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There’s a brand new player in the Australian Online Property Market and finally it’s not just another FREE Property Portal, this site is very different because it has combined the thirst for property related information with the technologies and functionalities used to connect and converse through Social Media, to create ‘HouseNet – The Social Network for Real Estate & Property.’
I recently had the pleasure to catch up with Darren Moffatt the CEO and founder of HouseNet.com.au to discuss their Real Estate & Property centric Social Media Network and how their site can benefit agents.
I highly recommend taking the time to tune-in on this interview that I did with Darren Moffatt and discover a greater insight into the behind-the-scenes and benefits of this innovative online platform for agents, industry experts, consumers, investors, property lovers, etc…
Greg Vincent interviews CEO of Housenet, Darren Moffatt
The site has some very clever social functionality like forums, sharing and capability to establish a personal online profile page & a blog and a lot more, whilst also featuring articles from SoldMagazine, PropertyObserver.com.au, BrokerNews.com.au and Property Data information via Residex.
HouseNet.com.au looks set to provide a deep vein of real estate specific content and open-the-door to an engaging online property conversation environment…
“Our mission is to actually change the property market for the better. (Audacious, I know). We want to create a truly awesome platform that empowers both agents and consumers, and in the process brings them together like never before.
One of the exciting things about social networks, as distinct from conventional portals, is that they are essentially huge collaborative projects. Our vision for Housenet is an engaged user community that is actively shaping the site design & functionality via a continual feedback loop. As founder, my task is simple: to listen and deliver what people want, every day.” …Darren Moffatt
Consumer Video
The HouseNet Site
Congratulations Darren and the HouseNet.com.au team. Well done. 🙂
I really like the concept and think you might just be onto something here…
Electric Avenue Wrap-Up
On Monday’s show I shared an update on the iOs Upgrade from Facebook which has made their App 2x faster as McGrath finally joined Facebook.
Tuesday delved into the conversation of Influence and ‘Does Your Klout Ranking Mean Anything?’ which also featured an Infograph: 12 Ways to Achieve Online Influence With or Without Klout.
In Wednesday’s episode, I posed the BIG question about ‘Real Estate Banner Ads, Do They Really Work?’ where I shared 4 Questions agents should ask plus an insight into how Banner Advertising is ‘dirt-cheap’ when it’s done the right way!
…and to round up the week, what’s the Australian Real Estate Industry without a bit of heated debate?
This time Greg Ellis, CEO of realestate.com.au stirred-up quite a bit of heated debate when he announced REA’s current stance on real estate video at a presentation last week on the Gold Coast…which inspired yesterday’s show on The Real Estate Video Debate Heats Up
I hope you enjoy this week’s Electric Avenue Wrap-Up. Cheers 🙂
4 Comments
Peter Konidaris
Thanks Greg,
After listening to the audio interview you uploaded, I gave this site a test run and uploaded one of my listings. So far so good. It is one of the most innovative sites out there with a lot of promise. I hope it takes off. I’ll fiddle with it some more after hours.
Darren Moffatt, Housenet CEO
Thanks for the feedback Peter!
We worked hard over a long time to create something that – we hope – is different and has real value for the industry. But I know the journey’s just begun, so we’re really keen to listen and learn from you and other members so we can keep improving.
Thanks for taking the time to join, and also for your comments.
Cheers,
Darren
Ryan O'Grady
Great article Greg and well done Darren.
I think this concept is very interesting and there is an opportunity here as this is a different approach to what the real estate portals offer. But I’m not sure it will ever compete with what REA or Domain offer.
With what has been put forward here I’m still unsure exactly where the take up will be, it appears they are catering for all major stakeholders in the industry (vendors, agents and property seekers) which is hard to do because it requires content and interaction from them all.
Are property seekers going here to do research about a property or search for property. If so then you need a lot of stock and you will need syndication of stock to achieve this.
Is this more of a tool which will take over what LinkedIN offers agents, providing them with a means for discussion and also for a way for them to promote themselves and highlight their achievements. I think this will be the direction this offering will take because for content to generate across this site will require the interaction of agents and this discussion/self branding will be attractive to them.
Darren Moffatt, Housenet CEO
Thanks for the comments Ryan. Really appreciate the feedback and encouragement.
Firstly, we’re not here to compete directly with the main portals. For all their various sins, which have been well documented here on Business2 in the past (yes, I’m regular reader & fan!), they’re extremely good at what they do. We’re crazy, but not so crazy to think we can take them down!
Instead, Housenet is here to offer something new and unique: a genuinely social online real estate experience, for consumers and industry. We aim to bring the best of real estate portals and social media together. We call this ‘social real estate’. (I know, very imaginative title)
Here’s just a few examples of what people CAN do on Housenet, but CAN’T do on portals:
– Create full real estate listings within a social networking environment. This exposes your listing to a true viral trajectory both within Housenet, and beyond. Your listings will reach different audiences, in a new and compelling way.
– Comment, rate and share listings. Importantly however, agents have control over what other users say about listings. They can also disable ‘rate’ feature too.
– Build your brand online, and grow personal ‘followers’. Agents can create an extremely rich profile on Housenet that expands their digital footprint and gets them listed in our interactive Property People directory. Better still, when they list properties, other users can ‘follow’ them at an individual level. This is what vendors want: the ability to easily monitor multiple agents at once.
– Publish individual agent performance data. Our ‘Vital Stats’ allow agents to display sales results and other data in dynamic charts. This is the info consumers want to see, but again, agents have total control over what they show.
– Manage your property online. We have a feature called Property Pages where users can create private (or public) pages that allow for discussions with other stakeholders, storage of photos, video and even documents such as plans and repair quotes.
– Q& A Forums. Once the site really gets humming, we think this will be a very popular feature. It’s where consumers can post property questions for industry members to answer. A great opportunity for good operators out there to strut their stuff and win new business.
– Instant messenger and chat rooms. Members who are ‘friends’ can chat on the site, and industry members can even hold virtual meetings in our private chat rooms with staff and colleagues. Say good bye to awful group emails, and hello to better office productivity.
I could go on, but don’t want to hog the space! One final difference with Housenet is this: we’re humble, and here to listen and learn. Agents can have a direct say in how Housenet develops, and in fact we’ve already set up a discussion group on the site for this very purpose.
Thanks Ryan, really keen to now hear what agents and other think.
Cheers, Darren