Europe’s tech industry seems to have found base in East London, or at least that’s how the UK government plans on selling London’s newly expanded Tech City district. The Silicon Roundabout has been stretched out to accommodate a growing number of start-ups and other tech firms, with the government pledging even more support to help attract new talent and add to the areas twitter-happy conversation. While some welcome the attention, others dread overexposure. As industry bigwigs such as Google and Groupon move-in, locals worry that restrictive property prices might soon follow. Either way, Tech City is buzzing, and these are the ten most rambunctious techies on the block.

1. whosampled

whosampled offers users a unique music listening experience where the sites members are allowed to share and discuss different music samples, and covers by their favorite artists. The company prides its vast database, which it describes as detailing the genesis of music through the ages. whosampled is here in Tech City to benefit from the areas budding music scene, and also to connect with fellow entrepreneurs.

Image via whosampled

2. FundApps

FundApps is bringing its next generation cloud-based software solutions to the painfully jaded financial sector. The company is headquartered in Tech City due its proximity to London’s financial district, and because of the areas low-cost renting options.

3. Squadify

Squadify is an online community for people who are always ready to play. It’s the playground where no one ever has to go home, there’s always one person who’ll be up for a quick set (or three!). Founders Nick Casey and Andy Davey chose Tech Hub as their base due to its vast transport network, and the endless networking opportunities on offer.

4. PickLive

PickLive is a social gaming platform centered on fantasy football. The company’s decision to locate in Tech City came naturally; the atmosphere and people seemed like the perfect fit for this fast growing enterprise.

5. Twileshare

Twileshare is exactly what you think it to be; a file-sharing program built around twitter. Its reason to set-up shop in Tech City? Networking, possibility of collaborations, and the food.

6. 8fold

8fold is a company geared towards helping its clients position themselves more effectively in the virtual universe, be it social media or other interactive software solutions, 8fold deals with all. Founder Sinead MacManus says moving to the Tech City neighborhood wasn’t a conscious decision, she just liked the community feel of the place.

7. PeerIndex

PeerIndex ranks your social capital. It screens out the smart from the greater Internet population, and does so on the basis of the kind of data you are sharing. The company is at Tech City because everybody else is too.

8. 33Seconds

33Seconds offers PR services for tech companies, and also specializes in social media marketing and strategy building. They decided on Tech City because of the overall excitement in the region, and believe the area to be the heart of Euro Tech.

9. WorkSnug

WorkSnug helps knowledge-based, self-reliant workers find snug coffee shops to function as their workspace for the day. The tech firm is snuggled up in Tech City by default as founder Richard Leyland lives in the East London neighborhood.

10. Red Leader

Red Leader is a design studio that specializes in fashioning websites, apps, and social media marketing campaigns. The company is stationed in Tech City because of the inspiration the place engenders.

It’s just a really cool place to be in. With lots of buzz.

Photo Credits: osde8info via Flickr & lovquist via Flicrk

This Post is from: Overseas Property Mall, part of Fuzz One Media Group

10 East London City Start-ups to Watch

The post 10 East London City Start-ups to Watch appeared first on Overseas Property Blog :: guide to international real estate investment.

Back in September, we blogged about TweetLister a new and innovative real estate listing service that list properties for sale and rent via the micro-blogging platform – Twitter. Quite a lot has changed at TweetLister since our last feature. So we asked Lloyd Chrein (pictured on the right), a founding Partner at TweetLister.com to update us about these new changes and share a few thoughts about TweetLister and he was kind enough to oblige.

Could you explain how Tweetlister works

TweetLister is a tool developed specifically for posting, scheduling and managing real estate listings on Twitter. At the core of what TweetLister does is a simple form that turns property listing information into a clear, straightforward tweet. Each tweet includes the listing information (bedrooms, baths, square footage, price, features, etc), a link to a detail page on TweetLister, and a searchable hashtag. Listings not only appear on Twitter, but they can also be found using TweetLister’s Search Listings tool, which allows you to locate listings according to specific requirements and keywords.

Surrounding TweetLister’s simple “Add a Listing” tool are useful features designed to help to turn clicks into deals. These include enhanced detail pages, agent bio pages displaying contact information and current listings, and reporting tools that allow members to track and download clicks and contact information. Members can post and tweet an unlimited number of listings, and they can associated an unlimited number of Twitter accounts – allowing them to post different listings to different Twitter account timelines (for example, many agents have specific Twitter accounts for different neighborhoods, or different types of properties they represent). And members can place their own text-based Vendor Ads on their listing detail pages, creating a potential profit center for realtors and property owners.

