[TMM Podcast] Yelsa serves up “marine reserve” of property buyers

It’s been years in the making and former real estate agent Mike Harvey is now coming to market with his platform matching buyers and sellers, an offering he says will be a gamechanger for the industry.

“It's like going fishing, who wouldn't want to be able to have a license to go fishing in a marine reserve for a day? You’re guaranteed to catch a couple of fish,” Yesla’s founder explains in the latest TMM Better Business podcast.

The database of pre-approved buyers is sourced from mortgage advisors, in return for a fee on deal completion. Buyers get to select the type of property they’re interested in to help match with sellers but their contact details are kept under lock and key until a seller selects a real estate agent to work with. The agent then receives the buyers’ contact details to take the process from there.

A successful deal results in a $1000 fee, with $750 going to the mortgage advisor, $100 to the Heart Foundation and $159 to Yelsa.

“We've really been on a mission, just to create an environment where people can reduce the cost of advertising and get straight to the buyers.

“And we know the buyers, they're the mortgage brokers’ people.”

So much so that Mike Harvey has partnered with Squirrel to take the platform to market. Chief executive John Bolton has done a lot of the heavy lifting to prepare the necessary frameworks to allow Yelsa to work as part of advisors’ business.

“About 70% of all buyers now are coming via mortgage brokers, which means that 70% of buyers have pre-approvals that have come via a mortgage broker, and anyone that's selling their property talks to their mortgage broker first.

“Because, my clients, when looking to buy and to sell, they'll come to me first to see if it's even possible.

“And yet, we haven't been in the equation for real estate until now.”

To hear more from Yelsa’s Mike Harvey and Squirrel’s JB about Yelsa’s aim to disrupt the real estate industry check out the latest TMM Better Business Podcast.