Pollenizer-backed start-up plans to shake up online real estate listings in the Philippines

Australian real estate investor and entrepreneur Will Pattison is off to the Philippines next week in a bid to revolutionise online real estate transactions.

His start-up idea in the Philippines is backed by start-up incubator Pollenizer and Philippines-based start-up accelerator Kickstart.

He told StartupSmart they were aware of a gap in the market, but he was looking forward to touching down in the Philippines, getting in front of people and finding out exactly what the challenges are.

“We need to get down on the ground and check the assertions about the problem and understand what the opportunities are,” Pattison says.

“From a consumer point of view, I’ve been looking at rental properties in the Philippines and it’s been a pain. There is a lot of information and it’s very crowded and there is just too much going on.”

Pattison is working with two tech co-founders and hopes to launch the platform within a few months.

He says there are a range of effective and profitable models for online real estate platforms they’ll be reviewing and incorporating into their design.

Pattison adds there is limited competition in this space in the Philippines, and most properties are sold or rented via a platform similar to Australian crowdsourced classifieds website Gumtree.

“It’s just an online poster-board where you put a property up and you have to pay to highlight it. But it’s too crowded; you search for a property for sale and find ones for rent instead, or in entirely the wrong city,” Pattison says.

He says the platform will be designed for both local renters and buyers, but they’re also planning to develop content to showcase the neighbourhoods and nation to international investors.

While the start-up is still in the earliest stages, Pattison says they plan to develop it quickly and are confident in its potential.

“This plan has all the ingredients of a successful start-up. It has strong ideas, a good team and I’m being mentored by Phil Morle from Pollenizer, from one of the best start-ups in Australia,” he says.