Back in the day, people would search for houses by scanning the newspapers or getting into the car and driving around their favorite neighborhoods to see if there were any “for sale” or “open house” signs being popped up. The Internet, the entrepreneurial spirit and the latest concepts have changed all of that.
Not only can interested homebuyers peruse online advertisements for the latest property for sale, they can also find the right real estate agent, a qualified mortgage broker, the best rates and anything else important to acquiring a residence to call your own through the proper channels on an array of websites.
Of course, if you’re a romanticist, both scenarios can be completed. A family can go for a drive, grab coffees and snacks and utilize the power of their smartphone to locate a dream property in a neighborhood of their choosing – ah, the beauty of the Internet and technology!
Indeed, purchasing a house, a condominium or any other type of residential property is extremely difficult and intimidating. This is why Drew Uher co-founded HomeLight in 2012 after he underwent the entire real estate ordeal with his wife.
After not being able to locate an experienced real estate agent and essentially entering the whole thing blindfolded, he and his team of investors decided to launch the San Francisco, California-based website to list more than two million dependable, knowledgeable and unbiased real estate agents in 34 markets across the United States.
HomeLight visitors simply head on over to the firm’s website and search for a real estate in their neighborhood and peruse the industry professionals’ resumes, sales data, skills and expertise. Agents can also read about a client’s needs and wants regarding buying a home.
This platform was developed by the small team of experts, including Jonathan Hester, founding engineer, and Mike Abner, senior software engineer. With a large number of users, the information is comprehensive and extremely helpful for both parties (just read the testimonials).
Backed by Google Ventures and Crosslink Capital, Uher explains that the purpose of HomeLight is to give consumers in places like Florida, New Mexico, Washington, New York and Oregon a transparent understanding of the agent(s) they’re dealing with, while also providing the agent with important details and online leads.
“We’re committed to delivering objective recommendations to consumers, and at the same time empowering agents with an impartial way to showcase their expertise,” said Uher in a press release. “Overall, by forming stronger client-agent relationships, we believe we can make the home buying and selling experience better for everyone.”
12 Comments
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Pramod
July 13, 2013 at 1:44 pm
Its not surprising that business have started serving its customers online …and real estate business is no exception ..Taking a business online makes life easy for a business as every interaction and transaction of businesses are stored in a server at your disposal.
Regards,
Pramod
raj
July 13, 2013 at 2:52 pm
it was must for the growth of real estate business. Most people look for these things online rathar than going offline for visiting the property. Social media has emerged as a very powerful option for the growth of real estate business, you can use these social networks to spread your business all over the world.
harshi
July 13, 2013 at 3:00 pm
Really nice post ! Thts actually the best thing to happen !
Rohit
July 18, 2013 at 11:58 am
thanks for the nice article, I am from india, in india Internet in not as much used for online businesses as in developed countries but here also we are having many real estate websites like 99 acres which are doing their business at a very good pace. 🙂
Andrew Smythe
July 20, 2013 at 3:51 am
Anyone in real estate would have to consider using a large nationwide website or a laser targeted local site. That is the dilemma one would have to consider. The are pros and cons for each. The use of social media is the real next frontier. Finding out how to use it effectively is the issue. Not being labeled a spammer will be an agent’s biggest concern.
Mitch Carson
July 22, 2013 at 5:17 am
Real Estate Industry Goes Online is one of the easiest way to show up your real estate properties. Many of real estate brokers uses online portal so that whoever may want to search properties it;s easier for them to look up.
Try to visit http://www.tedthomas.com for more information.
Andy
July 24, 2013 at 8:52 pm
real estate industry goes online is a nice process. now a days people find their property in online. so keep going.
Penny
September 2, 2013 at 10:40 pm
The web is the place to be nowadays, especially the mobile web (smartphones and tablets) for real estate services. This is why my partner and I started our new business with the focus on Internet promotions because that is where the people are and will continue to be. Reviews, compare, whatever. Social media is a big player too, it looks easy but there is so much more involved and very time consuming – not sure it’s really worth it?
Xena Berrymore
September 26, 2013 at 12:20 pm
Real estate is a business, which can actually make you rich. The basic thing required in this is patience and good capital. I read your post, undoubtedly, real estate business goes online. Every bit of information, ideas, tactics, etc, is accessible online. You can quite easily handle your business through the internet. Even real estate business also. Amazing…. I like your post and completely agree on the facts that you have mentioned in it. Your post is quite informative. Keep up the good work!!!
Donald Quixote
December 19, 2013 at 12:53 am
It’s absolutely amazing what the Internet has done to change the way we do things. The real estate business made a good decision bringing it online making it more easily accessible to anyone and everyone. If people want to know anything these days they head to the internet. It makes everything so much simpler.
Jonah
January 30, 2014 at 5:23 am
I’m actually shocked how many industries AREN’T online. And the real estate industry is slowly moving that direction, but not all thew way. I find many real estate professionals prefer phones to computers.
Alex Vercheski
February 13, 2014 at 6:38 pm
The whole process of searching for a home is transforming into a complete online process. Unfortunately, these companies such as HomeLight are getting a ton of backlash and slapped with lawsuits from top brokerages in the U.S. because it is taking away from individual agents being able to generate their own clients from internet sources. Internet lead generation in Real estate is becoming harder to achieve.