Brandon G. Donnelly

The Problem on Greenlaw

This is a new house under construction in my neighbourhood at 130 Greenlaw Ave. It’s been under construction for what seems like years as it underwent multiple periods of inactivity. It was formerly a small run-down bungalow. The site is narrow. But the new house under construction looks modern and promising. 

As a real estate professional and area resident, this project interests me. I like to see good development taking place in the city and I, particularly, like to see good development taking place in my neighbourhood. Previously, I spoke about Dirt targeting real estate pros, but I think there’s an opportunity here for it reach beyond the industry. Lots of people have an interest in and are impacted by real estate. 

In any case, I drive by this property on an almost daily basis and it got me wondering a number of things.

First, is this property going to be modern or some crappy faux-historic suburban style house? Then the flat roof went in and I sighed relief that it was likely the former. A sign also went up showcasing the architecture firm. I emailed them to ask them about the property (the first time the site went inactive). I received no response.

At this point, I was wondering, did the owner run out of money? What did they pay for that one storey bungalow? Must have been in the high $400,000s given what I’m seeing in the area. Maybe he/she thinks they can’t turn a profit. But wait, maybe it’ll be owner occupied. I tried googling the address to see what I could uncover, but found nothing.

Now, working in the industry obviously has a lot to do with the things I was wondering, but it doesn’t negate the fact that herein lies a problem. A problem that I want to solve with my startup.

• Why is there no easy way for me to get the answers to all of my questions?
• Why can’t I follow this property so that I just get notified when new information becomes available?
• Why is all the information I want so fragmented?

There are people out there with the answers to my questions, but there’s no centralized place for it to be shared and distributed. Sure, if this property eventually goes up for sale I’ll see it on MLS, but I want more info that and I want it immediately. 

That’s where Dirt comes in.

Dirt is envisaged as a crowd-sourcing tool for professionals (and enthusiasts or maybe just nosy neighbours) to discover, track and share the real estate activity happening around them.