Real estate 3.0: selling houses that aren’t for sale

Igglo combines large amounts of real estate information into a customer friendly package that could alter how the housing market operates, by letting potential buyers ‘pre-order’ houses that aren’t yet for sale. The Finnish company has photographed every building in Helsinki, with more towns to follow, and combines these photographs with satellite images and maps. Every property is listed, not just those that are currently on the market. (Their tagline is: “Your house is already on Igglo.”) Potential buyers can earmark a building, street or neighbourhood they’re interested in, and post offers online. This lets potential sellers find out how desirable their property is, even if they weren’t actively considering selling. Buyers also receive an alert when a property in their earmarked building or area comes up for sale. If demand and supply meet, Igglo handles the transaction for a lower fee than is charged by regular real estate agents (less than 2%). Lower fees are made possible by the fact the Igglo agents don’t get involved until buyers and sellers have found each other. The company is looking to expand the service to other big cities. Interesting way of turning the real estate market upside down, letting demand nudge supply in the right direction, and moving the market from push to pull. One to watch!