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After spending last financial year deep in development, ListReady is eyeing substantial growth in a market it believes is on the cusp of rapid evolution.
ListReady, which was built using the technology and backing of its sister company MoneyMe, facilitates marketing expenditure for both vendors and agents.
Chief executive of ListReady Clayton Howes explained the service looks to solve frictions of the marketing process. For example, ListReady allows vendors to pay at a later date for their advertising costs, but agents still receive upfront payment, as a means to get a property to market quicker and with a well-funded campaign.
It’s this distinct focus on resolving frictions where Mr Howes sees the ultimate potential of proptech, and he said ListReady is set to capitalise on the capability of proptech in the “complicated and clunky” process of purchasing a property this financial year.
“We are alarmed by the complication in the process of buying and selling a house that still exists today,” Mr Howes said.
“We need to play a part in solving where those failings are, with technology-enabled payment solutions.
“We see friction in the payments process, the administration of finance and too many intermediaries.”
ListReady has spent the last six months building its service and testing its user experience, and is now poised to capture market share “aggressively”, according to Mr Howes.
Australia’s capital city prices have yet to bottom out, but Mr Howes is bullish on market conditions because of increased activity from groups like first home buyers. He’s also buoyed by the federal election result, which resulted in negligible changes to property policy at the government level, unlocking the shackles on bank funding, and a historic low cash rate.
“Buyers are ready to respond to the market, and to purchase what’s available in the market. But they need encouragement, which can happen in the form of a property which presents well, and materialises with a strong proposition,” Mr Howes said.
“Where we become important is enabling that next step for the transaction.”
Simplicity is the future
Mr Howes stressed the growth of proptech companies does not signal the demise of humans in the transaction process — real estate agents in particular. ListReady, in fact, is invested in the future of real estate agents in Australia, and has come on board as principal partner with initiatives like the REB Awards and Top 50 Women in Real Estate to solidify this position.
For Mr Howes, proptech is at about 5 per cent of its potential in Australia, and will hit peak boom when Millennials realise wealth and increasingly have access to technology-enabled tools to facilitate property transactions.
“Proptech has the potential to enable a simplistic approach to managing an outcome either at the decision point, during the sales process, during the banking process, with the finance solution, or with engaging a solicitor,” Mr Howes said.
“With technology, and the power of information, there’s everything you need to drive a very simple outcome.”
Mr Howes envisions a market where all parts of the property transaction are housed in one spot — from engaging professionals to sorting finance to facilitating decisions and conversations between all the involved parties.
“That is meaningful, that is contemporary, and it facilitates a process where decisions can be made more readily,” Mr Howes said.
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