The Greek startup Prosperty aspires to offer buying, selling and renting real estate through the computer screen, without intermediaries.
At a time when the coronavirus has put an end to many everyday issues, there are many who want to rent a new house, buy an apartment or invest in a property, since the domestic market of real estate presents a multitude of opportunities. But how can one overcome the existing difficulties posed by sanitary measures for the pandemic, such as restricting movement, to safely take the next step and relocate? How can one avoid intermediaries, who on several occasions, instead of facilitating, create additional difficulties in real estate transactions, and find what they are looking for without bothering with time-consuming and costly procedures?
The solution to all of the above is offered by Prosperty’s digital platform, which allows those interested to find their next home literally at the touch of a button. From the comfort and safety of their homes, they can enter the platform, be guided virtually to the property (modern 360° display and professional photos), observe the surrounding area through photos from a drone, see in detail all the rooms without any unpleasant “hidden” details and get all the necessary information about the properties they like, so they can be confident in their choice. Then, they have the opportunity to negotiate the rental price directly with the landlord, without paying any commission to any intermediary, and if they agree, to complete the entire transaction digitally, from signing the contract to payment.
Digitization loosens the real estate bond
“In many conversations with friends and acquaintances we heard how difficult it is to rent or sell a house in Greece. The complaints were mainly related to the poor service from the intermediaries, the bureaucratic obstacles, the absurdly long time it took to complete a transaction and in general the unimaginable complexity of the real estate market. So we thought of creating a reliable digital platform that will loosen “the bond” of domestic real estate at once, offering transparency, data accuracy, speed and efficiency in transactions “, describes Mr. Nikos Patsiogiannis, COO and one of the three co-founders of the company.
Indeed, despite the general technological progress, the domestic real estate market had so far failed to integrate modern and innovative applications to address its shortcomings, leaving enough room for amateur and poor services, which sometimes crossed the line and could be called a fraud.
Recently, the stories of Chinese people became known, who in their attempt to secure a Golden Visa were deceived by “virtual” sales and are now moving legally to claim their money back. The digitization of real estate on the one hand establishes a relationship of trust between the traders, as they have the ability to follow the development of their case in real-time, on the other hand completes the process four times faster, ensuring users convenience and efficiency.
The demand for Athens is stable
In these first months of the platform’s operation, which today manages a total of properties worth 300,000,000 euros, there is a steady demand for the center of Athens and Thessaloniki that reaches almost 75%. “The pandemic has not affected property demand in the centers of the two major cities, nor has it managed to drop rental and sale prices. Especially the properties that are either of the last decade or recently renovated, as many are available in the market after the rapid fall of short-term leases, have consolidated the high rental prices. There is a similar picture for real estate in the southern part of Attica”, explains Mr. N. Patsiogiannis, who notes that the Greek real estate market is gradually recovering and attracting international investment interest.
So far, more than 100,000 property searches from 120 different countries have been made, indicative of the strong interest in buying a home in Greece. “The bulk of the search comes from the Americas, Northern Europe, as the Scandinavians are mainly interested in the tourist housing market, Israel, where there is a high mobility for real estate investment, mainly in the tourism sector, and from Russia, the who are looking for homes in Halkidiki, Crete and Aegean islands “, describes the COO of the company.
Original article in Greek: https://www.news247.gr/epixeiriseis/prosperty-i-startup-poy-thelei-na-allaxei-tin-agora-toy-real-estate-stin-ellada.9066045.html
