In a first for the real estate industry, a buyer cashback incentive was recently introduced by house and land search one-stop-shop OpenLot.com.au.
Since the initiative first launched in June, more than 12 groups of buyers have been rewarded, with over $3,000 in cashbacks given so far.
“The idea is to reward buyers for searching for properties online,” said OpenLot.com.au founder Qi Chen, who has a background developing digital products for proptech (Property technology) businesses like REA Group, Landchecker, and Urban.com.au.
To qualify for the cashback, the buyer must make an unconditional purchase within one month of their initial property enquiry on OpenLot.com.au.
Since OpenLot.com.au first launched in Victoria 2019, it has gone from strength to strength, helping buyers to search for the perfect land and new home packages. It recently expanded into the Queensland and New South Wales markets, with the goal of national coverage by mid next year.
From the time the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, the site’s traffic has continued to skyrocket, jumping from just 200 users per month to more than 50,000.
“The pandemic has transformed buyer behaviours. We’re now seeing more buyers wanting to discover land and new home opportunities online, because it’s not always feasible to do weekend display home and land sales office visits anymore,” said Mr Chen.
“Instead, many buyers in the market for land and new homes are using OpenLot.com.au as a pivotal service.”
To date, some of OpenLot.com.au’s most notable housing estate clients have included Grandview by Stockland, Kinley by Intrapac, Alira by Moremac, Warralily by Newland, Williams Landing by Cedar Woods, Westwood by Dahua Group and many more.
Sales and Marketing Manager at Moremac Property Group Lachlan Moore said, “Many of our developments are listed exclusively to land buyers on OpenLot.com.au.
“Each month, we’re receiving a consistent stream of sales. I think that’s certainly being helped by OpenLot.com.au’s cashback incentive, which is driving buyers to make the purchase decision quicker.
“For example, we launched our Smiths Park estate on OpenLot.com.au six months ago. Even with no sales office on-site, and no walk-in enquiries, we’ve managed to sell out the first 7 stages. We’re not even listed on Domain or RealEstate.com.au, because there’s just no need.”
