Usually, when we hear swipe right or swipe left, dating apps are the first things that come to mind. But, have those words ever made you think of real estate before? Well, if you’re in New York, you probably will now. The swipe right and swipe left match-making technology is now being used by the real-estate app, Casa Blanca, to help users find their dream home.
Licensed real estate broker, Hannah Bomze, started the H.E.S.C. Company LLC in May of last year as a brokerage. Under the name “Let’s Real Estate”, the company began without an app. This month the company rebranded itself as Casa Blanca and rolled out its new swiping app to make finding your dream home a lot easier.
Casa Blanca says the app helps eliminate the middleman and even gives buyers up to 1% cashback on their final purchase price. They can do this thanks to their non-traditional commission structure. The company makes money by taking a cut of a seller’s commission that is generated by listings on its app. “Part of the experience of the app is every single apartment you’re looking at, we tell you how much you get back,” said Bomze.
The company offers brand partnerships. It can “identify renovation opportunities on a user’s behalf — providing timelines and pricing quotes on prospective work”. Some of the companies it works with are Block Renovation and July AC, but more will be announced.
The app also streamlines and sorts listings based on a user’s preferences. In the Profile & Preferences section, you can set your search parameters based on amenities, budget, neighborhood, and buying versus renting. In addition, the app offers more customizable options like a “user’s unique style, renovation opportunities, and personal lifestyle considerations” that will help you see beyond just the square footage.
The app also simplifies listings for you. With each swipe, the app learns what you do like so it can better send you curated recommendations. With this information, the Casa Blanca app can sort through the thousands of listings, and make sure your “best matches” appear first. At the same time, it saves the listings you like and removes the ones you don’t.
Tracking preferred listings and scheduling viewings can all be done straight through the app. And, when you’re ready to buy or rent, you are matched with a Casa Blanca agent that will help guide you through to the ending process.
“Ultimately we want people to be using the app to find their new home,” Bomze says. “The unique search engine we’ve built—tailoring questions to each user and using their answers to sort through every listing in New York City—is designed to streamline the house-hunting process and bring them the listings they want to see faster.”
However, Casa Blanca isn’t the first real-estate app to use the dating swipe feature. Doorsteps Swipe tried it a few years ago, and now it no longer operates. However, there is hope for Casa Blanca. While in beta, it made $100 million in sales. And, with more inventory available now because of the pandemic, maybe its future will continue to swipe right.
Veronica Garcia has a Bachelor of Journalism and Bachelor of Science in Radio/TV/Film from The University of Texas at Austin. When she’s not writing, she’s in the kitchen trying to attempt every Nailed It! dessert, or on the hunt trying to find the latest Funko Pop! to add to her collection.
