Garrett Camp, one of the original creators of the Uber smartphone app - which facilitates passenger transport sharing competing with traditional taxis - is focusing its attention on the real estate business.
Haus is the name of the new application under development and follows the same principle of sharing services over the web, only this time geared towards buyers, sellers of houses and real estate agents. The difference is that the whole process is centered on supply, rather than on demand for houses.
Uber co-founder Garrett announced his newest project: " an open and fair platform for buying and selling houses in the residential market ", which will take the form of a mobile application, under the aegis of your company , Expa Studios.
Garrett added:
"At a time when everything is digitalized, the offer negotiation process still depends heavily on paperwork and does not incorporate modern digital technology. Haus comes to help buyers, sellers and intermediaries to operate more efficiently.
The platform simplifies communications between all agents, reduces anxiety and enables a better experience globally.
The idea is to simplify the whole process. With Haus , buyers and sellers will be able to simplify their interactions: buyers can monitor the status of their offer and sellers will be able to view all offers as soon as they are submitted . The App also manages most of the logistics associated with the offer, allowing consultants and mediators to spend their time on more important tasks.
This project has raised some doubts coming from several sources, because the fact that the offers are anonymous, can lead to speculation by the interested parties , in order to manipulate the final sale price of a house.
In the presentation that TechCrunch made of the Haus , Jordan Crook removed the concern that this new platform will compete unfairly, with the traditional way of operating in the real estate industry.
Haus will be another complementary tool for mediators and not a substitute for them. Gathering house offers and disseminating them is a very slow and manual process, if we use Uber's successful experience, it will be much more efficient for consultants to use a platform to coordinate all this information automatically.
Benefits for the Real Estate Agent
- Compare side-by-side offers, without data processing and without complexity: immediate online access to prices and sales conditions, through a table;
- Provide sellers with the information they want right away: home sellers get updates and access to offers, instantly;
- Save time and be more efficient: less bureaucracy and instant communication.
Benefits for the Seller
- Instant information, without waiting, to follow everything that happens with your home: text notifications and online access to prices and conditions;
- Generate interest and create urgency in selling your home: interested buyers are notified as soon as new offers are made (without price, terms or details);
- Accept and change the conditions of an online offer, easily, through digital signature : offer form and addenda can be digitally signed on the platform.
Buyer Benefits
- Know your status: you have access to otheroffers, after sending yours;
- Manage your offer online: send and update an offer online, without exchanging paperwork;
- Have a fair chance: the buyer's name is anonymous in the comparison table, so that the focus is on the offer and not on the buyer.
Well, given the controversy that the new sharing platforms: Uber , Airbnb , etc. have raised, I expect no less from the Haus . But it is still early and many details have not yet been explained, so that we can take stock. So wait ...