So, this week I finally had a chance to look at ChoiceA. If you haven’t heard, ChoiceA is a new real estate startup designed to circumvent the MLS and the real estate agent. Yes, I know you have heard this before and so have I. However, I wanted to see if these guys were doing anything different.
My first impression: Great design! The site has a clean interface and a good layout.
Did I say that the site has a great interface? The process for searching a property is amazingly simple, and the search results can be viewed in a list, via a gallery, or on a map. Accessing the property details is quick and does not require navigating to another page. Basically, the property details are displayed via a pop-up window, and your search results remain in the background.
Listing a property on the site is straightforward, and the site gives a lot of helpful hints/tips in the process. Once a property is listed, the seller gets a hidden email to receive inquiries from interested parties.
The site also provides some state-specific legal forms (currently only Oregon, Washington, and California) to help sellers in the process of selling a home. The forms and the content have been streamlined with much less legal jargon than standard forms.
Anything different?
Not yet. In the current implementation the choiceA does not offer more functionality than ByOwnerMLS, ByOwner or forsalebyowner. Is it a good FSBO site? Yes and it is Free. Will it replace the MLS? Probably not, but it will disrupt the current for pay FSBO sites.
I will keep my eye on this one, but for now I don’t think agents have much to worry about.
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