If you’re going to roll out a new app for the Real Estate market, making a splash in New York City is a pretty good start. For Vancouver’s Melissa Kwan (co-founder) of Flat World Apps, that’s exactly what she’s done with the debut of their newest app Vida Homes. It was introduced at one of the most exclusive and well attended VIP parties in New York City for the new Waterfall Mansion project, alongside Trump International Realty.
Kwan shares how she “was sitting in the office of Kathy Kaye, SVP of Marketing and Sales at Trump Organization, discussing opportunities for future projects when Kaye pointed to an invitation for Waterfall Mansion they had just printed and suggested she consider reinventing VIDA for smaller properties — single estate-style listings with the same marketing needs as big developments. The concept of VIDA Homes was born and 10 days later, Waterfall Mansion was up and running in the App Store, ready for the property launch party.”
12 months ago, Flat World Applications launched VIDA, a mobile application helping real estate developers showcase new projects. VIDA is an interactive brochure branded to each project and tailored for developments, available on the App Store, with a sales tool back-end for developers and agents. In the past year, VIDA has branched off into a variety of industry verticals in addition to residential real estate, such as commercial buildings, industrial parks, hospitality and recreational properties.
It’s a mobile application tailored for luxury properties; a way for sales agents to deliver dream homes to buyers any time, anywhere. It’s designed to resemble corporate brochure, and reads like a storybook. With an international clientele from around the world, high-powered agents can welcome anyone to an open house with VIDA Homes from the customers’ own devices. Seeing television shows like Million Dollar Listing, coupled with the rising expectations of discerning buyers, it’s a hyper-competitive marketplace. For Kwan she’s “spending all this effort fighting for relevance and striving to create a game changing sales asset for these real estate professionals.”
Flat World Applications will be promoting this new app to power brokers around the world, starting with Canada and the US. According to Kwan, “the company is also developing an even lighter version of its product aimed for every realtor, so they can easily showcase properties to potential buyers.” This is something the company is currently beta testing with select brokerages.
Real estate is one of the oldest and most conservative industries in the world, with most traditional assets still being printed brochures and signage. Companies are starting to look for new marketing assets that match savvy buyers’ expectations, and VIDA has an opportunity to meet these new demands. For an industry that’s turning to new innovations, Kwan has made a positive impression in New York and is also working with reputable companies in Miami, San Francisco, Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Toronto, Singapore, and India.
When asked, “Why New York?” Kwan responds with another question, “We have to go where opportunities lie. How open do you think Canadian enterprises are when it comes investing in new technologies?”