Sun
Veteran Vancouver real estate marketer Cliff Bowman has launched what is being billed as the world’s first global online search engine to allow consumers to shop for condos internationally by location, price, and lifestyle choice.
Condocenter.com also provides advance notice of pre-construction properties, allowing prospective buyers to register directly with a developer for up-to-the-minute information before an official public launch.
Bowman, who has spent 30 years pre-marketing condo projects in North America and overseas, said the public has been deprived of learning about “some great lifestyle opportunities” because of each project’s advertising and promotional budget constraints.
“I set out to create one central portal where literally you can navigate the world of condo real estate, both resort as well as urban,” the president of Vancouver-based Builders International Real Estate Marketing Corp. said in an interview Monday.
“I designed it in such a way that a developer can showcase their development to the world for a few bucks a day.”
Bowman estimates that about 80 per cent of urban condo buyers shop locally while 20 per cent are from out of town. Conversely, about 80 per cent of resort and recreational condo buyers are outsiders and only 20 per cent are locals.
In addition to shopping by location, lifestyle choice and price, the website also allows consumers to search by ownership type — full ownership, fractional, private residence club and timeshare — and the number of bedrooms and baths. The site is free to consumers and currently lists about 200 new projects. There is no selling. Users are invited to use the information provided to contact a project’s sales team directly.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006
