Real-estate deals thrive on Internet

The real estate business operates on a free-market basis. But does it really?

By JOHN BENZAQUEN
computer 88 (photo credit: )
computer 88
(photo credit: )
Real estate has become a global business. Foreign investors buy property in Europe, North America, Israel and elsewhere. Large contractors have gone global, competing for building tenders wherever they can be found. Also, many people buy vacation homes - a vast market that is growing despite the currently financial crisis. Real estate is the biggest economic sector in the world. Over the past 50 years the world has become more of an urban entity; most people live in cities. Metropolitan areas are crowded and land is at a premium. Demand is usually higher than supply and the cost of land is constantly rising. Real estate is big business. It includes buying or selling land, apartments, houses and commercial real estate, and renting residences and offices; it also includes the building stage. It is a vast market, global in scope, which operates on a free-market basis. But does it really? Not today, but in the future it may. For a global market to be absolutely free, information must flow and be easily available to all. Mark Zeevi is the CEO of BmBy, a high-tech company that specializes in the needs of the real-estate market. BmBy operates on the Internet, dealing with all aspects of the real-estate market. "The only way that a truly free market can operate in the world of real estate is via an Internet commercial arena," Zeevi recently told The Jerusalem Post. "The only efficient way in which a trader in, say, Shanghai can compare prices on a global basis is via such an arena. Through the medium of such an arena a trader in Lagos with large amounts of cement at low prices can post prices and amounts, and a contractor in St. Petersburg who needs cement can compare prices with what is offered by other traders, and if the price is suitable, buy. The arena is the only means by which these traders can do business with each other." "By means of an Internet commercial arena, contractors can find out where to buy the most inexpensive building materials such as cement and iron," he said. "Investors can find attractive real-estate investments and development companies can advertise their products worldwide for very little cost. Working through a commercial arena such as ours saves costs, and cutting costs is of prime importance." BmBy started as a developer of software systems for the real-estate industry. It then branched out to Internet commerce. Its real-estate management software is used by more than 1,000 companies in 15 countries, Zeevi said. He said it can increase a profit margin by 35 percent.