Fredrik Eklund, founder of Douglas Elliman’s top-producing team, the Eklund | Gomes Team, and alumnus of Bravo TV’s “Million Dollar Listing” franchise, has co-founded a new social app for real estate called Real. Eklund joined forces with Thomas Ma, an entrepreneur and licensed real estate agent from Hong Kong with notable success in proptech and start-ups, because they saw how large proptech platforms were diminishing agents’ roles and control.
The high-speed app offers an Instagram-style platform combined with a WhatsApp-style chat feature, enabling agents to promote themselves for free rather than having to advertise to attract followers interested in connecting with them.
“The pandemic changed how we communicate; everything is digital and much faster,” Eklund explained. “National and even global real estate is becoming one big market as people are moving around more and searching globally. Agents are getting licensed in many different states and there’s a complete crossover happening, especially in the luxury market. Current real estate apps, like Zillow, do not provide quick answers and MLSs are slow. I run a large team and see all facets of the market, in all price points, and how quickly it moves. People want to use their mobile phones for this, they want it to be fun, and they want it to be FAST. At the same time, they see what people around them like and look at. Consumers are smarter today. They don’t want to see what listings Zillow pushes because agents have paid for those hidden ads. They want to see what’s truly popular socially.”
Real followers – sellers and buyers – can see agents’ reviews of highly curated listings and get a feel for their personalities, styles and tastes through their individual profiles on the app. They can also see what’s popular in the market and benefit from the app’s advanced AI technology to conduct highly specific, expedited searches tailored to their specific needs. For example, families seeking a home with a swimming pool and patio can search for all residences with those criteria in a specified community or zip code.
The free app also reflects Ma and Eklund’s shared vision of an app with real-time, built-in social networking capabilities allowing for quick and seamless information about listings and promoting connections and communication between agents, buyers and sellers. Agents can post a preview of properties not yet on the market among the listings on their profiles. Through its network of agents, it allows users to build a contact list of a global family of agents with which to communicate – something unique to real estate that platforms like Zillow do not offer.
Real stores data in its WhatsApp-style platform with a contact list so connections are made and retained. This is an incredible asset for agents wishing to touch base with contacts at appropriate times and it helps to replace the hassle of excessive follow-up correspondence, something that has plagued the industry historically. A chat feature enables agents to keep up with their followers, knowing when it’s best to contact them and when it’s not. And followers can reach out directly to REAL’s agents.
“Real launched on the app store 11 months ago, has 147,500 downloads to date and that number is growing,” Ma said. “Traditionally, agents are referred by someone, your friend or relative, your acquaintance, or even a friend of a friend. The agents you’re introduced to don’t really know who you are, your unique tastes, your lifestyle, or your needs to facilitate your home search. We wanted to give talented agents an opportunity to share their stories, their knowledge, and their experience, and give them control of what listings and recommendations they bring to their audience. Users — agents, home buyers and sellers — can then choose to follow or connect with those agents based on compatibility and personality to fit their specific needs. Fredrik’s extensive real estate experience and his journey to becoming a leader in the industry gives him unique insight into the challenges related to building a network as an agent. He knows the importance of acquiring a following to foster and retain connections. We could not have asked for a better co-founder and chief visionary for our company.”
