Niche Real Estate On the Web

I’ve been tackling this thought train for a little while now as it relates to web technology. The current evolution of real estate online has been fast and wide-ranging. It has also been broad in scope and at the national level. Companies are playing for the big money that a national reach would get them.

By definition, we know that “a distinct niche market usually evolves out of a market niche, where potential demand is not met by any supply.” (wikipedia) What is niche real estate then? It would be a niche within the larger real estate marketplace on the web that is not yet being reached.

There are certain areas that are very difficult to handle at the macro level – which is what Google, Zillow, and even eppraisal.com are all gaming at. Good examples of this can be found in the New York city and San Francisco markets. They are large, difficult to track, and have an inordinate amount of detail/personality/quirks in their respective areas.

What happens is that a local entrepreneur realizes the barrier to entry and starts creating a tool specifically designed for that area. This is what StreetEasy has done in New York. They have created the best tool for real estate professionals in their market – it looks great, functions beautifully and creates community. They are not trying to grow outside of their niche, but are creating better tools all the time to serve their users.

What I love about Street Easy is that they make it easy to become a raving fan. They really do have one of the best and least complicated websites to navigate on the market – for any real estate application. They constantly invest in their clients (the professionals) through creating the best tool for the NY market for the consumer.

Real estate is by it’s nature local. Niche markets that have an inbuilt barrier to entry will have the chance to really differentiate themselves from their larger competitors. This differentiation, and the value that is added by being “the place to go” for a particular cities information, cannot be overlooked.

It’s a viable business model that serves both real estate professionals and the general public. If I am a broker or agent in New York, I want to list on StreetEasy. If I am looking to buy or rent in New York, I want to search on StreetEasy.

[Update: Can a state be a niche market?  Shackprices.com would like you to think so.  They just launched today - definitely check out what they're doing for Washington State.  I was just reading their blog yesterday, this is a surprise.]