A savvy side hustle by two first-time buyer brothers has simplified the search process
If you’ve been home hunting, you are all too familiar with how joyless every aspect of it is.
The search stage involves months spent in front of a screen, with multiple tabs open, trying to extract the data into some cohesive form, to better form comparables.
Property technologies have improved this process, from mapping to video walk-throughs. BER certification helps give some idea of energy bills.
All of this is invaluable in terms of doing due diligence, but there has still been a distinct lack of at-a-glance local knowledge available, especially given the amount of data sets that are floating out there in the ether.
Frustrated by the process, two brothers, Jake and Ben Russell Carroll, combined their talents to collate available data that gives home hunters additional information on the area they're looking at.
These facts are now all visible within one place. That address is Savv.ie
It lists amenities nearby. This covers hospitals and GP practices, supermarkets, green spaces, fitness, cafes, restaurants, bars and pubs.
It shows where the public transport links are, buses, trains, trams, nearest towns and airports.
Under the school’s category, it covers primary, secondary, and third-level. The resident’s category illustrates household types, employment, age profile, affluence, percentages in home ownership, ethnicity and religion.
They say it saves time, offers side-by-side comparisons and data about an area that is not biased by friends or family.
The two brothers work as management consultants and are fluent in all that business transformation entails - part of their job is to look for improvements in performance, competitiveness, and adaptability within a company, and to make its processes more efficient and more profitable.
These suggested changes can be costly to implement, so a business case needs to be presented.
Data is what determines the business case. And it is data sets that drive their new venture.
"A lot of the information is publicly available," says Jake.
Using data from the Central Statistics Office, Pobal, Transport for Ireland, Gov.ie; OpenStreetMap Foundation, Mapbox and Data.gov.ie, they reviewed property platforms in the US and the UK and found both quite advanced in terms of the information offered.
Like many good ideas, it was born out of necessity.
Both brothers were first-time buyers and understood firsthand how siloed much of the data relevant to renters and property buyers had been.
It was available, but you had to visit multiple sites to try and access it.
It took Jake 18 months to find his family home in A94. On top of this, he welcomed his first child about eight and a half months ago.
Ben was lucky enough to find his home in Dublin 14 within six months.
During their searches, they had to use Google to find out what amenities were close by and to locate the nearest schools.
"When considering your commute, you want to know how long it will take to walk to the bus stop or train station," says Ben.
This search would have to be carried out on one site or app.
"Trying to find planning across all the different authorities was difficult."
In some instances, it made him want to give up.
“I was so eager to buy you almost ignore things," Ben admits. “The idea is to provide information so that buyers can be fully informed.
"It means that you know if your next-door neighbour is going to add a three-storey extension.”
This information is readily available, but requires you to shift your focus to another site, from the one you're on.
The planning aspect of Savv.ie includes live applications and decisions granted going back five years. It also covers the surrounding streets.
Crucially, it lists the planning reference number and date, so that you can explore what is being proposed and how it might impact you if the property interests you.
It lays the breadcrumbs needed to help inform a decision to view the property and whether you may want to bid on it.
Knowing where the nearest supermarket is doesn’t sound like a deal breaker, but this is a place you are going to visit many times a week. Can you walk there? Does it have a decent selection, or is it really only a convenience store?
A neat map seen by colour determines the breakdown of households in the area you’re interested in. This is done by colour.
Is it a young neighbourhood, is there high employment or a high number or retirees, are all questions that can be answered. There’s also a scale of affluence.
“We spent ages building it, “says Ben. “We’ve always wanted to do something entrepreneurial. It’s been a year to 18 months of hard work and a passion project for us,” Jake continues.
They estimate it has taken about 18 months to bring it to market.
They haven’t given up their day jobs. For now, they continue to work as management consultants. Their data gathering for Savv.ie has been confined to evenings and weekends.
Property portal MyHome has already signed up to use four of its five features across some of its listings. Independent agents Felicity Fox, Ed Dempsey and Gallagher Quigley are also on board.
For portals and agents, it offers more management and SEO value and increased dwell time.
“We’re building it out all the time,” says Ben.
The service is currently free to use. Sign up here to Savv.ie
