RealSavvy receives a $40,000 check during the 2015 South by Southwest Accelerator event in March. Pictured (from left) is Alani Rondon, RealSavvy vice president of marketing, CEO Rick Orr and Clay Knight, the company’s co-founder and creative director.[/caption]
An Austin startup is gaining momentum for its home search organization tool—one that helped RealSavvy in March claim the South by Southwest Interactive Accelerator award for best social technology.
RealSavvy CEO Rick Orr founded the company along with Creative Director Clay Knight. Launched in July, the service is a social platform similar to Pinterest that allows users to organize their home search by pinning homes to a "board." That process enables users to collaborate with real estate agents who can broker their purchase.
The service launched as a desktop-based pilot program in December, and a mobile version became available via the Apple App Store at the end of March.
An entrepreneur with a background in real estate, Orr said he was going for a weekend drive to look at houses with his wife when she found a home listing on a database. When his wife was taking pictures of her computer screen to share information on the listing, Orr said he realized there was a problem.
"Particularly for agents, when a client asks you to view a home, you have to log in to a system that doesn't have the greatest mobile experience," he said. "One of the things you'll see us do is give agents one-touch access to all-important information about our listings so that they can be really responsive to clients—which is, I think most agents agree—the key to success within that profession."
In addition to the apps agents and potential homebuyers can sign up at
www.realsavvy.com where they can find more than 2 million home listings nationwide while using the product, Orr said.
Ashley Doyle, a real estate agent with Realty Austin, said she signed up to use the service late last year. She said she is excited to see what the company has in store for the future.
"Home searches start online these days, and I think RealSavvy is the first site to understand that our clients want to search multiple sites," Doyle said. "As agents we love the opportunity to help our clients find their dream home no matter where they search."
Austin's real estate agents were the first to test-drive the service. Dallas and Houston represent "very interesting" potential expansion opportunities in the near future, Orr said, but the Austin market has proven to be a strong market for debuting the new product.
"I think the velocity of the market [in Austin] gives us a wonderful testbed for a highly responsive and accurate platform around the home search," he said.
RealSavvy is particularly useful for active buyers who want to track the rapid pace of Austin's market—a market in which many homes are sold within 24 hours of being listed, Orr said.
"In 10 years we want everyone thinking about their home purchase ... to view RealSavvy as the best way to organize it, communicate throughout and maybe even find an agent," he said.
RealSavvy receives a $40,000 check during the 2015 South by Southwest Accelerator event in March. Pictured (from left) is Alani Rondon, RealSavvy vice president of marketing, CEO Rick Orr and Clay Knight, the company’s co-founder and creative director.[/caption]
An Austin startup is gaining momentum for its home search organization tool—one that helped RealSavvy in March claim the South by Southwest Interactive Accelerator award for best social technology.
RealSavvy CEO Rick Orr founded the company along with Creative Director Clay Knight. Launched in July, the service is a social platform similar to Pinterest that allows users to organize their home search by pinning homes to a "board." That process enables users to collaborate with real estate agents who can broker their purchase.
The service launched as a desktop-based pilot program in December, and a mobile version became available via the Apple App Store at the end of March.
An entrepreneur with a background in real estate, Orr said he was going for a weekend drive to look at houses with his wife when she found a home listing on a database. When his wife was taking pictures of her computer screen to share information on the listing, Orr said he realized there was a problem.
"Particularly for agents, when a client asks you to view a home, you have to log in to a system that doesn't have the greatest mobile experience," he said. "One of the things you'll see us do is give agents one-touch access to all-important information about our listings so that they can be really responsive to clients—which is, I think most agents agree—the key to success within that profession."
In addition to the apps agents and potential homebuyers can sign up at www.realsavvy.com where they can find more than 2 million home listings nationwide while using the product, Orr said.
Ashley Doyle, a real estate agent with Realty Austin, said she signed up to use the service late last year. She said she is excited to see what the company has in store for the future.
"Home searches start online these days, and I think RealSavvy is the first site to understand that our clients want to search multiple sites," Doyle said. "As agents we love the opportunity to help our clients find their dream home no matter where they search."
Austin's real estate agents were the first to test-drive the service. Dallas and Houston represent "very interesting" potential expansion opportunities in the near future, Orr said, but the Austin market has proven to be a strong market for debuting the new product.
"I think the velocity of the market [in Austin] gives us a wonderful testbed for a highly responsive and accurate platform around the home search," he said.
RealSavvy is particularly useful for active buyers who want to track the rapid pace of Austin's market—a market in which many homes are sold within 24 hours of being listed, Orr said.
"In 10 years we want everyone thinking about their home purchase ... to view RealSavvy as the best way to organize it, communicate throughout and maybe even find an agent," he said.
