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Research Outline
Prepared for Rawan A. | Delivered April 30, 2020
Proptech Monetization
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Goals
To understand how OJO Labs, Referral Exchange, HomeLight, and OpCity drive multiple modes of monetization. This information will be used to inform OJO's competitive landscape.
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Early Findings
OJO Labs
The company mainly leverages its
real estate agent relationships
to monetize the platform via their
'
human, conversational
" real estate
a
d
v
i
s
o
r
. Agents, such as Keller Williams, provide access to markets and customers.
OJO does not charge for
usage of its services
for buyers, but monetizes around service provider fees. They note that service providers '
may pay fees
for services and to be matched with users of the service.'
Service providers
are defined by OJO Labs as real estate brokers, mortgage information services, insurance brokers, and "other companies providing services around the buying and selling of real estate."
The company notes that it
does not endorse
specific service providers.
After a round of funding in 2019, the company was also developing a
chatbot feature
to directly answer
h
o
m
e
b
u
y
e
r
s
' questions surrounding topics such as listings and neighborhood features, via SMS and third party messaging services.
G
r
a
n
d
v
i
e
w
research forecasts the chatbot market to reach
$1.23 billion
by 2025.
The company leverages
strategic acquisitions
to grow market access and scale its team. The RealSaavy platform, which provides custom websites for brokers and agents to support collaboration, had a strong presence in Texas and was
expanding to other markets
(Florida, Georgia, California), when acquired.
T
h
e
acquisition offers the opportunity for
greater lead conversion
, with RealSaavy claiming "
9X more leads
converted" via their engaging, "
P
i
n
t
e
r
e
s
t
-
s
t
y
l
e
", home search platform.
Monetization through
web development
services and lead generation (via RealSaavy) help diversity OJO product offerings and revenue streams.
Referral Exchange
Referral Exchange monetizes through a
diversified client base
, including real estate agents, buyers and sellers, and partners.
Referral Exchange '
filters, qualifies, and refers
' leads for agents to improve lead generation efficiency for agents.
The company offers
buyers and sellers
referrals to agents.
Referral Exchange offers '
white label' service
to partners, to provide 'in-network' referrals.
The company offers
membership tiers
for lead generation. For a one-time, $995 fee, the company offers 50 free lead
v
e
r
i
f
i
c
a
t
i
o
n
s
and a lifetime personal referral network. It's monthly membership fee is
$95
per month, and
$3
per lead verification.
The company also actively seeks
partners
('associations, financial institutions, and companies whose clients need a real estate agent') to gain addiitional business through referrals.
HomeLight
HomeLight
offers services to real estate sellers and buyers, and also offers home estimates, as well as home loan services.
They claim to
connect buyers and sellers
for free, so their home loan services may be their primary monetization method.
Their home loan services messaging is
focused on value
, with the company saying, "By streamlining the application and underwriting processes, we’ve
removed significant costs
from the business of providing loans."
Some of their specific home loan benefits include a '
21 day close
'
, '
single point of contact'
, and '
zero lender fees
'.
OpCity
OpCity
offers lead generation services for brokerages.
They have
two broker services
, OpCity referrals (commission fee at close) and Broker Lead Accelerator (fee per lead and reduced commission fee at close).
OpCity referrals
connects agents to buyers and sellers.
Broker Lead Accelerator
is a more advanced services, screening and optimizing leads, and supporting brokerage sales and performance management.
OpCity claims a 3-5X close rate vs. the industry average.
The company also has
referral links
for title and mortgage services, through
r
e
a
l
t
o
r
.com, which likely provides some affiliate revenue.
Summary of Early Findings Relevant To The Goals
In this additional one-hour of research, we were able to find information for all four companies surrounding monetization. Monetization streams, such as fees for lead generation, subscription models, web development services, affiliate referrals, and home loan services are some ways these companies are monetizing their services.
We did not see evidence of
other potential means of monetization
, such as property showcase services, business intelligence services, featuring sales agents, customer post-sale services (e.g., moving,
painting, repairs), and display ads on website and/or mobile app. This may be because these aren't currently-leveraged revenue streams, or because we were unable to uncover this level of detail in this additional hour.
Our recommendations are based on these early research findings and the previous research and recommendations provided.
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