TweetLister recently created a partnership with ListHub.net, one of the largest Multiple Listing System (MLS) syndicators in the US. This not only placed nearly 1.5 million active listings into our search system, but it made it possible for more than 300,000 listing agents in the US to “claim” their listings in TweetLister. When they register, they select their MLS from a dropdown list and enter their Agent ID number — and their listings are automatically placed into their account, converted to tweets, set up with enhanced detail pages — and ready to schedule to post to their Twitter accounts.

TweetLister is a one-stop, professional-grade tool for realtors and property owners, allowing them to tap into the marketing power of Twitter — and making the process simple, fast and effective.

How did come up with the idea of mashing up Twitter with real estate listings?

TweetLister was a natural outgrowth of what we do every day — we build and market web solutions, primarily for members of the real estate industry. We’re also consummate entrepreneurs — we’re always looking for a way to build a better mousetrap, and to fill a need. With the continued growth of Twitter, and the buzz in the real estate world that it is a great way to market, we saw a two-pronged opportunity: to build a tool that would demystify Twitter and make it accessible to realtors of all levels of technical sophistication; and to create an online business that could be marketed effectively and inexpensively — using social media. We believe we succeeded on both levels, as the real estate community has embraced us as THE Twitter tool for real estate, and word has spread virally to all ends of the globe.

Have you been involved in any other Web 2.0 projects in the past?

Yes. We’ve been around the block more than a few times — with our clients’ projects and our own. Our latest was a site called ClickSprout, which began as a turnkey tool for search engine optimization, and has now morphed into a custom solution business that creates optimization strategies for businesses of all sizes.

What is the current take up? How many realtors have signed up to Tweetlister?

We have thousands of users, and the potential to serve hundreds of thousands instantly through the ability to claim MLS listings.

Does Tweetlister appeal to a predominantly U.S market?

TweetLister currently appeals to any real estate agent who wants to promote property listings on Twitter. We are already working on developing TweetLister in other languages to accommodate various countries that have shown real interest in using our service. Some of our earliest users were from overseas, and we continue to speak with large brokers and listing providers in other countries regarding feeds and partnerships.

Does Tweetlister also target international real estate? What percentage of total listings are international?

Due to our recent partnership with ListHub.net, we now have up to 1.5 million listings mainly in the U.S. Outside of that feed, however, we have thousands of international real estate listings. The percent is now very small compared to our overall number of listings. We are in contact with several international listing aggregators and MLS services to introduce TweetLister on a wider scale internationally.

What is the most popular country outside of the U.S on Tweetlister?

Currently, Thailand has the most listings on TweetLister of any country outside the U.S. Beyond that, Australia, Canada and Portugal rank high.

Does TweetLister pose a threat to more traditional real estate listing sites like Trulia and Zillow?

TweetLister is not in direct competition with sites like Trulia and Zillow. These sites are buyer-centric and TweetLister is agent/seller-centric. We offer a tool to help agents and property owners automate the process of managing their listings on Twitter, while these other sites primarily offer buyers a wealth of information on properties.

Are there any upcoming updates on Tweetlister?

We are constantly working on feature upgrades and future updates to our service. Members can rely on a steady stream of improvements that keep pace with changes and trends in social media, and that add useful, effective functionality to our service.

I noticed there are no ads on Tweetlister at the moment – how to you intend to monetize TweetLister?

In early November, TweetLister switched from a free model to a paid subscription model. TweetLister is now available for only $9.95 per month, including the ability to claim your MLS listings and add new listings of your own. We do place small ads on “unclaimed” MLS listings. Meanwhile, TweetLister members can place their own text ads on their listings — creating a potential profit center for realtors and property owners.

Would you be offering XML feed upload support to automatically add listings to Tweetlister?

Through our recent partnership with ListHub.net, we now have a feed of up to 1.5 million listings in the system that can automatically be claimed by the listing agent, simply by signing up for TweetLister. In addition, we can also accept XML feeds in the RETS standard from those who do not have listings in ListHub. We currently have minimum size requirements on feeds, but this will change as we continue to grow. Those interested in supplying a feed may contact us at info@tweetlister.com.

How do you prevent overloading and spamming Twitter with masses of Tweets advertising properties?

Our tweets go to the user’s Twitter account. So we are not spamming at all. Individual users are simply using our tool to post relevant content to their own Twitter timelines. In the Help files and FAQ items on our site, we try to instruct users on proper “Twittiquette”, which includes mixing up your listing tweets with other informational tweets — so that your Twitter timeline is more than just a selection of listings. We make sure to keep up with Twitter user trends and we listen to feedback from our members and from the broader Twitter community, and we plan to continue to pass this knowledge along to our members.

Twitter is a text only platform; how do you intend to bridge to gap between picture oriented real estate listings and text only Twitter?

We have already bridged the gap by automatically generating a shortened URL and link back to a landing detail page on TweetLister. This page contains photos, a video tour, and additional details on the listing. In addition, when you search for properties on TweetLister, the results you see are actual tweets that feature a picture of the property, if supplied by the member, rather than their Twitter photo.

