In our latest real estate tech interview, I’m talking to Andrey Nokhrin of FLIPT. Without further adieu, here’s a bit more from his own mouth…

What do you do?

I am the Founder and CEO of FLIPT (flipt.co), a property investment site and a decision-making engine that fundamentally changes how home buyers and investors find and sell houses online. FLIPT includes an inventory of hundreds of thousands of residential properties, providing key insights and scoring methodologies that match consumers with properties based on their unique desired outcome: Fix & Flip, Buy & Hold or Rent. The cross-platform tool is for homebuyers and property investors, as well as real estate agents looking to engage with consumers in a more targeted and relevant way. FLIPT fills the investment gap left by sites like Zillow and Trulia, moving beyond a basic housing marketplace to both provide data and make sense of it.

Why do You Do What you Do?

My background is actually in real estate – founding a real estate and property management company before focusing on technology. As a Realtor, I saw a desperate need in more effective advertising as the growing amount of home buyers every year start their home search and research online. Nowadays, traditional newspaper and brochure marketing are not effective as newspaper readership has plummeted and people simply toss mailers into the trash without reading. As a consumer who looked for a house for my own family, I also experienced first-hand the challenges of finding a property that both fit my needs and was a good investment. I saw a need for an online resource that not only shows real estate data, but actually analyzes a property to find the best investment opportunity, taking in account a home’s location, condition, and potential value shown in a more relevant and meaningful way.. Together, those experiences helped inspire the foundation of FLIPT to help fill the market opportunity of a product that not only looks at the value of a property, but interprets key insights to guide consumers on a property’s investment potential.

What are you most excited about right now?

The online home buying market is booming – according to the National Association of Realtors, 90 percent of home buyers start their home search online and more than 300 million people accessing real estate websites each month on desktop alone (as reported by Experian Marketing Services). There is a strong need for a service like FLIPT that is dedicated to assessing the investment potential of a home. With our recent launch out of private beta for the general consumer, we’re most excited about the prospect of having FLIPT live for a broader audience and to focus on growth of the site over the coming months and years.

What’s next for you?

I don’t see myself ever leaving the world of real estate, especially in the next year as we dedicate most of the company’s resources to growing FLIPT. While we have insights at the national level, we’re currently focusing heavily on growing in five major metropolitan markets – Washington, Florida, Nevada, New York, and California. We look forward to building that to include several new states over the next year, making our data even more accurate and complete.

What’s a cause you’re passionate about and why?

Family is my biggest joy and passion. Spending time with my wife and 3-year-old daughter is my favorite part of the day and what I look forward to most. When the weather permits and I can find time, I love to be outdoors. Just as I am riding the real estate tech “wave,” surfing the waves at Washington’s Westport Beach is one of my favorite activities. I have surfed all over the US, from here in my home state of Washington, to California and one of my favorites, Hawaii.

Thanks to Audrey for sharing his motivations and current projects. If you’re interested in connecting with him further, you can find him on Oh Hey World.

We’ll be featuring other real estate tech entrepreneurs in the coming weeks. If you are an entrepreneur in the real estate vertical (past or present), and want to be profiled, please follow the steps outlined here. Remember, you can always discover other people in the Geek Estate community here.