Mapping the real estate UX opportunity in Toronto
A map into the scope of our real estate research
These are some thoughts on real estate product ideation. Innovation is hampered with TREB’s data access agreement, so I try and map out where the opportunities lie. I can think of a few neat ideas that can strengthen the brand and make an impression on how people discover their next home.
These opportunities are not in scope of TREB data access agreement:
- How leads are distributed
- How buyers book property showings/tours
- The property listing content layout (with certain exceptions like ordering)
Generally, something is allowed as long as it is used to
help buyers with a bona fide interest in real estate transactions.
Thats the golden rule. It’s also why Mongohouse was challenged, in my opinion; their online business model relied heavily on advertising and so the usage of the data wasn’t for the “transaction” part of the business.
As an Authorized VOW Provider, the data license usage policy mirrors that which an authorized brokerage can do. I feel the amount of innovation possible is restricted because of this. I have a number of real estate interfaces I want to test out but they all must be in scope under rule # 1 above.
Condo Photo Deduplication
If you’ve ever been interested in buying a condo in Toronto, you’ll find yourself scrolling past the same ol’ photos of the building amenities, again and again. I predict that users don’t want to do this. Once you’ve seen the photos more than 5 times, do you really want to see the pool, gym, and party room again? Of course, sellers agents must upload them for completions sake, even though they’ve already been uploaded 20 times. Deduplicating, a.k.a “deduping”, the photos means to understand which photos are duplicates and discarding them. Of course, we won’t actually delete any photos. Maybe hide them, or make it known to the user that the following photos are considered duplicates. This saves the user time and allows them to focus on the photos that show what is special about the property.
The utility of such a feature assumes that users will be consistently looking at multiple units from the same building, and thus will feel the “pain” of photo duplicates. It’s likely that this isn’t the dominant user behaviour. For example, viewing one listing per building. Even if they do view the same building, they would need to view it in relatively quick succession.
Voice-Assisted Neighbourhood Tour
I’ve been thinking about how much time people spend in their cars thinking about real estate alternative places to live. I envision an app where you could drive around and a voice assistant (think Siri) will díctate when your passing by top performing schools, low crime rate areas and homes that match your property search.
This product would be categorized under property “discovery” functionality. It would help someone who otherwise would have never considered an area or neighbourhood if they weren’t driving around with the app running. Safely, of course, and within distracted driving guidelines.
I feel like starting that conversation with real estate customers is super valuable for brands. These will seek to establish an identity around real estate education, simple user experiences and innovative discovery channels. Aside from the discovery value, there might be value in learning how to compare neighbourhoods and rationalize a neighbourhood you really liked, but couldn’t communicate to your significant other or family. The key is to package the experience seamlessly with their existing driving habits.
A great marketing channel for the distribution of this app would be radio shows like Flo93–5. As people are driving and tuning in, they would realize the value of having an automated assistant help their home search while they drive.
Discovery is essential to real-estate transactions
Usage of the listings data to create a product such as this would fall within the guidelines. So would condo photo deduplication, I strongly believe. These are both services that a brokerage can provide to its clients to make their lives easier. More importantly, the messaging of such products would align well with brands who care about user experience, user education and simplifying access to listings.
First-Annual Realtor.ca Hackathon
This year, Realtor held it’s first hackathon near Ottawa. An event such as this would be fertile ground for product ideation and discussion. The feedback and impressions received at this event would be magnified by industry leaders who are working together to improve real estate access for consumers.
We’re waiting for the Toronto edition!
Thanks for reading!
We’ll innovate together until we achieve our mission of bridging the next-generation of technology user experiences.
