Frustrations with realestate.com.au what do you think of this?

[cmpalmer]

Friends!

When looking for IPs for purchase I get frustrated by the lack of search options in realestate.com.au. For example there is a really nice complex here on the Gold Coast and it has quite a few units. I really like making targeted offers with facts. Recent sales data as well as other product on the market in and outside a unit complex is all part of the equation. However, currently its impossible to quickly filter out the noise and ascertain these facts. For example show me whats for sale in "The Reserve" complex. You ask an agent and they look at you dumbfounded and say I don't know. In fact most agents don't know that the unit right next door is for sale.

Anyway I am getting to my point. I wrote an application that solves some of my problems and am interested in your feedback. It is quite simple to use:

1) Perform your query on realestate.com.au and paste the url into the url text field at top.
2) The system will process each property and strip out pricing info and keywords so that you can filter on them.
3) The average, median and a running sum of property values in your list is computed dynamically.
4) Rows are color coded when a property is above or below the median.
5) Just type a key word in the "filter" field and your list is updated automatically.
6) You can do plenty of sorts as well.

There are some limitations however that is because of inherent limitations in realestate.com.au. Screen shot is below.

Best regards,
Chris

 

[duncan_m]

When looking for IPs for purchase I get frustrated by the lack of search options in realestate.com.au.

Me too! Their search engine is primitive and reminiscent of a web site from the late 90's. I'm unsure if this is by design or incompetence though.

Anyway I am getting to my point. I wrote an application that solves some of my problems and am interested in your feedback. It is quite simple to use:

Nice work! Where do we download it?

 

[cmpalmer]

Hi Duncan!

Thanks! I have a few more features to add then I can put a copy up on my website as an applet where people could test it out as well as a java webstart version.

Have any ideas regarding features?

Chris

 

[Stewie]

Nice work Chris! I have a couple of 'requested' features;

1. I presume that the average and median prices are from the list only and do not relate to the suburb in question? Can you drag in suburb average and median prices from another source?

2. What about bringing in past sales data? I guess the problem here is that Realestate.com.au does not always post the selling price. Again, can this info be dragged in from another source such as domain.com.au, or even link in with the work that Sonic is doing?

Sorry mate, I am asking for the 'Gold Plated' solution here!!!

A very useful tool - thanks!

 

[ponyfire]

Chris
This is brilliant!
I look forward to the finished product, perhaps you are on your way to developing some residual income? We on somersoft will be happy to test it out, then perhaps you can sell it to other investors.
Go Chris
Pony

 

[Ol School Skata]

what is the go with them recently merging property types - for eg houses and townhouses are now combined with no option to separate them so you have to scroll through all the townhouses to find a house. very frustrating

OSS

 

[cmpalmer]

Nice work Chris! I have a couple of 'requested' features;

1. I presume that the average and median prices are from the list only and do not relate to the suburb in question? Can you drag in suburb average and median prices from another source?

2. What about bringing in past sales data? I guess the problem here is that Realestate.com.au does not always post the selling price. Again, can this info be dragged in from another source such as domain.com.au, or even link in with the work that Sonic is doing?

You are correct. I can easily add "actual data" and all forms of it. My personal vision is to create a "real world" property profile. It would be awesome to know how the candidate IP competes with currents sales and actual data. You could color code properties above and below real data metrics. When looking for properties its hard to get your hands around this data quickly and relate it back to your ip.

Simply being able to search on keywords has been a huge success for me, because I was able to show an agent there were three properties on the same floor for 40k less.

Your suggestions are motivating me to put more into it.

Chris

 

[cmpalmer]

Chris
This is brilliant!
I look forward to the finished product, perhaps you are on your way to developing some residual income? We on somersoft will be happy to test it out, then perhaps you can sell it to other investors.
Go Chris
Pony

Thank you again. The first thing I set out to do was "filter out the noise" and solve a "pain" I was experiencing. Then I started realizing that it could actually be something viable here. I am going to put up a beta on my site shortly then people can play around with it. I want to bring the power of information into the buyers hand.

 

[cmpalmer]

what is the go with them recently merging property types - for eg houses and townhouses are now combined with no option to separate them so you have to scroll through all the townhouses to find a house. very frustrating

OSS

Yes. This also frustrates me.

I am going to add a page where you can perform the query right from this interface then you will have the ability to select houses only. In the mean time if you look at the URL at the top of your browser you can remove the elements manually that you don't want.

