For most people, the process of buying a home begins with searching online. It’s where they turn first, and has been for 25 years.
Yet, despite hundreds of home search websites and apps to choose from — including some that attract tens of millions of users per month — the experience often creates more confusion than clarity.
Some companies offer “exclusive” listings that require a login to see, other companies claim to show all the listings, but have significant gaps. Some listings have videos and 3D photography, yet many do not.
It’s often difficult to get a full picture of your home options.
Thanks to Google, Amazon and other digital giants that have changed the way we search online, today’s consumers have high expectations of search platforms to offer different ways to search and return personalized results. As homebuying preferences evolve — like the recent trend of purchasing homes sight unseen — it’s more important than ever to give buyers a full picture from the beginning of their home search journey.
At homegenius Real Estate, we recognized two clear shortcomings of today’s home search tech: the inability to see and filter based on condition of homes and the unreliability of automated home value estimates. We decided to combine our decades of real estate experience and advanced data science to solve those problems.
1. A search platform should telll you more about the home.
Search capabilities on most sites are still limited to a small amount of information pulled from listing descriptions. You can filter by location and square footage, but not condition of the home or specific attributes for each room. That doesn’t help homebuyers who want to find fixer-uppers or have their heart set on a certain style of kitchen.
Introducing homegeniusIQ: The smarter way to look for a home. HomegeniusIQ is our breakthrough, AI-powered technology that gives home searchers a fuller view of available homes for sale.
We use computer vision and artificial intelligence to “see” the vast number of home listing photos. This image recognition and photo analysis technology makes it possible to conduct searches based on a home’s appearance, room condition and property features — far beyond what’s possible with conventional search filters — to help homebuyers find exactly what they’re looking for.
Filter by image: this search feature lets you upload photos that include the features you’re looking for. homegeniusIQ will identify room conditions and objects to find similar features in properties listed for sale. Let’s try this kitchen:
The homegeniusIQ scan returns the following results, which you can apply to your search to quickly find other homes with similar kitchen features:
Room Condition: Good
Flooring: Wood
Hanging Lights: Yes
Refrigerator: Stainless
Kitchen Island: Yes
Dishwasher: Stainless
Range: Stainless
Hood: Yes
Filter by room condition: smart filters let you search by features and amenities identified through homegeniusIQ and compare properties based on the condition of each room. This is equally useful for buyers who are looking for an updated home that will require no renovations, and buyers who want a fixer-upper they can customize to their style.
2. Automated home value estimates should be more reliable.
Home value estimates have appeared alongside active listings for more than fifteen years. This should make it easy for home searchers to determine if a home is priced right. But because the algorithms generating those estimates are largely based on comparable sale prices, they often fail to produce accurate results that account for the condition of the home.
homegeniusIQ helps here as well, “seeing” inside of homes in order to create more accurate estimates.
The geniusprice estimate from homegenius Real Estate is designed to deliver a more accurate assessment of value by comparing the features within homes and their condition. Agents can use it to make smarter decisions with their clients for pricing listings and writing offers; homebuyers, homeowners, and sellers benefit from a clearer picture of home value estimates.
With homegeniusIQ and geniusprice, homegenius Real Estate opens more possibilities, more opportunity, and more growth within the real estate industry. This is just one of the first steps to ignite innovation that benefits both consumers and real estate professionals.
To test drive the next generation of home search, and learn about all we offer, visit homegeniusrealestate.com.