Property website homesales.com.au is leveraging the audience and expertise of its parent company, automotive giant carsales.com.au, to entice more agents to sign up to its website.
The business has seen a sizable increase in support from agents this year, and with other real estate listings sites coming under fire for the fees they’re charging, homesales.com.au believes it can continue to grab a share of the online pie.
"There has been talk in media about who is going to challenge the big boys and so forth, with a lot of online players coming and going over the years,” Rhett Dallwitz, general manager of homesales.com.au, told Real Estate Business.
“You can't build a real estate portal on the hope the industry will support you,” he added.
“For example, throwing $30 million into a business and hoping the industry gets behind you, and then by the end of year one realising you’ve lost $29 million, is not a suitable business model.”
Mr Dallwitz said homesales.com.au is in the fortunate position of having the backing of carsales.com group, where there are 20 separate brands in various industries.
"The beauty is we're a technology business that is driven by helping people transact with groups smartly," said Mr Dallwitz.
"homesales.com.au has a lot to offer real estate businesses and we believe many agencies are taking a fresh look at where they invest marketing dollars. We've seen a significant increase in support from agents Australia-wide."