Do you have any plans for a Facebook equivalent of TweetLister?

Yes. One of our next versions will include the ability to push your listings to your Facebook account, as well.

How important is Twitter in the marketing mix of real estate?

We believe it’s very important! Social media in general is a centerpiece of any business marketing plan, but Twitter in specific brings immediate, round-the-clock proactive marketing to the mix. On any scale — local or international — your listings and information have the potential to reach large numbers of interested people, instantly. With TweetLister, you not only have a tweet out there — you have a tweet that leads to a marketing-oriented detail page. And every tweet you put out there is not only searchable on Twitter — it can be found on Google, Yahoo!, Bing, and other search engines. And on TweetLister!

Have you any Tweetlister success stories, leading to increased lead generation via Twitter?

Yes. Here are two:

“We’re getting quite a bit of ‘traction’ from buyer and seller prospects that said that they’ve seen our Tweetlister posts – especially if they’re technically savvy from St. Louis.” – Kevin Cottrell, Cottrell Realty Group, St. Louis, MO, USA. You can contact him if needed: kc@cottrellrealty.com

“TweetLister has been a positive ‘game-changer’ in the growth and development of our niche Real Estate resource.  We’ve created a marketing focus and listings distribution program unique to our content built on TweetLister’s easy application and efficiency.  We love it, and better yet … our growing number of clients love it.”  – Kevin Schwartz, Top10GolfHomes.com, kevin@top10golfhomes.com

Finally, do you have any social media advice to real estate professionals?

Consider social media as a golden opportunity to reach out to many people at once, and to expand your network and marketing reach. But don’t go overboard on the sales language — be natural, try to “give” to the community by providing information, insight and perspective from your own market and experience. And mix that in with the information that people are always looking for — great new listings! Finally… sign up for TweetLister!

This Post is from: Overseas Property Mall, part of Fuzz One Media Group

Interview with Lloyd Chrein of TweetLister a Twitter Real Estate Listing Service

The post Interview with Lloyd Chrein of TweetLister a Twitter Real Estate Listing Service appeared first on Overseas Property Blog :: guide to international real estate investment.

I recently came across TweetLister, a promising looking new Beta service for tweet-happy real estate agents and home owners looking to sell a property. If you already have an existing Twitter login you can get started right away and list your home for sale or rent. Tweetlister is open to residential and commercial sales and free to use.

Why you need to use TweetLister in this day and age:

It is no secret that Twitter – a powerful micro blogging platform – is one of the most visited and used website on the Internet. Savvy marketers from across all industries have already recognised that they must use Twitter in order to attract a steady readership to their website.

Not doing so is close to committing a crime. If you take the popularity of Twitter and throw it into it the new concept of TweetLister you have a powerful combination to sell your home to anyone worldwide without cost.

Thanks to TweetLister you can now reach millions of buyers around the world from the comfort of your home. Does it get any better than that?

You can:

• View and track all of your listings.
• Generate leads.
• Market for free.
• Reach out to a very large audience.
• Build followers.
• Earn more income.
• Sell properties with ease.

The service also promises to be user-friendly making it easy to find listings with Twitter or on the TweetLister site.

Adding a new listing is easy with TweetLister:

The following screenshot shows you how easy it is to add your own real estate listing on the site. Everything is detailed and explained to you so even if you are new to the Internet you should be able to follow the instructions.

You can schedule your listings for frequencies and let them run once, daily or weekly. You can also choose the start and end date of your listing. Tweetlister is definitely a great tool for any real estate agent of private sales person looking to reach a wide audience.

Detailed page: Once your listing is live it will be shown on its own page with as many or as little details you choose to display. Plus if you are big on search engine rankings then you will be delighted to hear that the backlinks from the site will help you with SEO if you have a website or blog you like to.

With the extensive profile maintenance abilities you can manage any listing with ease. As you can see on the image to the left there are many options to add more zing to your real estate listing on the TweetLister website.

More TweetLister features:

The following features of TweetLister are worth mentioning:

• Add more than one Twitter account to your TweetLister account.
• Use region specific Twitter accounts to help manage your listings.
• Download contacts into a handy Excel file – this make lead generation a dream come true and it’s free!
• Get handy stats to show you how much traffic has been on your profile page.
• Benefit from free marketing and lead generation.

How to get started with TweetLister:

It’s easy to get started with TweetLister. Below are the steps to see you through to your first listing on the site:

1. Sign up for a free Twitter account on www.twitter.com
2. Visit TweetLister.com and sign in using your new Twitter login details.
3. Use the Control panel on the site to add your first listing.
4. Edit, manage and delete listings at your convenience.
5. Please note that once you add a TweetLister listing it will automatically be tweeted for you and those can now be deleted.
6. If you need to, you can take advantage of the new enhanced detail listing option to add more pictures and details to your listings. This option will help your ad to stand out from others, bringing you even more traffic.
7. Make sure your profile is up-to-date to showcase your business.
8. Assign a broker to each of your listings if need be.

