Ravi Chandran
Property search portal MOGUL.sg launched in November last year, helping home seekers in Singapore find their dream home faster and easier.
The proptech dubbed “Singapore’s smartest property search portal,” said its secret sauce is its implementation of custom keywords – which are generated from the Singapore Land Authority’s OneMap geospatial data – to help users search with greater granularity. Traditional property portals let users filter their search by selecting from a small number of parameters such as district, location, price and type of property. The problem: The results swarm in by the hundreds, and even thousands, making the search unwieldy and time-consuming.
The property search portal Mugul.sg however, works just like Google Search. In its database are over 5,000 – and growing – custom keywords that describe the characteristics of the property that the user is searching for. Keying in “near North-South line” will show all property listings that are 0.5 km away from any MRT station along the red line.
Combine a second keyword, “near supermarket”, and the system filters out homes which are more than 300m from any supermarket. Throw in more words such as “hawker centre”, “hospital”, “sports complex” and “park” or physical features such as “high floor”,“point block” or “boat dock”, and the home seeker gets the results he or she is looking for.
Gerald Sim, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of the property search portal MOGUL.sg said: “The proliferation of property search portals over the last decade offers consumers more choices but the search process has become too complex and unwieldy over the years. MOGUL.sg aims to use A.I. to simplify these processes and make the matching between property owners and home seekers easier and more transparent.”
MOGUL.sg makes use of SLA’s open-source OneMap which provides highly localised, granular and authoritative government geospatial data and services to the public. For example, OneMap provides information on multiple building types and amenities such as hawker centres, schools, child care centres and expressway exits.
OneMap’s routing API even recognises that void decks are unique buildings where people can walk through. This is important for MOGUL.sg to define the meaning of the word “nearby.” For example,when a user keys in the word “nearby hawker centre” the system will list all hawker centres within 3 minutes of walking time, considering the user’s ability to cut through the void decks.
“Having the most accurate and updated map data empowers our keyword-search system with powerful context. We may be the new kid on the block but integrating OneMap is our competitive advantage which will differentiate us,” added Mr Sim.
The growth of advertising in property portals has made it a battle between agents with the deepest pockets to get onto the top of search results. Getting to the top of the list is often based on how much money the agent is spending instead of delivering the most relevant results to the home seeker. In addition, the organic results are often listed in chronological order with no regard for the degree of relevance to the user.
The property search portal Mogul.sg does not support ad-listings because its primary goal is to deliver accurate and relevant results for the home seeker.
Table of Contents
“We think that users are tired of having to scroll through pages of ads before even reaching organic results from real home owners. We want to do for property search what Google did for the Web search industry in the early 2000s – deliver accurate and useful search results for the users,” said Mr Sim.
With MOGUL.sg’s keyword-based system, home seekers can easily narrow their search down to a manageable number of properties that match all their requirements (e.g. west-facing, near a primary school or any MRT, etc.).
And if the home seeker doesn’t find what they’re looking for, MOGUL.sg’s in-built artificial intelligence (AI) will scan all future listings and automatically recommends the ones that suit their search history. At MOGUL.sg, users can also organise their favourite listings into folders, which can be shared with partners and family members.
The property search portal MOGUL.sg also offers a property concierge service for users who do not want to scroll through multiple listings or contact multiple agents.
MOGUL.sg’s hand-picked concierge team can help the user by being their only point of contact throughout their real estate journey. “Instead of focusing on advertising revenue, we want to move to an agent subscription service which levels the playing field for buyers, sellers and property agents,” added Mr Sim.
How to Secure a Home Loan Quickly
Are you planning to invest in properties but ensure of funds availability for purchase? Don’t worry because iCompareLoan mortgage broker can set you up on a path that can get you a home loan in a quick and seamless manner.
Our brokers have close links with the best lenders in town and can help you compare Singapore home loans and settle for a package that best suits your home purchase needs. Find out money saving tips here.
Whether you are looking for a new home loan or to refinance, the Mortgage broker can help you get everything right from calculating mortgage repayment, comparing interest rates all through to securing the best home loans in Singapore. And the good thing is that all our services are free of charge. So it’s all worth it to secure a loan through us.
For advice on a new home loan.
For refinancing advice.
