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Victoria computer firm helps home hunters
Victoria News A Victoria computer firm is quietly revolutionizing how house hunters and realtors navigate Vancouver Island's red-hot property market. Radar Hill has developed an automated, database search engine called SideCar that sends out tailor-made, hourly reports of listed homes before they hit newspaper ads or the on-line Multiple Listing Service. "Part of the drive for it, especially the updates on an hourly basis, was the pace of the Victoria market," said Radar Hill president Dan Lundgren, who launched SideCar last year with partner Roger Whitson, and now plans to tackle the Vancouver market. "Things are really starting to take off." The innovative program works by scanning the Victoria Real Estate Board's database using criteria entered by individual subscribers. For example, if a realtor's client is looking for a handy man's special in View Royal priced at $275,000 or less, SideCar will hunt down matches and deliver them via email or electronic page. The searches run every hour, and the results include information like square footage, addresses, price adjustments and photos. While the real estate board offers a similar program of its own, Lundgren says SideCar gives subscribers extra options that amount to more personalized service. "We can send multiple emails, whether it's to a husband or wife at work or at home, that can be customized by the subscribing agent," he said. "Another feature, is that it saves time. We heard from a lot of realtors that they'd go home at night and spend two hours doing searches of properties and prices changes. "Now they have that two hours of their lives back and clients are getting faster service." When agents are on the road, they can access their matches with a $700 hand-held Homeport that can be uploaded through a wireless connection. The subscription to SideCar itself is $29.95 a month. About 140 Greater Victoria agents are currently using the system. "It's one tool I use to stay on top of the market, and it helps give my buyers an advantage over other buyers," said Newport Realty agent Dave Hillmer. "It's definitely been a benefit in terms of how quickly I can access the latest information." Radar Hill formed three years ago from the merger of Real Assist and Right-of-Way, which provided Web and Internet services for the real-estate industry. Its other clients include antique shops, legal offices and boat designers. "It's taking a business's database and making that information safely accessible to their clients," said Lundgren. Radar Hill has five full-time employees, and holds a contract with the Victoria Real Estate Board for access to its database.
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