TAMPA – June 15, 2009 – Daniel Westbrook says his company works much like an online dating service. Suitors type in their likes and dislikes, and the computer finds the perfect match.
Only Westbrook’s company won’t find you a date. It could help sell your house, though.
The mission of Tampa-based OnlineHouseTrading.com is to connect sellers with someone willing to swap with them.
“The thinking is, ‘You buy my home, and I’ll buy yours,’” said Westbrook, co-founder and chief executive officer. Or, if the homes are worth about the same amount, trade.
It may sound unorthodox but, hey, this is real estate, after all. And what sounded strange a few years ago makes a lot more sense today.
With tens of thousands of unsold homes on the market, the site has piqued the interest of desperate sellers who’ve had no luck with the conventional route.
Unsuccessful sellers – 55,000 of them across the United States – have homes listed on the site.
Here’s how it works:
For a one-time fee of $29.95, customers list information and photos of their homes and get access to unlimited searches of other homes. Customers tell the computer what kind of home they’re looking for and list cities or areas where they wouldn’t mind living. (There’s also a slimmed-down version for free.)
The idea is that someone in Tampa, for example, might want to move to Atlanta, and someone from Atlanta might want to move to Tampa. If they both like each other’s homes, they could find a match.
The homes don’t have to be similar or in the same price range. Some people may want to sell their large home and downsize, while others may want a comparable home in another city.
“We had a couple in Atlanta who had tried for two years to sell their home,” Westbrook said. “They signed up and found their match within a couple of months.”
Before the success stories, the site was a slow go.
Westbrook and his partner, Brian Stroka, started the company in June 2007. Westbrook was a real estate agent, and Stroka worked in the mortgage business. They both saw the real estate market crashing and spotted an opportunity.
“As the real estate market changed, sellers were becoming the most motivated in a deal,” he said. “We wanted to come up something that would appeal to them.”
Colleagues, he said, “thought we were crazy and said this would never work. Now, some of those same real estate agents call us to list homes for their clients.”
The site has garnered national attention as well. It’s been mentioned in numerous articles and on television shows such as the “Today” show and “Good Morning America.” Heidi McLaughlin hopes the site will help her swap her Hyde Park condo for a home in Denver.
She and her husband moved there two years ago but couldn’t sell their condo. They ended up renting out the condo and renting a four-bedroom home in their new city. Now that they have a new baby, they want to own a home.
“Our equity is tied up in the Tampa home,” she said. “It’s tough because when people want a condo in Florida, they often want one on the water. South Tampa is a hard sell.”
Still, she’s hopeful. It’s been nearly three weeks since she posted her home on the site.
“Surely there’s someone out there with a home in Denver who wants our condo in Tampa,” she said.
As for OnlineHouse Trading.com, Westbrook thinks business will get even better.
“As the real estate market gets worse, people are looking for alternatives.”
Copyright © 2009 Tampa Tribune, Fla
No comments:
Post a Comment