the future of real estate discovery

Online Real Estatein the 21st Century

Brave New World

In the following slides we walk through some scenarios representing the kind of activities people typically would use a real estate website for.

Along the way we look at better ways of providing what users need.

Confidential Slide 1 of 33 Copyright © Peter Scheffer 2005

First Scenario

They seek a house near to the water, somewhere along the northern NSW coast.

They also have some specific requirements for the actual house; it should have three bedrooms, two bathrooms, open living spaces, plentiful yards and a double lock up garage.

Lets walk through the process with them.


In the first scenario a retired couple are making the move to the coast.

First StepThe retirees’ first interest is to select the area they would like to live in. They are provided with a map of Australia to begin with.


First StepA more detailed map is presented, identifying towns/suburbs that the retirees can select.

They select towns along the coast, and these towns become the primary locations to search for property.


Second StepThe second step in searching for the property is to fill out the search criteria. With this form, the fields appear according to the selections the retirees make, showing only the important fields they need to fill out.

First they must select the property type.


Second StepThe retirees have selected “House” as the property type, so a form expands for them to enter details specific to a house.


Second StepThe retiree couple have requested the property has 3 bedrooms. A form expands to define those 3 bedrooms, and so on for the rest of the details.


Second StepNow the couple is asking something very specific; that the property is close to the beach. They specify this by saying that a landmark (Beach) is within 5 kilometres of the house.


Completing the SearchThey fill out the remaining fields, submit the search and are presented with a list of results matching their requirements. They select from this list and review the property’s details in the usual manner.


Final StepFinally, the couple verifies the location of the property within the region they are searching, and locates the landmarks they have requested. This is done on a satellite photo where they can zoom in on their actual property and see the neighbourhood.


Second ScenarioThis time an investor has come to the website and is doing some research on rental returns for property around Melbourne.

This user’s needs are quite different to the retiree couple in the last scenario. The investor wants to be able to define the “rules” by which he invests. A high rental return is sought after, preferably greater than 10%.

His questions are –Does this situation exist in the current market? And if so, where?


Second ScenarioThe investor is provided with a specialised form for constructing queries. He can draw upon various terms and attributes pre-defined in the system.


Constructing a QueryHe begins by defining the scope of the search – “All suburbs in Melbourne”


Constructing a QueryHe checks to see if there is already a definition in the system for “Rental return” that he can use.


Constructing a QuerySince there is not, he defines his own using attributes gathered from property descriptions.


Give the term a name

Add attributes to thedefinition

Constructing a QueryHe creates a standard definition of Rental Return:“Weekly rent multiplied by 52 and divided by the property value.”


Definition is constructed here

Use operators and valuesin the definition

Constructing a QueryHe completes the definition, assigns it to the term, then adds the term to his query. Once completed, he submits the query.


1. Complete the definition

3. Add this new term to thequery

2. Assign this definition to the term

4. Add any additional conditions to the query

Refining a QueryUnfortunately there are no results for his query. From this, he concludes that there are no suburbs in Melbourne where rental returns are greater than 10%.

He modifies his original query to simply ask for the suburbs with the highest rental returns.


Modify original query

Query Results


The system returns a list of suburbs and their rental returns, starting with the highest rental return.

Conclusion from Query


From this query, the user has been able to identify which suburbs yield the highest rental returns. The system will have used median values wherever appropriate (property values, rental yields, etc.)

The user can then refine his query by requesting the rental returns of a particular kind of property (e.g. a flat) in a specific suburb.

This tool has simplified the task of doing serious background research, the beauty of which is that adhoc queries such as this can be stored and used repeatedly, or shared with the masses.

Producing a Better Result


We previously identified a tool on realestate.com.au to determine a property’s value in 30 seconds, and decided that it was inappropriate.

Using the query construction technique just discussed, we can imagine a scenario where a user is able to describe their property in detail, nominate which suburb they live in, and submit their query. The system could compare their property against similar ones in the same area to determine their property value.

We could provide such a “pre-canned” query on any part of the website, and compliment it with advertisements for third party service providers to come out and perform professional valuations on a user’s property. This is an example of having advertising and services in context.