TweetLister, a real estate agent must have!

TweetLister is a must have in this day and age if you are in the business of selling houses. The site is still in its baby shoes and with age it will only continue to grow stronger. Can you afford to miss out?

This Post is from: Overseas Property Mall, part of Fuzz One Media Group

Advertise Your Real Estate Listings on Twitter with TweetLister

The post Advertise Your Real Estate Listings on Twitter with TweetLister appeared first on Overseas Property Blog :: guide to international real estate investment.

A new website service called Easy House Exchange has been hailed as the new solution for cash stricken home owners in media. The service aims to connect home owners and developers with investors and buyers looking for a straight swap of properties or else upgrade your current home by paying a cash difference through Bovis the developers.

Joining fees are scraped until June 1st this year and you can browse the site for available houses. At present there are properties from England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland on the listings.

The Easy House Exchange website is attempting to match sellers and sellers of flats and homes directly. It is attracting considerable attention in the media because it helps home owners to avoid paying hefty real estate agent fees of two to three percent in any transaction.

The service comes at the right time amid the global slowdown in the property market and is innovative enough to become a huge success.

If you want to upgrade for example Bovis offers to take on your existing mortgage if you pay the difference in cost. More than half of the site contains listings of struggling house builders who have done it tough in recent times.

It is recommended you deal with a lawyer if you find a suitable property to swap. Currently there are some interesting listings and the site is destined to be popular as more and more home owners are looking to relocate for work purpose and need to save money for their budgets.

If you are in the market for a new home or need to relocate why not take a look yourself. Right now it is free.

This Post is from: Overseas Property Mall, part of Fuzz One Media Group

New Property Exchange Site Makes Waves With Home Owners

The post New Property Exchange Site Makes Waves With Home Owners appeared first on Overseas Property Blog :: guide to international real estate investment.

What exactly is Ourbania.com? Can you please expand more on its concept?

Ourbania.com is built upon two cornerstones: First, it’s a vivid online directory of outstanding commercial real estate property worldwide. It’s based on the contributions of its users and taps relevant online resources (e.g. Flickr photos, Google maps).

Second, ourbania.com is a global online community of people interested in commercial real estate and the so-called built environment. That makes it a forum for real estate enthusiasts where they can find and meet like-minded people to discuss all building related topics, from architecture to urbanism (and, of course, business opportunities, too). Beside the fact that we wanted to have a catchy domain address, the name “ourbania” hints on the two aspects I mentioned: It conveys the sense of belonging together, in an online metropolis.

How did you come up with the concepts?

My first company mediaman is one of the top 40 interactive agencies in Germany. As we have been involved in hundreds of online projects since 1996 for our global clients, we started some years ago in developing ideas for own platforms. With ourbania, we had this rough idea of creating a Web 2.0 platform around buildings only back in February 2007. We then talked to our client Eurohypo, which is one of the worlds leading specialists for commercial real estate finance.

Together we refined the idea and elaborated the concepts, using their expertise regarding market requirements and our expertise in creating the best user experience.

What is the team size behind Ourbania.com?

Currently, there are around 15 people involved in this project. Our team consists of concept developers, real estate experts, application developers, community managers, flash developer. Of course, they’re not all working full-time in ourbania. However, our community managers notice a steadily growing demand for support. And we have a long list of new features to come (see below), so our concept and IT people are prepared to go ahead.

Are you a real estate enthusiast?

Yes, for sure. I love great architecture, especially Bauhaus-style, with clear, cubic forms and bright colors, straight lines. And I think the environment in which people live or work shapes their thinking. (Btw, that’s what we mean with ourbania’s claim: “We’re built by buildings.”) I’m no real estate investor – apart from the little wooden house I live in with my family, located in Mainz/Germany. I studied Political Sciences and Journalism, worked as copywriter in different advertising agencies and founded mediaman together with two partners back in 1996.

What other Web 2.0 projects have you been involved in?

Ourbania.com is our first real and own Web 2.0 project. Actually, it was one of our intentions launching it to learn and see how it feels like growing up a community. With ourbania, we combined business with pleasure.

What do you think about SkyScraperCity.com (the largest real estate & construction online community)? Is it old style and about to be replaced by Ourbania.com?

I think these kind of discussion forums, no matter what topic they’re about, are the core of the Internet. They provide places for like-minded people to meet and share their thoughts, claiming a minimum of resources. Many experienced netizens grew up with these forums, and I suppose many of them won’t change their habits. But the Internet is a mass medium now, an audiovisual medium, with broadband connections, mobile access, and much more, so new users get used to different interfaces, providing a richer user experience than classical forums.

