Whether you’re a casual real estate fan, a new agent or a seasoned professional with decades of listing experience, Domicile: Game of Homes is here to put your property pricing knowledge to the test—and the results might surprise you. Now available on Apple’s App store and Google Play, Domicile: Game of Homes pulls active listing data from the MLS and invites users to guess the asking and final sales price of thousands of actual homes available across the nation. From charming bungalows in South Florida and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to multimillion-dollar estates in Beverly Hills, Domicile gamifies real estate and lets users compete with friends, colleagues and family to see who really knows their market.
The new “Price is Right”-style game has deep roots at The Agency. Edward Fitz, Domicile’s founder and CEO, is an experienced agent and partner at The Agency, and Mauricio Umansky was one of the app’s first five investors. And while still in the beta phase, Domicile’s popularity is growing, and the future of the platform looks bright—it’s even being considered to be a network game show. Pricing continues to be a vital element in today’s real estate landscape—see Yahoo’s recent article featuring Ed’s insight on its importance here.
“I feel strongly that my experience at The Agency has opened my eyes to more possibilities; thinking outside the box and developing new, fresh ideas—like Domicile,” says Ed. “Real estate can be fun for everybody. Whether you’re having coffee, at a cocktail party, or waiting in line at your kid’s football game, people you meet have opinions about homes and their local markets. Domicile offers a fun, new way to engage that interest, anywhere.”
So, what makes Domicile different? We spoke with Ed about what makes the game so unique, why agents love it and are some of its first backers, and how it’s impacting the confidence of potential homebuyers.
What inspired you to create Domicile: Game of Homes?
I bought the domain “Domicile” on a whim back in 2006. I always knew I’d use it at some point, since I love tech, I love creating, I love social media and I love casual mobile gaming. And we all like looking at real estate. So over the years I kept thinking about how to use Domicile. I started seeing how Zillow had become such a huge force in residential real estate. But the “Zestimates” on Zillow are frequently wrong—around 40% of those estimates are off by a lot! So originally, I thought this might be a tool for “boots on the ground” real estate agents to use, to show clients that agents are more skilled at estimating the value of homes than the clients, or Zillow.
Then I thought to myself: “Why limit this to real estate agents? Why isn’t this a game anybody can play!” Agents, homeowners or people who just like looking at real estate. The target market for Domicile: Game of Homes is anyone who is obsessed with residential real estate—and that’s a lot of people. Domicile, at its core, is crowdsourced price opinions from actual people, not some algorithm.
Blending real-world real estate education with a gamified app is an interesting approach to a traditional industry such as real estate. Why did you choose to gamify Domicile: Game of Homes? How has this choice impacted the app’s success?
When I first started researching, I looked into why people were scrolling through Zillow. Were they active buyers or sellers? Not as many as you’d think. Today, 80% of people who search Zillow are just looking at it for fun. And that number has risen in the last two or three years. That’s a huge group of people browsing real estate on Zillow recreationally. None of that browsing is really being monetized in any way. So our monetization plan includes more gamification of the listings—and because there is an audience who is approaching the real estate world with entertainment in mind, we feel it’s an excellent path to the app’s continued success.
What markets does the app currently cover?
We have live MLS listing data from California, Washington, Oregon, Maryland, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, the northern Virginia suburbs, Miami, Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Orlando. We also have plans to expand into all markets in the U.S., and eventually, we’d love to be international, for searching and learning about real estate worldwide.
What’s something that makes Domicile Game of Homes different from other gamified apps?
To our knowledge, nobody has ever created any kind of game that is based on a real-time data stream. The closest idea to it is fantasy football, but Domicile is rooted in reality. If you’re on the app and you’re looking at, say, 1234 Main Street in Anytown, USA, you can first guess the asking price, and then the app will ask you what you think it’s going to sell for. You gain points and status on the leaderboard with correct guesses—especially the actual selling price.
We’re gathering data that can be used by homeowners, buyers, home builders, real estate agents, by real estate firms, lenders—even Home Depot—and once we’re at scale, we will have data nobody else will have on prices, style, trends and taste. By the way, it’s not inconceivable that one lucky Domicile player every year could win a dream home. And at Domicile, we dream big!
Are you a gamer yourself?
I play Domicile more than anything else. The kinds of games I like tend to be things that are rooted in real-world information—like spelling, history, and geography. Those are the types of games I am drawn to, so it makes sense that I love Domicile so much since it’s based in real-world homes with real facts and data.
What kind of feedback have you received from users of the app?
Through the testing we’ve done, we’ve found about 50% of users have said that they would leave Zillow and play Domicile. People love guessing games!
How do you see the app evolving in the near future?
We intend to ramp up the social aspect of the game, so you can sit with your spouse or friends and compete with one another by guessing the prices of houses in real time. Are they right? Are you right? Who is better today? And most critically, who’s the best at guessing the ultimate selling price?
We’ll also expand to “team play”, and have groups of people play on the app together. As an example, The Agency Beverly Hills team could compete against The Agency Brentwood team to see who is better at pricing and at playing the Game of Homes. There are a host of fun, competitive possibilities and uses for Domicile.
In addition to being entertaining, I think Domicile can be a great teaching tool for people who want to be in the real estate “game”. I can imagine a seasoned agent taking an hour with a few rookies and playing the game, then confabbing afterwards to discuss what they’re getting right and wrong about pricing, and what adds or subtracts value from a property.
How important is pricing in today’s market?
I think in every market, pricing is key. And hiring a local agent who really knows their stuff is of paramount importance. Aside from being a fun game for agents, Domicile can provide them with real data they’ll be able to show to a potential client. They can say “Take a look at my stats. I’m correct on pricing 97.2% of the time.” It will be an effective tool to demonstrate the skill of home pricing—which is vital to a timely, effective sale.
What do you hope this app/game helps achieve in its users?
Fun is number one, but a big secondary goal is education—not just for consumers, but for real estate professionals. I think Domicile can absolutely contribute to educating buyers, sellers, homeowners and agents. I just sold a condominium to a young couple who had started playing the game. It helped them determine that they could afford something that they previously thought they couldn’t, by seeing the prices properties actually closed at—because the selling prices are frequently less than what the asking prices are. So the game can teach while being entertaining. What a concept!
For more information about Domicile: Game of Homes contact ed@domicile.com, and to download the app for iPhone or iPad, visit the Apple App Store, or for Android on Google Play.
