Real estate and property website Homehound which was originally established back in 2007 and has grown to be one of the largest real estate portals in Australia, has recently been relaunched. The property portal boasts a new look and feel, and is set to deliver a rich user experience for home buyers and renters, with new simpler and more user-friendly functionality.
Early features of the revamp include:
- New Look and Feel: The new Homehound design feels like a serious evolution of the property portal. A fully responsive user experience with modern, clean and bold features is a joy to use.
- Property History: Showing the history of a particular property – such as when it was last listed, rented and sold to know more about the property you are investigating.
- Suburb Profiles: With data exclusively available to Homehound, this section provides a quick overview of the selected suburb, giving users insight into the area, such as emissions and water usage data, nearby parks, schools and restaurants, along with rich demographic information. The feature gives users a feel for the neighbourhood without leaving their couch.
- Property Shortlist: A simple and easy way to gather your favourite listings and view them all in your property shortlist. You can easily compare properties and then simply apply or enquire for one or all of the properties on your list.
- Inspiration: Just moved in or bought your dream home? Be inspired by real world home designs and interiors.
According to the company, many more features will be available in the coming months. These include, a market-leading tool for agents, and a soon to be revealed market disrupting innovation pioneered by the Homehound team, set to launch in early September of 2014. In addition to the traditional free listings format, Homehound will offer a premium solution for agents that will drive increased engagement and incremental reach. The new Homehound pricing model will add much needed transparency to the cluttered real estate portal landscape.
“Real estate is and always has been an integral part of our family business, so nothing pleases me more than being able to contribute to the evolution of this age old industry” said Michael Hannan, Chairman of IPMG, Homehound’s parent company. “Our vision is to create the most innovative and trusted real estate website in Australia, and I feel that we are well on the way to achieving this goal.”
The company promises to remain committed to providing the industry with a free listing alternative, and is calling for all agents, offices and agency groups to make use of the service in order to combat competitors who are continually raising their prices.
Homehound’s transformation coincides with two new appointments for the company, explains James Hannan, Chief Operating Officer – Digital at IPMG; “In order to drive growth, innovation and disrupt the market we have made two key appointments within Homehound. Boris Gefter has been appointed General Manager while Peter Turville-Ince has been appointed Commercial Director.”
SOURCE: Homehound
Edited by Gordana Davila
