Traditionally, several real estate listing sites had fake listings, incorrect information, and misleading photographs. We decided to bring back the trust and authenticity, through our Housing Verified Homes.
What does Housing Verified Homes mean and how do we verify each home
Housing.com was the first company to introduce this concept of verified listings, or put simply, listings that have well-researched data and actual photos put down, way back in 2012. What started as a simple thought in the mind of the company founders, became a market precedent. Till then, all property listing websites put up text data, without photos or any checks to confirm if the data being displayed, was accurate.
Today all listing companies, on the back of Housing.com’s success with its verified listings, claim to verify their listings. Are they really verified though?
To answer that question, we need to look at all the checks that go into verifying a Housing.com listing for a home buyer – currently more than 100. The process starts with checking if the request for listing is a legitimate one in the first place, something that a personal visit from one of our data collectors takes care of. Then starts the process of collecting data. Our process of verification is the perfect marriage of the authenticity of human touch, and the low error ratio of technology.
Our 100-plus checkpoints
The data collection process is an in-depth one, involving more than 100 checkpoints.
Checkpoints at the flat level include:
– Per sq ft rates
– Ticket size
– Carpet area, built-up area
– Number of rooms, bathrooms, balconies, car parks, etc.
– Actual photos of each room in the house
– Rent estimates
At the developer, project and building level, checkpoints include:
– GPS verified location
– Approval status
– Carpet area, built-up area
– Direction of the flat
– Project and flat amenities
– Locality maps
– Price trends
– Bank offers
– Builder details
Here are some of our additional checkpoints:
Project highlights and description
– Rainwater harvesting system
– Power back-up
– Availability of lifts
– Initiation date
– Completion date
Extra layers of quality checks
The technology that the data collectors have to work with, ensure that the error margin is reduced to a 5-10 per cent. To reduce the error margin further, Housing.com created another layer of checks – quality control and audits. Between these checks, it’s ensured that there are no fake listings, listings without photos, and duplicate listings. It’s also seen to, that the data presented on the site isn’t incorrect or misleading.
Then, there’s also the question of sellers not wanting to be transparent or misrepresent information about the houses on sale. What happens then? As a business, we made a conscious decision to forego those listings, rather than put up misleading data on our website.
Housing.com has always worked towards being India’s most trusted destination to buy and sell homes online. That promise starts with our Housing Verified Homes, where we do more than a 100 checks on every single listing, so that you don’t have to.
Start your search for your perfect home: www.housing.com
