Our new startup is called 200 Square, and we're trying to change the way real estate is sold in New Zealand.<p>200square.co.nz<p>Basically, we manage the whole process online - you list your house for sale, order marketing and even negotiate with potential buyers all online. The legal environment here means you can even digitally "sign" agreements using a credit card!<p>There's no human "agent" in the process - 200 Square manages it all, although you can get in touch with someone for help if you need it. We also charge a fixed "success fee" instead of the usual commission paid to an agent (2% - 4% of the sale price here, depending on a number of things).<p>I'm really interested in what you guys think of the concept, and the home/info pages - we are trying to explain a complicated process as concisely and simply as possible.<p>Appreciate anything you might suggest however!
Really, really, nice design. Clear, clean, effective. I hope you started a trend and million of people will copy your style.<p>idea 1 :
Now, concerning the UX, Key traction user is the seller.<p>When you go to "seller", it directly ask for my adress. At beginning, I didn't want to give it. not now. but I have no other choice. SO I did it. and then, you did a great job with the house finder and market price.<p>But I think there might be some defects at that step. You should track and or test this step. Maybe you could say more at the beginning : "We're happy to offer you a free estimate of your property, please locate it and directly see a price estimate".<p>Idea 2 : Seller might not search for an online real estate at beginning but for sure, they want to know more about the market. Your site should give more at beginning and transform them after.<p>There is a French startup very successfull : <a href="http://www.meilleursagents.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.meilleursagents.com/</a><p>, who has a business like this : They have the best tool ever to estimate your property for free (very big traction of qualified prospects), and then they transform them as seller and connect them to local real estate agency.<p>When you type a Parisian adress in google.fr, they are on the first results with the average estate price in the area.
I recently bought my first house in the greater Wellington area, so have spent the last four or so months dealing with real estate agents. I think anything to reduce their influence is probably going to be popular. The fixed commission is probably a good move as it makes you look more neutral, unlike agents who wants the highest sale price possible.<p>From a buyer's point of view the biggest problem with the site is the low number of listings, but I imagine that will grow with time. Best of luck.
Design is very good. But one suggestion is to include at least glimpse of some properties available for buying. Right now homepage has lot of literature, but for a new site its important to show that you have some traction and gain further clicks from user.
One thing that would be important, and I'll admit I didn't register for an account to see if this is possible, but I don't believe anyone will buy a home sight unseen or without and inspection. Is there a facility to book a viewing or book an inspection?