must haves, like to haves, don't care etc (separate dining room, desired move in date, what floor they want to live on for condos, etc) and then the system, akin to an online dating service, not only matches them to the appropriate homes but also calculates the percentage of relevancy of the match. So in essence we are assisting the buyers and sellers in making informed decisions based on their criteria not on our criteria. So i guess your wish has already been addressed at our site. Come by and have a look.
Regards,
Eldad Moraru
FindBuyers.com