A New Technology Brokerage: Surefield
For those in Seattle, there is a new brokerage in town. Surefield, started by David Eraker, Aravind Kalaiah, and Rob McGarty. Rob and David were both early, early Redfin team members.
The online 3D tour technology that is front and center is certainly slick. Buyer engagement will be through the roof, at least based on my experience with the product last week (and I’m not even in the market for a home). See the below embed for an example…
The obvious questions:
- How is this brokerage different than Redfin, aside from a bit of cool technology (which I’m sure Redfin, Trulia, Zillow will have at some point)?
- Will technology by itself enough of a differentiator for sellers to choose Surefield?
- Why now? (with Redfin’s likely IPO, the fact that one of Redfin’s founders is working on another brokerage will surely be part of many stories)
Related: some coverage on GeekWire.
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Bryn Kaufman
Posted at 12:07h, 28 AprilI am not so impressed with their tour. Besides the fact that the photos look dark and fuzzy on the example at full screen, I found these types of tours harder to navigate than plain photos.
Good web design says don’t make me think and don’t make me click too much. I think this tour really makes you think a lot and scroll/click a lot.
When I clicked on certain rooms I was looking at a close up of a wall or a hand rail. Then I have to navigate around and try to figure out where I am and what I am looking at and what angle gives me the best view of that area.
Way too much work for buyers to do with every listing, but you might use it on your top 3 favorites listings.
We go with huge photos and all the user has to do is scroll to see them all. The photos are so large it feels like they are standing there at the home, and the photographer is the one thinking of the best angles to shoot and the best views, the buyer does not have to think at all.
http://www.oahure.com/photos/201401181/index.php?Originals=Y
That being said I am sure they can be successful as they obviously are very smart founders, but it will take a lot more than this one virtual tour to make a good company.
Not sure if they will end up discounting like Redfin, it does not mention it yet, but it will be an interesting story to see what they end up doing.
Sam DeBord, SeattleHome.com
Posted at 05:56h, 29 AprilAll good points. The tour is nice, they have a very simple pitch, 3D tour, free staging and professional photos. The messaging is missing the same thing as Redfin, i.e. “We have the best full-time, experienced agents who’ll walk you through the process from start to finish.”