In Photo: (L-R) Dustin Masancay, Ideaspace associate director, Chow Paredes, ZipMatch co-founder and VP for sales and business development, John Dang, ZipMatch co-founder, and Kyle Witshire, ZipMatch director of IT.
Finding a home to lease or purchase can be a tedious process. It requires at least a day or more to scour through ads, walk through streets, and contact people. And, if you’re lucky enough, you may find a property that fits the bill straight away. Likewise, brokers also have to sift through a number of potential buyers, convince them, and sell. ZipMatch, a Manila-based online tech startup, aims to “disrupt” this tiresome system.
Today, ZipMatch was formally introduced to the members of the press. Alongside the launch, the tech startup also revealed its recent strategic partnership with BPI Family Bank. This partnership integrates home-loan applications in its property search process, boosting both its portfolio and the home-buying experience.
ZipMatch offers a full concierge service to walk clients through the home search and buying process. Effectively, it features a careful, well-selected collection of properties and various online tools. This makes it easy for buyers and brokers to search and transact.
The site also features a mortgage calculator, an updated blog with news and real-estate advice, a 360 virtual tour of the metro, and a flood risk map, the only local real estate online site that offers this integrated suite of solutions.
“Currently, buyers have to contend with poor-quality listings sites, properties that are either unavailable or nonexistent, and real estate brokers who are either generally unhelpful or just plain unprofessional. We also don’t have multiple listing services (MLS) for licensed brokers and real estate websites don’t offer them much help either. Even large property developers find it difficult to market their products. These are the issues we want to address,” said ZipMatch cofounder John Dang.
Similarly, ZipMatch also functions as a comprehensive online community of licensed brokers, sellers, buyers, property developers, and even banks and other financial institutions.
“Buyers don’t know what exactly they’re searching for,” ZipMatch co-founder Chow Paredes said. “Most of the time they don’t know that a residential project is set to rise in, say, Brgy. Kapitolyo in Pasig City, which is perfect for them as they prefer to be near top schools and the Ortigas Center at the same time. This is where our concierge service helps, as it narrows down their search. With our recent partnership, home loan application will be part of an integrated process.”
Initiated on April 2013, ZipMatch has since been able to raise seed funding round from a group of world-class investors led by IMJ Fenox and including 500 Startups, IdeaSpace Foundation, Inc. (IdeaSpace), and Hatchd Digital.