Ending information asymmetry in real estate services
Vendorable officially launched 28 May 2015
How two groups find and interact with each other to consume and deliver services is a problem best solved by information technology. And real estate services is no exception.
At Vendorable we’re focused on real estate sales — connecting vendors and real estate agents through a model that empowers vendors to select a real estate service provider with more information, greater transparency and better value for money. We use a specialised competitive tender to achieve this. But a model for selection on cost and promises alone is not enough unless it can measure service performance. We achieve this by using a specialised workspace to capture the performance data as the service is being carried out.
Measuring service performance adds to and makes information better. With better information about how service providers perform, the consumer decision making process benefits from a feedback loop. The information on which service consumers rely should become successively richer and more accurate.
However, if such a model is to be successful, it is of crucial importance to add value to the real estate agent side of the equation too. Again, you do this with better information.
Real estate agents operate on the basis of reserved work. If an owner wants someone to sell their house for them, they can only employ a licensed real estate agent. This should in theory mean that real estate agents merely have to wait for a local seller to come to them in order to generate income. This is the economics of a guild. But what if the guild didn’t guarantee protection the way it once did in medieval Europe?
Real estate agents have to compete furiously to win work. How often do you receive a brochure in the mail from a real estate firm — at least once a week? If an urban property hasn’t been sold in over 7 years, you can be sure to get an inquiry from a real estate agent every so often asking if you are thinking of selling. Expensive ground floor (often corner) office tenancies on main roads, extensive self-promoting marketing campaigns, branding and re-branding exercises are all the hallmarks of real estate firms. There’s an arms race for ever greater presence in the market. These activities suggest that, although they might have a good guess, real estate agents don’t know who their customers will be, and consequently spend up big to acquire and keep them.
If a real estate agent can directly target, acquire and generate social validation from their customer with minimal effort, that translates to a massive saving on time and overhead. Those costs savings can then be passed on to the consumer translated into better service and in actual terms. Using Vendorable, real estate agents connect directly with people who are actually selling their real estate.
Vendorable officially launched on 28 May 2015 with keynote speaker David Harrison VP, Engineering of Freelancer, the World’s Largest Outsourcing Marketplace, talking about the end of information asymmetry in services through information technology. We extend our thanks to Dave for his time and awesome speech.