Do you think Ourbania.com would be a natural progression of SkyScraperCity.com users? Do you think new Web 2.0 start-ups (yourself included) would spell the end of the traditional ‘old’ style property forums? Or do you think it will be a healthy symbiotic relationship?

I combine these questions in one answer: I suppose for some time there will be coexistence of SkyScraperCity.com and Ourbania.com, maybe for years. Because, as I said, people don’t like to change their habits, so heavy users of SkyScraperCity.com will stick to their forum. Apart from this fact, ourbania is just starting, so it will take time to catch up content-wise. In the long run, I expect platforms like Ourbania.com to be on the winner’s side, because people prefer intuitive navigation, interactive features, a visual experience.

As you recently started, what new features should we expect in the pipeline?

We have a clear roadmap what features we want to include when. But that’s just our point of view. I want to point out that all plans are subject to the response of our citizens! We listen very carefully and are able to switch projects quickly. At the moment, we’re already working on an extension of the Google Map module, to show multiple urban items within one map, and to work out visiting tours. Another priority is to enhance the personal profile page, to get to know our users better and to give them more room for self promotion. For example, citizens will be able to link to all urban items they are related to. There will be a messaging feature in ourbania, to allow private messages between citizens. Or a feature we call “I want to meet there”, to enable appointments in real life, at urban items.

How are you going to monetize Ourbania.com?

We won’t go the way of many commercial websites that leads to cluttered interfaces and a bad user experience. If at all, we will be very cautious with display ads. Relevant offers like item related books from Amazon.com could be an additional benefit for our users. We’re also discussing new content pages with portraits of companies, and there might be paid extended versions of these portraits. There might even come the time when we have premium accounts for professional users, but the core features of ourbania.com will always remain free of charge for our citizens.

Do you think Ourbania.com would trigger other copycat start-ups?

It would be an honor for us! No website is immune against copycats. To us, the challenge is to grow faster than our followers. And that ourbania always offers the better user experience.

What is your advice to real estate professionals like developers and agents for the promotion of their developments on Ourbania.com?

I strongly recommend every real estate professional to sign-up on ourbania, supplying a meaningful profile page and a personal photo. Business is always about establishing relationships, so you should act as an open and friendly citizen of ourbania. Then, start building your urban items. Take care to fill in the correct and complete data, together with attractive photos. Carefully select the tags to describe your developments, as these are powerful research instruments. Feel free to link to your company website if there is further relevant information. (You can do this too from within your comments on other urban items.) As ourbania.com is extremely well optimised for Google, even among hundred of thousands of hits your urban item might appear among the first results.

Are you planning to develop widgets?

Yes, definitely. There will be widgets for viewing and uploading urban items, but only in a later release.

Would bloggers be able to use Ourbania widgets to showcase developments on blogs or websites?

If there is a demand from bloggers for such an option, we certainly will provide it with our widgets. It would be a great opportunity for us to promote ourbania.

How do you intend to stop creative commons violations on images uploaded via Flickr?

We’ve had an intensive discussion with Flickr on this question, and of course we included an instruction of how to link images properly within our blog. (And a legal note within our terms of use.) We even thought about restricting this feature to images licensed under creative commons. But surely there are some citizens who link to their own copyrighted images on Flickr. Restricting the feature would obstruct their use of ourbania. So we pursue a two-fold strategy: We will improve the “Build urban item” form – with better instructions on what citizens have to pay attention, maybe linking directly to the Advanced Search within Flickr. Second, our community management spot checks images regularly and contacts citizens which seem to use Flickr images incorrectly. However, as soon as we receive a complaint from a Flickr user, we will immediately remove his/her images from ourbania. Up to now, there have been no such complaints.

What are your future plans and what next should we expect from you guys?

Currently, we’re talking to some publishing houses in large real estate markets to establish cooperations. To gain momentum, we want to support the word of mouth with some promotions in special interest magazines. Also, the next weeks will see some functional improvements in ourbania, and a few addons, for example: voting on new features. We keep an eye on Google’s initiative “Open Social”, as in future we might be able to use interfaces to other communities, for example LinkedIn. At the beginning of 2008, we plan to invite some of our most active citizens for a personal workshop to discuss their wishes and requirements. We really want to make ourbania the best place on the net for real estate enthusiasts.

Thanks again to Stefan for sharing his thoughts.

This Post is from: Overseas Property Mall, part of Fuzz One Media Group

Interview with Stefan von den Driesch – CEO Ourbania.com, a Web 2.0 Real Estate Community

The post Interview with Stefan von den Driesch – CEO Ourbania.com, a Web 2.0 Real Estate Community appeared first on Overseas Property Blog :: guide to international real estate investment.

