Why Real Estate Technology is Lagging Behind

So you want a cool real estate investment app?  Well, good luck.  Real Estate is a monstrous industry and most people end up buying at least one house in their lifetime.  Have you noticed there are no good apps or software for the real estate investor?

Even the big players like Zillow, Trulia, and Redfin are shying away from this.  They have wonderful websites, but they don't help you, as an investor, purchase your next house.

A study done by Biggerpocket.com and Memphis Invest said there are 28.1 million US real estate investors.  That is the roughly the same number of people who own Roth IRAs or money-market share holders.  So why do we have Etrade or Scottrade, but nothing powerful enough to buy/sell real estate?

As a startup trying to solve this problem, let me first tell you why there are no good programs.

Real estate data is a huge mess!

Here are some facts:

• 1365:  Different Local Realtor Assoc.
• 900+:  Multiple Listing Systems
• 3007:  Unique Counties
• 517,800:  Total Brokers
• 165,000:  Total Brokerages
• 1 Million+:  Total Realtors

Every MLS and County uses their own data format.  There is zero standardization and no leadership from NAR to get better data standards. Sure there is a push from the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO) and startups like rets.ly that are trying to standardize the data, but what do you do when you have incomplete or wrong data?  Garbage In = Garbage Out

On top of that, the MLS boards do not want you to have the data.  They want to put it behind a lock and key and make customers and brokers jump through hoops to see sold date. There are three ways to have access this MLS data.

1.  Vendor -  Create a product and you can ONLY sell it to agents. So the MLS are okay having vendors charge Realtors for their own data, but the vendors can't charge the public?
2.  Broker -  Become a brokerage and apply for a VOW feed. The MLS's don't want creative brokers to have access to this data as a proof in the DOJ vs NAR antitrust case.
3. Portal - The MLS's will syndicate limited data via List Hub, Point2 to Zillow or Trulia and convenience agents that it is  Zillow or Trulia's fault for the inaccurate data.

The Chicago Tribune says:

"The real estate industry is hungry for technological breakthroughs, and opportunity awaits existing business-to-business startups that can expand to serve it, real estate investors and entrepreneurs say.”

We think that:

No One Shares Data + No Standard Format + Not Investor Friendly = Huge Opportunity

Inman News has a great article how over $1B is being spent on real estate startups.  All of these companies are awesome, but I could not find one that focuses on the investor.

So, why is there 28.1M investors, but no cool apps for them?  Perhaps there should be.

ReZamp.com is a nationwide brokerage with powerful software that analyzes every property on the MLS.  ReZamp is free to use with no obligation to use ReZamp as your brokerage.  Anyone, even the general public, can use it.  

ReZamp is currently operating in Phoenix, Tucson, Tampa, Orlando, Las Vegas, Denver, Houston, and Jacksonsville.