When we first set out to do this, we realised that many players had already come and gone, the ones that remained were either stagnant or just chugging along. We decided that from the onset that it would be insufficient to simply show a listing coupled with random information plucked from the web and call it a day. With the massive arsenal of open data available out there, we decided to make it better for everyone. We’re not a traditional portal. We’re a big data search engine.

But how?

One of the first thing that you would realise with Homekoala is the ability to search for one particular location and get results based on that location immediately. Suppose you land a job in a really cool place, say the best place to work in Australia — Atlassian. Here’s where the office is located at :

341 George St Sydney, NSW, 2000

The next thing you would want to do is to find properties near that particular address. What you will quickly come to realise that it is impossible to do so on either of the current popular portals, simply because that is not how their search works.

Initial results for the above address on REA

Initial results for the above address on Domain

Don’t get us wrong. We’re not saying that they do not have properties on that said location. We’re pretty sure they do, considering how big they are. What we are saying is how the current model works by dictating that you start your search based on a suburb, then narrowing down your choices from there. Search for NSW, 2000 on those sites and you can easily get listings in that suburb. The question here is — “is this ideal?” In an era where there are smart devices and apps that can predict and understand users, is it ideal for a user to understand his or her own search? The answer within the Homekoala team was a resounding “No”.

Our search understands you, immediately.

What we have done differently is to allow you to search for that exact address on the onset. From there, you can zoom in and easily view properties around that area. Isn’t that neat?! This is something that should have been implemented eons ago if you ask us. We find little meaning in having to start a search from a broad area, then slowly navigating through listing after listing to find the one you want. Spend the least amount of time on our site! We know you have many things on your mind especially if you are thinking of moving.