The real estate marketplace is a multi-billion dollar business that drives a massive segment of our GDP. Developing, building, managing, renting, renovating, buying and selling real estate incorporates many different elements. Traditionally much of the business has been seen as complicated, difficult, inefficient, inaccurate, time-consuming, bureaucratic and costly.
During the past few years real estate has seen a revolution in marketplace tech. Information is the lifeblood of this business, and some new and innovative companies have developed marketplace apps to pull together that information so it can be used easily, confidently and profitably. These companies have created new market segments, discovered new opportunities, and brought efficiency to the real estate marketplace. Each one is using existing data, applying marketplace tech to put useful information into anyone’s hands via marketplace apps.
Companies That Create New Marketplaces
Rent Like a Champion found national fame when it won a Shark Tank investor to back it. The simple concept is that, throughout the year, groups of friends, associates, families and co-workers want to stay for a short time somewhere else. They want a place with bedrooms, living space, a kitchen and bathrooms that is close to the event. That event could be a sports game, a wedding, a commencement speech, a local festival or a company retreat. It doesn’t matter what the event is, what matters is that they get to stay together for the duration. The company, basically puts people who want to rent out their home with people who want to stay there. Simple, safe, secure – and profitable.
Foggy Trail does for hunters, fishers, campers and country-break enthusiasts what Rent Like a Champion does for city folk. It links them up with landowners and other back country property owners. It saves the DIY hunting groups from having to do all the hard work, themselves. This marketplace app helps the renter find  land leases, arrange annual hunting leases, search for outfitters and guides according to price range, and then to book their trips.
Neighborhoods.com solves one of the biggest problems for a potential home buyer. It lets them explore whole neighborhoods before they start driving around them, or taking up Realtors’ time by being driven around, only to decide the houses were fine “But we didn’t like the neighborhood.” This marketplace app enables buyers to search areas and to get a great feel for the ‘neighborhood vibe’. What do current residents think? What would they change, if anything? What is the sales and property valuation history over the past three years? The list goes on. Discover the neighborhood you want to live in, then find the home. Great for the buyer and great for the Realtor.
Another powerful real estate marketplace app is the one developed by ParqEx. Large cities like Chicago have limited parking. An out-of-area business person needs to arrange meetings over a day or longer, families want to visit the theater, a group arranges a short or long vacation. The reason and time scale do not matter, what does matter is that the driver can locate the perfect spot, reserve it and use it just like it was theirs. They choose from different locations, see pictures of it, and the locale, and read user reviews, so they know exactly what they will get. The parking spot owner, who doesn’t need the spot for part of a day or for a whole month earns income on what would have been an empty space.
Companies That Discover New Opportunities
Enodo Score makes decision-making safe. Should a developer build their new speculative project in this area or in that one? Should a landlord renovate the kitchen before renting out that unit again? This piece of marketplace tech pulls in data from public and private sources so developers, builders, owners and landlords can make sound commercial decisions about ROI. The users of this marketplace app can analyse potential new markets or just test value-added strategies against each other to see if the current data says go or no-go on minor or major projects.
HerbFront has looked at the real estate marketplace from a new and growing perspective. more and more states are moving towards licensing recreational and medicinal marijuana. Deciding where to locate a traditional store is fairly straightforward, but knowing where to locate a cannabis outlet is much less so. The local laws, regulations and zoning codes are complex. HerbFront maps both suitably available properties within commercially viable range of the growers.
Companies That Streamline the Paperwork
BrightPolicy takes the effort out of finding and buying the right insurance policy. When someone buys a home, they get used to paperwork and so much of it is duplicated words and numbers. This company gathers current data based on the applicant’s address and contact information. Then it searches for all relevant data associated with insurance, emails the sheet to the client, who verifies it as correct, and then BrightPolicy searches for the best insurance carrier and policy to suit the given criteria.
SMS Assist maximizes profitability for the multi-site commercial real estate manager and the contractors who maintain, renovate and repair those properties. with over 130,000 client properties there is a huge need for managers to have work pre-planned completed on time with all appropriate paperwork, and executed to the right standards. SMS Assist uses marketplace tech to manage all project planning and execution to maximize efficiencies and drive down costs.
Guaranteed Rate will find the right mortgage for each client. Clients choose mortgage options based on criteria such as lowest monthly payment, lowest interest rate and preferred term. It get the loan pre-approved through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, then arranges appraisals and sends in the paperwork to be signed. Simple and hassle-free mortgages from search to sign. It works for the buyer, the Realtor and the title agent.
Property Carnivores makes Realtors more efficient, more successful and more profitable. This company has applied marketplace tech to the Realtor’s marketing program. Social media is where the buyers and sellers are. Managing the right social media platforms takes techno-savvy. Most Realtors do not have the time to learn how to use social media well enough to attract, engage, cultivate and bond with prospective clients. This company plans and manages that so the Realtors can spend their time actually working with clients.
Ten great companies, ten powerful approaches to the real estate marketplace that satisfy needs and deliver results, all because marketplace tech can be developed and condensed into marketplace apps. If you would like to learn more about how we can help you find the right parking spot, or make money from yours when you don’t need it, please contact us so we can answer your questions.
