Originally posted by REM Online: http://www.remonline.com/?p=14787
A new website recently launched for sales reps who actively work the GTA condo market, or would like to enter that market.
CondoNow (www.condonow.com) is the newest offering from Aareas Interactive, which has been producing sales and marketing technology solutions since 1991. Launched in October 2012, it offers an easy, convenient and centralized online spot where sales reps can get all of the required information on condos and upcoming projects, the company says.
“The whole idea behind CondoNow is to create an MLS/Expedia-like website for condos, and eventually new homes, where a Realtor can go online and search for condos on any parameter – anything from upcoming launches to the number of bedrooms – and get a quick listing that they can then show their client,” says Frank Guido, president and CEO of CondoNow.
Guido says that previously, if a sales rep had a client who wanted to buy a condo for a future date, there was no easy way for the Realtor to pull all of the available condos that might meet the client’s criteria. It was a lot of leg work and chasing, with the sales rep calling the various condo builders to see what’s coming down the pipe and might be a fit.
But he says, with 482 projects in the GTA and 111 new condos currently available for immediate occupancy, that represented a lot of wasted time.
The CondoNow website offers everything sales reps need to find and present the perfect condo to their client: brochures, virtual tours, floor plans, renderings, views, pricing and specific Realtor information such as commissions and clawbacks. Everything is presented in a clean, consistent format, making it easier to locate and compare information. If a sales rep is interested in upcoming projects, with CondoNow, all they need to do is flag the projects they’re interested in and they’ll be sent a notice whenever there are updates.
The website also becomes effective for new VIP product launches. Guido says that until CondoNow, developers were typically receiving worksheets by fax. They’d collect all of the faxes, spread them out and then start pairing up the possibilities.
“It was a very antiquated, error-prone process for everyone involved,” says Guido. “CondoNow uses technology to not only streamline the process and eliminate errors, but provide accurate, fast, live data to Realtors.”
CondoNow is strictly a place for developers and Realtors to connect – no real estate is sold over the website. Developers post their inventory and information directly to the website, and Realtors then access the site to locate condos, similar to what the MLS does for resales. It is free to Realtors and developers only pay a fee if a deal closes.
“We only get paid if a transaction initiates on the site and then the deal closes,” says Guido. “Once the deal closes, the developer pays a fee to CondoNow. That’s it. There is no advertising revenue being generated, so the site is clean, and there’s definitely no preferential treatment given to one developer over another.”
He estimates that out of the 34,000 Realtors in TREB, there are probably only a couple of thousand who deal with new condos.
“It’s a very convoluted process and very much an old boys club,” says Guido. “CondoNow levels the playing field and gives every Realtor a chance to sell their client a condo.”
Within the next year, Guido expects to be offering CondoNow across North America in multiple languages. For information: www.aareas.com
– Tony Palermo