Pre-canned is Best


“Pre-canned” queries are ones that have been tailor made and are presented as ready to be used. The user doesn’t require any fore-thought, but simply has to fill in the gaps.

A lot of background research that people wish to conduct with real estate can be managed with pre-canned queries.

Take as example the following –• “What is the average property growth of this area?”• “What is the median house value for this suburb?”• “What price has similar property sold for in this area recently?”

These tools would be context-sensitive. For instance, if the user has search results on screen for Richmond, and selects one of the above queries, then results should appear which are specific to Richmond.

Third Scenario


This can be accomplished through a notification mechanism – The user specifies a particular query and submits it with the proviso that they are notified by email whenever a property satisfies the query.

The user then checks their email regularly and awaits such properties.

Popular amongst property investors is the renovator; people who buy run-down property, do their own renovations and then sell at an inflated price.

Rather than having to constantly scour the website for properties that meet their requirements, it would be preferred if the user could be notified any time a property appears on the site that meets their criteria.

Third Scenario


The query they might use to specify run-down properties could be –

“Retrieve any property in Richmond where property value is less than Richmond’s median value.”

This would work in most cases, since the user’s main requirement is that the property is cheaper than most, and preferably in need of renovating.

The user can follow a link from the email to the property that meets the above criteria to see if it’s a “fixer-upper”.

Fourth Scenario


Many issues remain relevant in real estate. One of the more interesting is the question “Is it better to rent or to buy?”

Calculators are available to answer this question, but they do not take into consideration the important issues when making this decision. Calculators should be available to provide the user with an educated answer.

A good Rent Vs Buy calculator should take into account what benefits can be achieved with the savings of either renting or buying.

Let’s look at a good Rent Vs Buy calculator, in the context of a scenario.

Rent Vs Buy


Let’s say the user is reviewing a property for sale, and wants to know how much the equivalent property rents for, the user should be able to switch from the “For Sale” context to the “Rental” context, and the user’s search criteria should be automatically applied to properties for rent.

The results of a search for properties for rent should be presented upon switching.

Rent Vs Buy


Let’s take an example – a two bedroom flat in Richmond sells for $250,000, and one of a similar description currently rents for $260 per week.

These details could be automatically fed into the calculator, which then determines “Mortgage payments on a $250,000 loan at the current rate of 6% is approximately $400 per week, giving a savings of $140 per week by renting.”

The calculator could ask what rate of return you expect to achieve on the weekly savings of $140. The user would provide a timeframe for savings/payments, and the calculator could provide a comparison between paying off a property and investing the savings elsewhere.

Rent Vs Buy Conclusion


Just to complete the scenario, paying off a $250,000 mortgage with minimum repayments over 5 years leaves you with approximately $225,000 remaining on the mortgage. If the property value remained the same after five years, you would have acquired $25,000 in equity.

Investing $140 per week with an annual compound interest of 6% over the same period gives you approximately $42,350.

In this scenario, investing the savings from renting provides a better return than paying off a mortgage.

Obviously, this is a simple scenario, and a more complex one is achievable if the user so desires.

Property Presentations


When a property is advertised on a website, it is a mini marketing campaign. “Presentation is 9/10ths of a sale”, and so how the property is presented online is important.

A tool is possible whereby sales agents can sit with a property vendor, and hand-craft the property presentation with great simplicity.

Let’s look at how it works.



In this picture, we see a typical property presentation in “edit” mode where a user can drag around the elements of the presentation as they please. This presentation is itself a web page.



In this next shot we see the final presentation as it would appear on the live website. The user has staggered the pictures in an overlap manner, and carefully placed the descriptive text. The page is then saved and published in a typical fashion.



This tool can be extended to provide many design features; • modify font and format of text• modify background colors• insert borders, tables, images• etc.

The tool is simpler to use than many web page editing tools, because the user can interact directly with the page, and doesn’t require the ability to understand the underlying technology.

Background Research


Users should be provided with quality background research tools.

These should preferably be online web services provided by third parties that manage property information.

Here’s a short list of suggestions –• Researching the Body Corporate• Review the price history for a property• Research council information for property and surrounding area• Research demographics for the area• Research land rights, such as easements, on the property

the future of real estate discovery

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copyright peter scheffer

actual property

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