Consumer Home Searching Sucks
Issue 6 - November 13th, 2020
Let's take a second to think about the current method for home searching: 1.You visit Zillow or another search platform 2. You see a "Google-like" search bar that asks the user to input the basics - zip, price, or other classic search metrics 3. You hit "Search" and a laundry list of properties shows up with an infinite scroll or a map with pin dots spread across it. 4. You think OK... what the hell do I do next.. Let's hit the properties with the coolest photos and go from there!!!
You get zero insight or cool data unless you dig into other sources for things like the Walk Score, school ratings, or awesome restaurants in the area. The user is forced to do more WORK to find data that is readily available all over the internet.
I am going to toss out a personal idea of mine that some search portals are starting to test and display, but there is so much room for growth and innovation on the consumer search landscape.
Lifestyle-Based Searching
1. You visit a search portal 2. You type in a sentence "I have 2 kids, a wife, and a dog, and we want to live in Austin within walking distance of my office and close to public parks and a coffee shop" or " I am single and moving to Los Angeles and want to live close to live music venues and awesome nightlife" or "I live in San Francisco and want to live within walking distance of a BART stop and incredible biking trails". (You get what I am saying). In this futuristic searching world, imagine how much more interesting and incredible the search results would be on the next page. You could still have all of the classic filters around beds/baths/price, but the next level layer of data provided by this type of searching would be life changing. The current way of performing this type of search involves much more research and work on the behalf of the user or by asking their agent. The data to provide this type of searching is out there, and I am pumped to see it become more mainstream.
Newsworthy Links To Share
Seattle-based home-valuation start-up, Plunk, announces $1M dollar fundraise. Plunk helps homeowners play "what if" scenarios to determine ROI on various home improvement projects such as updating a kitchen or bathroom. Their software uses AI and machine learning to assess the decision and provide guidance to the homeowner. The idea is to give consumers the same tech-driven investment advice they can get with personal finances or stocks, but for their home. Read more HERE.
Envoy secures $81 million in funding. Envoy is a community-based shared mobility platform, providing on-demand electric vehicles as an exclusive amenity for apartments, hotels, and workplaces; Mobility as an Amenity™ where you live, work or stay. Read More HERE.
Side Inc. is a brokerage platform that targets high producing agents and teams, and Guy Gal is on a mission to build a nationwide platform to serve the high-volume real estate agent in a reimagined way. Read more HERE.
Fathom Realty, a cloud-based brokerage firm out of North Carolina, launches title insurance services after acquisition. Brokerage firms continue to tack on title and mortgage services for their agents to use with their clients, and I don't see this slowing down anytime soon. Read more HERE.
eXp Realty launches commercial real estate brokerage services in 35 states with plans to launch all 50 by the end of 2020. The rocket ship at eXp continues to fly. Their growth numbers are staggering, and now they are taking a serious look at the commercial brokerage side of the industry. Read more HERE.