by Paul McBeth
Shots of homes that look great and download fast. A clear, accessible homepage with a property search feature, handy hints, easy site navigation and WAP capability. This new property website has been set up by a guy who's not only been a frustrated homebuyer but who works in IT - and it's a happy combo.
Martin Wehipeihana, Managing Director of www.nethomes.co.nz, has 16 years IT experience and says he's set up the site "to put my money where my mouth is".
After looking for houses himself on the Internet and finding the experience frustrating, he's set up his own "agency-neutral" website to help people looking to buy or rent houses.
"If you're in retail and your shop's on the main street, you put goods in your front window, put a price on them and say Sale," he says.
"You don't put them up the back behind four doors.
"It's hugely important to me that the site is easy to navigate."
People interested in a property can click on its picture and send a message to the listing agent, with the information going through directly to the agent's mobile phone. There are up to six images of each home, there's a slideshow feature which scrolls through the properties one at a time at 15 second intervals and you can also read a bunch of handy hints for homebuyers.
NetHomes has only been running for three weeks and just has a selection of Hutt Valley homes so far, with five real estate agents featured and properties from another three agents about to be added. Wehipeihana hopes to expand the coverage gradually to nationwide.
Having built NetHomes himself from the ground up, he's already designed it to be WAP-capable. The idea is that eventually you'll be driving around on a Sunday afternoon and can simply call up the site on your cellphone to find out what open homes there are in the area.
"Within the next 12 months both Vodaphone and Telecom will offer high speed, full-time wireless Internet connectivity for special phones. They're looking for applications for products and my site will be ready."