StreetAdvisor is a new site dedicated to neighborhood ratings and reviews by local residents. This is an area where many players in the real estate technology area aren’t really doing anything extraordinary. Even here at eppraisal.com, we struggle with how to use neighborhood information and engage users in a meaningful way with it (which is a trait our competitors share).
Two quick points on this type of service:
- Should it really be it’s own service, or does it fit better as a feature in a larger web application model? If it is worthy of it’s own service, does having an API for companies to tap into and add to their site make sense? I think it might be the only real business model for it actually.
- How do you reach a point where there is enough information to make it useful? That’s the biggest problem with new ratings services, there’s no one using them so that turns off visitors. I can’t help but wonder if a partnership in the early stages, so as to ensure mass adoption early on, would make sense.
Outside.in is in this same playing field. They aggregate reviews, comments and blogs on different cities and towns across the US. StreetAdvisor is trying to take that to a new level with not just the US, but 25 other countries as well. Their site looks great, is fast and easy to use.
I’ll continue to monitor services like StreetAdvisor and Outside.in – I hope that they can solve the problem of “interesting neighborhood info” for us. It’s not easy, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.
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With yahoo pipes, data about Neighborhood is very complete
[...] StreetAdvisor, on the other hand, takes the neighborhood concept even further (see the post on Realty Thoughts) allowing people to rate your neighbors, the nightlife, noise levels, even the quality of mobile reception and internet speeds. [...]