COVID-19 fastracks online auction and sale management technology to Australia

Offr

Offr Launches Ahead of Time Due to Local Market Requests

20 April 2020: Offr, the only technology provider to deliver the property market all sale methods – auction, private treaty and sealed bids – digitally and remotely is entering the Australian market 12 months ahead of its planned timeframe due to overwhelming demand from leading local companies following COVID-19 regulations.

The platform which was launched 6 months ago in Ireland, allows real estate agents and auctioneers to offer the entire online sales process through their own existing websites. It only takes ten minutes to have the technology integrated, and live, on their websites.

Fresh from delivering the world’s first digital property transaction where all 17 parties worked from their own homes due to the Coronavirus lock-down, Offr CEO & Founder Robert Hoban, along with co-founder and Sydney native, Niall Dawson, says the company is in the right place at the right time to deliver what the global market needs.

“This recent sale in Ireland shows that everything is possible in our ‘new normal’,” he said. “Registered bids were made, deposits paid, and contracts signed with the involvement of lawyers all from the safety of home. We don’t know how long the COVID-19 regulations will be in place and therefore we are seeing a huge surge of interest from property industries all over the world including the UK, Ireland, Australia and the USA. Vendors won’t be able to wait indefinitely to get back into the market.

“We seem to be the only technology that allows real estate agents and auctioneers to conduct the entire sale process from their own websites which is a big plus in a world where everything is changing at a rapid pace. Companies want to keep as much consistency and control as they can”.

Tim Brown, CEO of Ezifin, who is helping Offr to identify Australian partners and adapt the technology for the Australian market, explained the changes to Australia’s property market are here to stay: “Offr’s platform is years ahead of their competition, demonstrating how real estate will be transacted now and into the future. The world as we knew it prior to Covid 19 will be very different to the way Real Estate will be transacted post Covid 19. Financial Services has already moved online, real estate is next.”

David Eccles, A/NZ Director of Enterprise Ireland who is supporting the company’s entry to Australia and New Zealand added: “Offr is the perfect answer for an industry struggling to rewire how they work. Now a Barclays Techstars portfolio company, and backed by some major investors including AIB, Bank of Ireland and Enterprise Ireland in Ireland, the company has ramped up its market entry due to incredible demand and we look forward to seeing its success all over the world and especially down under”.

/Public Release.