Online real estate firm Grupo Zap plans to introduce the instant homebuyer (i-buyer) model in Brazil, thereby possibly starting a new billion-dollar industry. Once the i-buyer model is initiated, Zap’s workforce will almost double, and data analytics will drastically improve to support the new business. Aside from boosting revenue, this move will undoubtedly shake up Brazil’s real estate industry and force open new channels of progression.
Zap Uses Zillow Inspiration to Scale up Real Estate in Brazil
Much like the famous U.S. i-buyer leaders Opendoor and Zillow, Grupo Zap aims to make the home-buying process simple and fast with an online marketplace. In the i-buyer model, online firms evaluate and buy properties from homeowners. Then, the firms renovate the properties and put them back on the market.
Zap Will Invest $25 Million into 200 Properties in Brazil
Over the next year, Zap will invest 100 million reais (approximately $25 million USD) in about 200 property deals spanning large urban areas around Brazil. The firm’s goal is to take a 10 percent market share from the nation’s real estate industry (currently estimated to be about 200 billion reais a year) when the plan finally operates at the desired scale. Zap predicts that aside from bringing additional liquidity to what is now a stagnant real estate business model in Brazil, the new model will increase transparency and efficiency in real estate transactions.
Revolutionary Property Buying Concepts
The i-buyer model is not the only concept that is trying to revolutionize real estate and meet “I-want-it-now” consumer expectations. The up-and-coming blockchain-based real estate model is another innovative idea that looks to disrupt the industry and bring about increased efficiency. With documents signed, stored, and shared on the blockchain, the possibility of wire fraud will be reduced to zero.
The combination of i-buying and blockchain will dramatically change the roles of real estate agents. Over the coming years, it will be interesting to watch for other changes that these concepts will bring.