All buildings worldwide can become urban items, no matter whether they’re historical places or future projects. Dedicated to commercial real estate, ourbania particularly presents outstanding objects like skyscraper, arenas, bridges, landmarks and many more. Choose the name for the item carefully. It cannot be changed after submitting. You collect 10 points for each urban item you build. All categories (except the name of the urban item) can be changed at any time, by any citizen. Pick up a term from the dropdown list or add a comma-separated list of terms in the input fields. If you don’t know all data, you can leave fields blank. Other citizens will add the missing pieces of information. For help how to insert flickrâ„¢ images look into our blog: Adding photos from flickrâ„¢ – a quick manual. Just type in the address of the urban item, and its location will be shown on a Googleâ„¢ map. If the balloon marker on the map seems to be not properly displayed, try to type in a more detailed address.

I think our current favorite is the O₂ World, a computer rendition of the upcoming sports stadium in Berlin, Germany.

We will hopefully be doing a more in-depth look at the site with an interview with the one of the creators of the site in the near future. Yet another way to while away those internet hours courtesy of mediaman GmbH.

Ourbania.com

This Post is from: Overseas Property Mall, part of Fuzz One Media Group

Ourbania.com – Real Estate Development goes Web 2.0!

The post Ourbania.com – Real Estate Development goes Web 2.0! appeared first on Overseas Property Blog :: guide to international real estate investment.

Yannick Laclau, the CEO of Properazzi.com the global property search engine that covers over 4 million properties in 50 countries is our guest this week.

Yannick’s Barcelona based Properazzi.com was featured on CNN’s Business 2.0 yesterday. We asked Yannick to share a few thoughts with us, and he was kind enough to oblige.

Having gone through Properazzi.com, your claim of the coverage of 4 million properties in 50 countries & 32 languages makes you the largest property aggregator website (if not largest property website); can you tell us what Properazzi.com is all about?

Definitely. Properazzi is simply a property search engine through which people can access an unprecedented number of properties to buy or rent, free of charge. We work with tens of thousands of real estate agencies and property portals to present their listings on a single website. This is so that people wouldn’t need to spend hours trawling through dozens of sites, or looking for those sites in the first place. With 4 million properties, it’s getting to the point in many European countries where if a property isn’t on Properazzi, it’s not anywhere to be seen. Real estate agents worldwide are now approaching us without stop to get their listings on Properazzi. They love it because it’s free.
We’re also very serious about the 4 million figure. It’s not something we’ve just plucked out of the air. They’re all visible on www.properazzi.com. We work extremely hard on eliminating duplicates – instances where a property is listed on many sites – and improving the quality of listings. Our listings are refreshed at very short intervals, meaning you’ll always get up-to-date information. Ultimately, of course, a person is just looking for one property: the right one. Whether we’ve got 4 million or 5 million is trivial, but being able to present to people everything that’s available on the market is not. That’s about empowering people with information and choice.

How long have you been running Properazzi.com?

Properazzi was launched in March 2007 but I’ve been at the helm of creating the technology for at least 18 months prior to that. It was a challenging but rewarding process because we’re doing something that’s never been done before. Our search engine technology is built to read different languages, so if a property listing is in Latvian, our technology is taught to recognise that, translate it, and present it to a consumer in whatever format they prefer.

How big is your team?

Well, we’re based in Barcelona. We’ve now got about 20 people in the team: engineers, programmers, designers and real estate professionals. The team is very international, with at least 10 nationalities and 15 languages amongst us. What unites this diverse group of individuals is a love for real estate and the desire to create something that’s genuinely helpful for people, and not just another property website.

How would you compare to the likes of traditional online property listing portals like Rightmove, Viviun & FindaProperty

The word “traditional” is probably not the best way to describe these companies because they all provide a solid service and are very successful. Our focus is on the consumer, so we work with all types of publishers, including the “traditional” portals, because that way we can bring consumers the maximum possible breadth of quality listings.

How would you compare yourselves to new Web 2.0 start-up property listing aggregator sites like Extate, Nestoria, Zoomf & Ononemap?

I think startups are the corporate equivalent of stem cells – they all start off the same but then develop very differently. In our industry, we’re seeing startups beginning to specialise and find their own unique directions, including mapping, geographic focus, business model, application of technology to other verticals, etc. As time goes on, it makes less sense to make these comparisons because the only thing we have left in common is that we were all founded in broadly the same time period.

I would say that we’ve clearly differentiated ourselves with our focus on international listings, and creating a truly global platform for property listings.

Do you think these new Web 2.0 start-ups (yourself included) would spell the end of the traditional ‘old’ style property listing portals? Or do you think it will be a healthy symbiotic relationship?

