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Solving the Content Problem in Emerging Markets

Solving the Content Problem in Emerging Markets

Of all the challenges in emerging real estate markets, quality content may be the hardest. Without an MLS, brokers and agents have no protection on their listings, so they are hesitant to include specifics such as unit address in fear of their listings being stolen….

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VivaReal: Brazil’s Real Estate Giant

VivaReal: Brazil’s Real Estate Giant

We don’t often cover international real estate startups – but there are a fair number of readers from abroad, so we probably should to a bit more of it. VivaReal recently raised a big round – a $41.7 Million series C round, led by Spark…

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Start-Up Chile’s Portfolio of Real Estate Start-Ups

Start-Up Chile’s Portfolio of Real Estate Start-Ups

As many of you know, I’m currently down in Santiago going through Start-Up Chile building Horizon. Horizon is not a real estate startup. That said, there are a number of real estate startups that have gone through the incubator, some of the founders I’ve spoken…

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Quick Horizon Update: Product Demo & Beta Testing

Quick Horizon Update: Product Demo & Beta Testing

We (Horizon) just applied to TechStars New York, and put together a product demo which I thought I’d share here: The primary use case of finding a trusted person to stay with on your next trip is certainly not a real estate one, but there…

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SQFT, Buying / Selling Homes on Your Phone without Agents

SQFT, Buying / Selling Homes on Your Phone without Agents

This press release by SQFT was brought to my attention: SQFT, the world’s first fully transactional real estate app, is pleased to announce that its first electronic real estate listing is under contract at a price of $550,000. The seller, Helen Marshall of Boulder, Colorado…

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The Hardest Part of Building a Real Estate Tech Startup: Sales

The Hardest Part of Building a Real Estate Tech Startup: Sales

The “Build it and they will come” mindset is of course completely false when it comes to software. Building a great software product that real estate agents and brokerages love, is really freaking hard. But that’s not the hardest part of building a real estate tech startup….

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An open letter to startups trying to disrupt the real estate industry

An open letter to startups trying to disrupt the real estate industry

There are always new startups popping up offering lower commissions and buyer rebates hoping that they’re going to be the next big thing in real estate. To date none of these new companies except Redfin have disrupted the industry at all. Personally, I believe it’s…

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Ghar360

Ghar360

I came across Ghar360 on ProductHunt last week, and it reminded me of the fact that I spoke to many entrepreneurs working on floorplan sites while doing business development for Zillow from 2007 until my departure 2010 to follow my travel passion (leading to Oh Hey World, and now Horizon). That was 5 years…

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Buy and Sell a Home, without an Agent — with allre

Buy and Sell a Home, without an Agent — with allre

allre is the latest to try to help home owners buy and sell. Of course, OpenDoor is another recent entrant in the “buy and sell homes online” camp. Allre recently presented at TechCrunch Disrupt: Sell or Buy a House Online for Free on Allre My…

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Carfax For Listings? Revaluate Launches in Beta

Carfax For Listings? Revaluate Launches in Beta

Another RE Tech start-up has moved from stealth to beta recently. Revaluate is hedging a bet that prospective home buyers are hungry for data that exists outside standard MLS descriptions on the homes they are considering. From the about page at Revaluate.Com. “Most real estate sites…

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