Chris

 

[chook]

Sorry, this is slightly off topic but what really annoys me is that lately I have noticed that agents aren't reporting the land size when they report sales to wherever it is they report their sales. I have noticed this recently on reports where you used to be able to compare land sizes but now they list them as "0". If you looked at the properties sold, you could see one sold for a high price and you knew it was high because it was a big duplex block but now you have no reference point to compare prices. This is only a recent occurrence because I am following the sales of some properties that have sold and I know what their land size is but if I was an outsider, there is no way I could know that. Why is it a big secret? Why don't the agents want people to have this information?

 

[cmpalmer]

Why is it a big secret? Why don't the agents want people to have this information?

I think some aren't educated in the power of good data. ( You don't even have addresses populated in realestate.com.au)

Some don't care. Some are hiding facts. Sorry I could go on. I also think the property selling process in general is flawed.

Chris

 

[Andrew]

Has anybody else noticed that they have actually removed options lately? I'm sure
that I used to be able to view upto 30 properties at one time rather than the default
10 at a time.

They may be trying to inflate their page views statistics by forcing us to view 10 at
at time.

andy

 

[duncan_m]

Has anybody else noticed that they have actually removed options lately? I'm sure
that I used to be able to view upto 30 properties at one time rather than the default
10 at a time.

They may be trying to inflate their page views statistics by forcing us to view 10 at
at time.

andy

I noticed a few things that used to be on the "simple" search page got moved to the advanced search page.. Sort Order for example.

 

[Jacque]

Apparently, changes are afoot for realestate.com as they attempt to improve their site and capture 80%+ of the selling market. Should be interesting to see what they come up with.
I, too, get frustrated with their search options- even Domain has word specific searches, which yield more narrowed lists.

 

[Ol School Skata]

Andrew - if you click the option to search by map it then gives you more options to search by including listing 30 properties per page.

Since they changed it - it has become a less property-purchaser friendly

OSS

 

[cmpalmer]

These issues are why I am writing this tool to help me.

I am going to be able to query both sources and present the information in a uniform way.


Chris

 

[the.j]

REA.com hacking

I posted a similar hack in a thread long ago -but that was pre the current REA.com version...

This is the text that the web browser sends to REA.com after an advanced search has been defined: (in this case - properties in Australind Western Australia that are at least 3 bedrooms and priced between $150000 - 350000$)

http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=s&cu=&s=wa&ss=&ag=&t=res&snf=ras&tb=australind&u=&regionid=&is=1&pm=150000&px=350000&pme=150000&pxe=350000&cat=&minbed=3&maxbed=&parking=&minlandsize=&p=100&o=p

You can break it down into nice bite size pieces:

URL with advanced search

http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=s&cu=

State

&s=wa

Surrounding Suburbs and Type - residential

&ss=1&ag=&t=res

Undeciphered!

&snf=ras

Town/suburb

&tb=australind&u=&regionid=&is=1

Price Minimum / Price Maximum ($150000-$350000)

&pm=150000&px=350000&pme=150000&pxe=350000

Minimum bed (3) and the rest self explanatory

&cat=&minbed=3&maxbed=&parking=&minlandsize=

Properties to be displayed per page (I like 100!)

&p=100

Order by price

&o=p

So you should feel free to substitue the values you want if you want to customise your search. For example copy the first code line and paste it into notepad and edit away, then paste the finished line back into the address bar of your broswer.

I like to do so, and bookmark ("favorites" if you still use Internet Explorer) in my Firefox Browser..

Cheers
J

PS - Chris - I reckon your product is looking great too! Can't wait to hear about more of it!

 

[the.j]

Oh - and while I'm at it...

Is there an opinion out there on this website ?
http://www.real-estate-australia.com.au/qld/properties.php

It hasn't really come up on my radar before...

Cheers
J

 

[cmpalmer]

Hey J.

Thanks for checking my screen out. I just finished putting querying in so I don't have to use re.com.au at all. I am almost ready for a beta test for everyone.

Regarding your question. I reviewed RE net and here is my opinion.

There vision may be admirable however its too seller oriented. Buyers need access to better information. So all the same pains still exist. I didn't see any of the properties I have been looking at recently in it either. So who knows.

Going to get back to getting my app done. Hope you will give it a try.

Chris

 

[thefirstbruce]

Like your thinking Chris. It's about time the RE buyer was considered the customer, and info should be organized for them. Currently, REAs play a game of hiding a property's negatives and playing up the positives. And it seems realestate.com are going to make it hard for buyers whenever it helps sellers.