Look at social networking: first there was Geocities, then Friendster, then Orkut, then MySpace, today it’s Facebook. What’s interesting is that although the momentum and attention today is focused on Facebook, *all* the other sites I mentioned still have monster traffic and are viable businesses.

The fact is that the traditional portals are under no threat whatsoever from the startups. In fact, life has never been better for them. They’re all growing faster than ever, and very likely have many years of good times remaining even when new startups will start to succeed.

^{Snapshoot of Properazzi’s search engine result page (SERP)}

I see you have the most extensive global property coverage with countries like Morocco, India & Turkey covered. How did you manage to achieve this?

Our technology is highly transferable, so just as we’ve incorporated the UK, France and Germany, for example, we’re able to incorporate property listings from other countries. Morcco, India and Turkey are all interesting property markets in transformation.

Do you plan to venture into the almighty North American market? i.e. the US & Canada?

Yes. We’ve been expanding into new countries based on what our users are asking for, and we’ve been seeing demand for searching US properties. Maybe this has to do with the recent Dollar weakness, or housing price falls? Both factors would create the perception of buying opportunities in the eyes of foreign investors.

In any case, we’re looking into it and hope that Properazzi will begin offering North American properties by the third quarter of 2008.

What should estate agents as well as property listing websites do to their websites to make them “Properazzi” compliant i.e. to have your search spiders capture their properties?

The best thing would be to simply submit an XML-feed to us, which would allow us to receive a real estate agent’s listings directly. If that’s not possible, then we are also able to extract listings directly from a website using our technology. In this case, all that’s needed is the website address. In terms of what agents can do to make their sites more compliant, I would say clear website structure and clean presentation of information. These are things that we would recommend that real estate agents be doing for themselves in any case. Consumers are increasingly looking for properties online and having a good website is crucial to staying in business.

If you’re a real estate agent reading this article and want to see your properties on Properazzi, just drop us an email at support@properazzi.com.

Do you think XML standards would be established for property listings in the near future?

A number of different players in the industry have tried to enforce some standardization of listing data, but no single solution has really stuck yet. I’m sure it will happen someday, though, and perhaps there will be some way we can help out.

How do you tackle the almighty question of revenue generation?

Properazzi makes revenue from advertising. We already have a number of real estate agents who not only have their property listings on Properazzi for free, but also choose to advertise their agencies on our site. Real estate agents are reporting that traffic to their websites is increasing and we’re getting useful feedback.

Are you making money at the moment? If yes how?

Yes. Through advertising.

What are your future plans and what next should we expect from you guys?

Well, we’ve just expanded Properazzi to India this week with 30,000 new property listings. Over the next weeks, we’ll be working on improving our coverage of the Indian real estate market.

Similarly, we recently launched a worldwide real estate news section on our site, and in a couple of weeks, we’ll add the ability for users to submit their own content, creating effectively a community-driven real estate news platform. Many other features are in the pipeline, but more about those when we get there.

Thank you, Kunle!

Thanks again to Yannick for sharing his thoughts.

This Post is from: Overseas Property Mall, part of Fuzz One Media Group

Interview with Yannick Laclau – CEO Properazzi.com the global property search engine

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Telstra, Australia’s largest telecommunications company, now owns a 51 percent stake in SouFun, and plans to use the acquisition to beef up its advertising business in China. SouFun makes money by selling advertising on its website. Telstra’s advertising arm, Sensis, will help manage SouFun going forward, the companies said in a joint statement.

The deal is also part of a broader plan by Telstra to expand its Sensis business beyond Australia and carry its intellectual property and management expertise to new areas, the company said.

The founder and chief executive officer of SouFun, Vincent Mo, will remain in charge at the website and retain his 30.9 percent share of the company. SouFun’s management team will remain in place after the deal, the companies said.

SouFun, which is already cash flow positive, is expected to post revenue of A$52 million (US$39.7 million) in 2007, with a profit of A$18 million after excluding income tax, depreciation and amortization, according to the companies.

IDG News Service is a member of the IDG group of companies, which includes IDG Ventures, a US$1.4 billion venture capital fund that holds a 14.7 percent stake in SouFun.

Source: CIO

Related links:

• SouFun

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Telstra Pays $254M for Chinese Real-Estate Website

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But while the characteristics of Internet buyers and their traditional counterparts have started to converge, the estate agents have noticed ‘important distinctions’ between the two groups. ‘Internet buyers were younger, wealthier, better educated and more likely to be married than traditional buyers’, said CAR. ‘Internet buyers also reported greater satisfaction with the home buying process compared with traditional buyers’.

The comments come in 2006 Internet versus traditional buyer survey. ‘The Internet is changing the dynamics between buyers and their agents, as well as the way business is conducted throughout the real estate industry’, said CAR president Vince Malta.

