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Can the new Haus app solve a “fundamental problem” in real estate?

by James F. McClister

haus-uber-camp-expa-real-estate-mobile-app

One of the minds that brought us Uber is trying to change the face of real estate through a mobile app. The app, called Haus, is for buyers, sellers, and agents, and focuses on the offer process rather than home search.

On Thursday, Uber co-founder Garrett Camp announced his newest project, an “open and fair platform for buying and selling homes,” which will take the form of a mobile app under the umbrella of his company Expa Studios.

“At a time when everything is digitized, the offer review process still relies heavily on paperwork and doesn’t incorporate modern digital technology,” Camp wrote in the announcement.

The idea is to simplify the process. Camp described the current offer submission-acceptance homebuying system as “inefficient” and a “fundamental problem” with the real estate industry today. With Haus, buyers and sellers will be able to streamline their interactions: buyers can monitor the status of their offer; and sellers are able to see all offers as they are submitted. The app also manages the bulk of offer logistics, allowing the presiding agents to spend time on more imperative tasks.

“Haus helps buyers, sellers and agents operate more efficiently,” Camp wrote. “The platform streamlines offer communications, reduces anxiety and leads to a better experience overall.”

In her coverage of the launch, Tech Crunch senior writer Jordan Crook touched on potential concerns over what Haus might mean for agents, such as speculation that the app could replace them entirely. But Camp responded to this concern describing Haus as more a complement to brokers than a replacement for them.

“Collecting offers and presenting them is a very manual process, the way that town car companies would pick a phone, write the fare on the board, and send the next available driver to that location,” he said. “It just seems much more efficient for agents to use a platform to coordinate all of this information automatically.”

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Comments

  • Howard Meyers says:

    Looks like another tech solution searching for a real problem. If an agent is not effectively communicating offers and negotiations….then get a different agent.
    While many buyers and sellers feel empowered by taking charge of the process via technology, nothing technological can provide more added value than the local expertise of an experienced and highly knowledgeable agent.
    Unfortunately, you don’t know “what you don’t have” until you have it.

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