Making 1 + 1 = 3: Using data to uncover hidden value in real estate

OVERVIEW

Listen in as I interview Bryan Copley, Co-Founder and CEO of CityBldr in Seattle, Washington.  Most automated valuation models attempt to determine the value of real estate in its present use.  As Bryan and his co-founder worked their way through two previous residential real estate technology startups, they learned that there was an opportunity to use technology to discover value in the shadow inventory of properties that might be for sale “at the right price” and that builders, developer and investors were very willing to trade-in the historical manual process of determining the “what could be” valuation for a model that can replace that process in seconds.  

BRYAN’S THOUGHTS:

• Bryan’s first real estate startup, Real Estate Buyers Listing Service, attempted to aggregate the demand side of the residential real estate market and discovered that a key missing piece was the presence of the human broker to manage the transaction  
• His next startup, Everyhome, attempted to expand the market of homes by exposing more properties to buyers by putting a digital “for sale” on every home in the country and allowing buyers to make bids on homes even when they were not listed.
• Bryan and his team learned that most users of Everyhome were investors, builders, developers and others involved in commercial real estate.
• They also discovered that there was another way to underwrite the value of properties, that being what a property (or multiple properties) might be worth based on highest and best use.
• Citybldr’s technology uses machine learning to automate valuation
• Citybldr does not license their technology.  Instead, they partner with traditional brokers, builders and developers who are putting deals together and are paid a portion of the commission income that is generated as part of those deals.
• They facilitate the creation of assemblages by allowing potential sellers to create groups of sellers via their website.
• CityBldr’s mission is to help to create happy, functional sustainable communities. There is the potential for CityBldr to provide a social good by optimizing how cities are developed and re-developed by leveraging underdeveloped properties to meet the increasing need for affordable housing

LINKS

www.citybldr.com