'Tinder of real estate' - Kiwi property app launches

A new app designed to connect property sellers with potential buyers has been launched in New Zealand.

Yelsa, tipped as the "Tinder of real estate", instantly matches property sellers with buyers, based on their criteria.

It gives listed buyers early access to properties before they go on the market and can save sellers thousands in real estate commissions and marketing costs, says Mike Harvey, CEO of Yelsa, who developed the platform.

"Sellers can run the Yelsa Buyer Match, browse registered buyers in their region, and invite buyers that match their criteria," he explains.

Vendors can pay a one-off $129 fee to invite an unlimited number of potential buyers to view their property profile.

"When selling a property, before paying for photography, marketing, trade me etc, homesellers can talk directly to active buyers registered in the system, which saves all those extra marketing and commission costs," says Harvey.

He says Yelsa also provides a level of transparency in the market, allowing property owners to see how many buyers meeting their criteria are in a market at any given time, homesellers can gauge the potential interest if they were to put their house on the market.

"Homeowners are more conscious of social distancing, and are generally more particular regarding who they interact with. This system gives them good control over who views their home as the buyers can be well qualified before they view a property."

Agents can register on the directory of affiliated agents which homeowners can access if they would like agent support for a guaranteed 1% plus commission.

With the median house price in Auckland at $910,000, homeowners will save around $35,000 by connecting directly with buyers, saving on real estate fees, marketing and taxes.

"Over the past 20 years I have sold $300m worth of property and I strongly believe the traditional method of buying and selling real estate is antiquated and past its use by date," says Harvey.

"In this current climate of uncertainty, a reduced fee structure will become more important to those wanting to maximise the return on their property and big savings on marketing and agents fees will go some way to ensure that," he says.

"Already 30 percent of houses are sold before they go on the market and Yelsa will help drive that number upwards. More than 1000 purchasers have signed up for the service already, and over 150 home sellers have registered a property for sale on the app."