Igglo

Trendwatching.com: Finnish real estate site Igglo lets potential buyers ‘pre-order’ houses that aren’t on the market. Igglo has photographed every building in Helsinki and several other Finnish cities, and combines these photographs with satellite images and maps. Every property is listed, not just those that are currently on the market. (Their tagline is: “Your house is already on Igglo.”) Potential buyers can earmark a building, street or neighborhood they’re interested in, and post offers online. This lets potential sellers find out how desirable their property is, even if they weren’t actively considering selling. Buyers also receive an alert when a property in their earmarked building or area comes up for sale. If demand and supply meet, Igglo handles the transaction for a lower fee than is charged by regular real estate agents (less than 2%). Lower fees are made possible by the fact the Igglo agents don’t get involved until buyers and sellers have found each other. Consumers like it: the site attracts more than 50,000 visitors a week, and the company is now working on European expansion.
TRANSPARENCY TYRANNY [Trendwatching.com]