Website gives property an attitude, now it just needs properties

There’s a new way to sell your home in Australia, and it banks on the fact that people buy homes with their hearts more so than their heads. One new Australian real estate listing website gives owners the opportunity to list their home and garnish it with personality. An emotional attachment, the site attests, will draw in buyers more quickly and convince them to buy based on different aspects than just the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. “Most real estate websites run ‘agent only listings’ or ‘owner only listings.’ Nothing bridges the gap between the two — until now,” commented Steve Basin, chief executive officer of iPostcodes. “Outside of marriage, buying a home is the most emotional decision a person can make, not only is it a huge financial investment but also they’re staking the future of their family.” Through iPostcodes.com.au, an owner can list the reasons outside the property that make the home so special — a Yelp for homeownership if you will. One example given is “great views of the sunset.” So for example, I could list my new house as biking distance from Granada Theater, one of the most historic and popular music venues in Dallas. It would have also been great to know upon moving in that my place is in a predominantly homeowner area, and the neighbors are slightly uptight about loud noise coming from renters. This is a great idea in theory. The service is, if fact, free to homeowners looking to list their properties as well as to prospective homebuyers searching local listings. However, iPostcodes is essentially useless as of this moment — there just isn’t much of anything on there. There is just one residential listing on the site — in a Melbourne suburb, but there are no pictures, and the owner certainly hasn’t utilized the emotionally engaging feature to try and sell it. Perhaps the iPostcode announcement was less of a press release and more of a call to action. Add personality to property and start another Web-based revolution. So if it’s attitude you want, then attitude you’ll get: iPostcode, don’t put the cart before the horse. Write to Christine Ricciardi. Follow her on Twitter @HWnewbieCR.