‘More and more consumers have high speed Internet access at home, enabling them to gather information on all types of products and services both quickly and easily. This trend has carried over to the process of buying a home. As a result, home buyers are more informed, have a greater sense of control over the process, and hold high expectations concerning how quickly they receive information’.

• Overseas property investors should research the area in which they are thinking of buying well before visiting the country, according to the organisers of Property Investor and Homebuyer Show North.

Their ‘top tips’ on reducing the risk involved in overseas investment include:

Know your objectives
Know why you are buying and what you are hoping to achieve with the purchase. If it’s for investment, is it for short term capital gain to provide a one off profit over a particular time, or is it to provide long term regular income?

Sort out your finances
Work out how much you can afford to buy and arrange your finances, such as your mortgage, before you travel abroad to search for your property. This will ensure that you are ready to act immediately if you find the right property. Also ensure that all finances are arranged before signing any contracts and paying over a deposit.

Do not be hasty and stay focused
Stay focused on what you originally had in mind and stick by your objectives. See your chosen area at different times of the year to ensure that you like it whatever the weather. You could also give yourself a cooling off period to help ensure you are making the right choice.

Check the transport links and local facilities
Make sure there is a choice of airline routes and access points to your chosen area. People who rent property will want somewhere that is easy to get to and will often gravitate to those places with a nearby airport served by low cost airlines. People will also want to be near basic facilities such as restaurants and shops. Proximity to areas of natural outstanding beauty or tourist attractions, for example, will add to the property’s rental attraction.

Talk to fellow investors
Speak to people who have purchased in the area that you are interested in. If you are opting for a buy to let investment, you can learn a lot about rental success in your area and get a realistic idea of the likely income that will be generated.

Allow for the extras
The costs of buying a property abroad (for example, taxes, conveyancing, lawyers’ fees, agents’ fees and VAT) can be much higher than in the UK, so make sure you budget accordingly. Also ensure that you are aware of the costs charged by the legal and government authorities for purchasing a property in your chosen country.

Check the taxation and inheritance laws
Ensure you understand the tax implications for when you decide to sell in the future. You should also check the inheritance laws of the country where you are buying, as you many need to compile a separate Will.

Weigh up risk versus returns
If buying for investment, it is important to understand how comfortable you are with risk and investment accordingly. You need to be well informed and comfortable with the risk factor.

‘Property investment overseas can be hard work but the rewards are there for those who do the research and are willing to put in the effort to succeed. However, our overarching advice for overseas property investors can be applied to many things in life; use your head, do your research, seek professional advice and don’t act on impulse’, said managing director of VEF French Property Trisha Mason.

Source: fly-2let.co.uk

This Post is from: Overseas Property Mall, part of Fuzz One Media Group

Internet property buyersyounger and wealthier

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“Internationally, people have become very comfortable with buying things online through greater website security and the greater convenience of keystrokes over traffic jams and crowded shops. And with the many excellent property websites showcasing SA property, increasing numbers of expats are comfortable buying property this way — then come to us for financing.”

Geffen says the MortgageSA website is hosted on over 320 websites including being hosted on most major property websites.

Killing two birds with one stone

“Websites allow a property buyer to kill two birds with one stone; search for property and use online tools to calculate costs and affordability. Our marketing research shows that up to 25 percent of our web applicants are seeking our home loan application website via property websites.”

Geffen notes that MortgageSA receives dozens of enquiries daily — typically from South Africans in London who plan to come back to South Africa and settle down. Most buy in Cape Town and Johannesburg and increasingly, Durban.

Minimise the home loan process

“Expats are increasingly researching property and finance options via websites from overseas. They research their financial options very carefully and we provide them with all the information they need through our website and home loan calculator wizards. They come to companies like MortgageSA because they want to get a quick answer and minimise the hassle of the home loan process when applying through banks from afar.”

Expats can typically secure up to 80 to 100 percent financing on a property even though they work overseas.

Expats finding great deals on Overseas Property

“The client will provide us with their gross income earned overseas and we will do the calculation. Banks would typically lend an amount based on what the expat could earn in South Africa, which is often lower than what they would earn abroad.

A good example of this is the nursing profession. Nurses earn much more in Dubai than in SA so banks want to feel assured that if expats return, they will be able to service the bond repayments from their local income. We work with all the major banks and are normally able to find a great deal for the expat.”

150 000 home loans secured

Geffen says MortgageSA’s is successfully attracting expats because their website is easily accessible through major search engines like Google and is the only multilender mortgage application website in SA supported by a national call centre.

“We have now secured over 150 000 home loans for homebuyers and now a lot of our business comes from referrals from satisfied customers.”

“As we have a very well resourced call centre with specialised property finance consultants offering personalised service via telephone and on e- mail, we are able to build strong relationships internationally.”

I-Net Bridge

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Online boom extends to overseas property

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