Real estate search lacks innovation
Real estate search companies have mastered their craft and there are many amazing options for consumers to choose from when house hunting, but the truth of the matter is that listing syndication, marketing tools, and search features have seen little innovation in recent years, despite the drama and controversy surrounding the search providers.
It is no surprised that a lone Realtor in New Jersey has done more than just embedding an IDX in his site, no, Ryan Nish created a unique condo search tool and even has a patent pending on the technologies he is developing at CondoBuyerCloud.com.
Although Nish’s website offers traditional search using Diverse Solution’s IDX product, he has developed a search tool that offers condo hunter to see what other home buyers are paying for condos, broken down by neighborhood, size, and price. The company says it can uncover the best deals on the market using the custom search tool that “measures the two most important common financial characteristics all condos share: price per square foot and monthly maintenance fees.”
Comparing apples to apples
“Use this powerful information to compare apples to apples,” the company says. The interactive tool not only gives you an idea of the pricing trends in certain neighborhoods, but with certain condo sizes. Rather than searching all listings, it offers very specific results as seen below:
Real estate listings sold as commodities
Prior to his new real estate career, Nish was a trader and officer of a wholesale portfolio and interest rate management analyst at Allied Irish Bank. Prior to that, he was an Interest Rate Futures Trader at Penson GHCO and worked on the NYSE Trading Floor as a Clerk at Reynders Gray & Co after graduating from Villanova University.
Taking his trading experience to the real estate industry, it was likely easy for Nish to see condos as subjectively as stocks, whereas many in the industry sees properties behaving as unique pieces of data, rather than unique organisms that behave as an ecosystem.
Commoditizing real estate is not a tough sell or leap, but is sorely lacking in real estate search – except for in New York where Condo Buyer Cloud does just that. It will be interesting to see where Nish takes this and who will approach him first to buy his patent.
DavidPylyp
May 15, 2012 at 9:11 am
Maintenance Fees per square foot average for Twin Tower Super Building that share a REC center; social convener, bowling alley etc., sound better till you examine the 32 suite per floor on 35 floor in each tower. How does the price per square foot change when a building has 16 story and 8 suite per floor. You both have four elevators. OH….
All is great if you comparing exactly the same structure. When you are dealing with height, densities and amenities plus the OBVIOUSLY omitted factor; AGE of replacement and How much is in Financial Reserve, endless computer programs to make buyers decisions seem easier just complicate the terrain. Its the local knowledge that wins out when discussing value and community.
David Pylyp
Living in Toronto