If you have a couple of minutes to upload a listing, it’s fast, easy and you can use your smartphone.

The first step is to create a login, either using your Facebook profile, Google account or email address and password.

Then, choose a photo of yourself for your profile picture, which will be one of the first things people see when they look at any listing you make.

You can take a quick selfie on your phone or find one in your photos.

Next, click on your photo in the top right hand corner and a drop-down menu will give options: choose ‘create a listing’.

Next select what applies to you – do you want to; find a housemate, find a share house or rent out a property?

Once you have chosen which type of post you are creating, make a title for your post – the more specific the better, to separate you from the crowd. For example “Shift worker looking for quiet share house”.

Then, you can write a bit about what you’re looking for and who you are/ what the property is like.

We recommend referencing location and things that are close by, if you have a room, and if you’re looking, the top most important things you want, for example, an ensuite bathroom.

The next page will show you some options for inputting all the key information.

If you have a place, you’ll need to pop in your address, (there is an option to ‘hide’ your address) and the cost of rent, bond, property size and how many bedrooms, bathrooms and car spaces.

If you’re looking for a home, you will need to select up to six suburbs where you would like to live and your maximum budget.

The most important part, according to the team at RealEstateTube is also the most fun.

Get your phone out and walk through your home, or turn the camera to selfie mode and let your personality shine through.

We recommend keeping it short and sweet – watch Emma’s videos for more top tips.

We’re so glad you’ve found RealEstateTube.

We’re #1 and we’re free, where owners, renters and flatmates use video to meet.

 We are active in 75 countries around the world, so get browsing now to be matched with the perfect rental home or housemate.

The people you live with can set the tone of your life, so we have made it as easy as possible of you to meet the right ones via video.

The team have worked hard to create a fresh look site, with a colourful, easy to use interface – housemate hunting no longer has to be a chore.

Video is our point of difference, and it allows users to save precious time and energy searching, by presenting an authentic picture of places and properties online.

Users can create their own “selfie”videos or tour a home with their phone within minutes, so they can show who they are and what they want.

It’s the fastest, easiest way to make a decision about a person or property,  because if a picture tells a thousand words – a video says it all. 

So head to RealEstateTube and tell your friends – they might be there already!

We’re #1 and we’re free, where owners, renters and flatmates use video to meet.

A bad housemate can cause a lot of problems and headaches, it definitely pays to prepare and do some research. Here are a few things you need to consider before deciding to share your residence with someone else.

Initial Research

Prior to inviting someone into your home, you need to do some a little research. You may, for instance, want to ask them if they have a social media account so you can chat and get to know them. Google their name and see what you can find out about them. If they’re not willing to share anything with you, then it’s probably wise to avoid considering them as your roommate.

Be Careful Who You Invite Over

Just because someone seems to be a good fit, doesn’t mean they are safe to have in your home. Always meet potential roommates in public so you can get a feel for what they’re like without them coming over. You don’t want to find out way too late that the person is actually not who they seem and was just scoping your place out for nefarious reasons. Most people are cautious, so you may not have many people that would want to meet in your home at first. Try a cafe or any public place where talking would be easy.

Use Proper Language In Your Listing

When you put out a listing online for a flatmate, it needs to go over some basics. For instance, it should say what the price is of the rent and whether you want a male or female to respond. A lot of people won’t live with the opposite sex and a lot of people don’t want to pay over a certain price. Your goal is to weed out the wrong candidates. Include your phone number too and make sure you have an answering machine set up in case you are busy when people try to contact you.

Know What Questions To Ask

Do they know how to clean? Are they able to split all of the bills with you? It’s important that you go over everything that you expect when working with a flatmate during your first meeting. You don’t want to find out, for instance, that they thought that they only had to pay half of the rent and you are responsible for everything else. Get a contract put together with them about what they have to pay. If you can get everything in writing and they agree to and sign it, then you have a leg to stand on if they don’t stand up to their promises.

Find out where they work and what they’re doing in their life. You really don’t want to find out that later that someone doesn’t agree with any of your views. It is hard to live with someone in general, but it’s even more difficult to spend time with someone that’s nothing like you. Sometimes opposites attract, but there’s no point in risking it. Also, make sure you find out what their stance is on drinking and using substances so you don’t end up with someone that’s always loud and parties too much.

Once you use our advice, you can find a flatmate that works for you. So many people are out there to choose from that it makes sense to be cautious. Eventually, you’ll weed out the bad from the good and be left with the best most compatible choices.

Chinese buyers purchase overseas for 4 reasons:

• investment
• migration
• luxury
• lifestyle

According to 2017 data from Juwai.com users, close to 80 per cent of Chinese buyers pay for properties in cash – staggering, but not news to anyone familiar with that market.

But in a country where property developers are pulling out all the stops to court mainland Chinese investors, perhaps it’s time to consider ‘why’ over ‘what’.

WHY?

According to Juwai.com the first priority for Chinese buyers purchasing in markets like the US and Australia, safety is the top consideration.

So… as a nation should we shift our marketing efforts from school zones to safety?

If safety is the chief concern of today’s Chinese buyers, Australia has a major advantage over the United States, where most of mainland China’s property dollars are spent.

But then we need to ask:

HOW?

Aussie property comes with many lures… but even our most beautiful beachside offerings are scaring many a foreign buyer away.

Red tape is Chinese buyers’ biggest hurdle when it comes to buying in Australia according to Juwai.com.

Communication is another potential barrier, but with many big agencies and portals setting up their own mandarin speaking China Desks, we are working hard to overcome it.

THE VIDEO SOLUTION

But according to RealEstateTube CEO Steve Makris, many transactions are still being lost in translation.

It was while working as a commercial broker, attempting to sell big ticket listings to offshore buyers, that the concept of RealEstateTube was born.

“The biggest challenge was I didn’t speak Chinese then and I don’t now.

“Back in 2014 I had Chinese buyers looking to buy a business in Australia under a 457 visa to get permanent residency,” Mr Makris said.

He needed to find a solution to explain his clients’ businesses, fast.

“I whipped out my phone and shot a quick video, emailed it to the buyer and bang! Video broke the barriers and they got on the first plane from Hong Kong to Melbourne and bought the property within days.”

If a picture tells a thousand words, a video says it all – no translation required.

Three quarters of innovations fail to reach their goals, according to a survey of businesses buy Simon Kucher & Partners 2017.

‘Failure’ in a business environment almost always comes down to revenue.

According to the same survey of classifieds businesses, two thirds of companies are currently considering tweaking their pricing model.

The advisory firm has some tips for product pricing online.

MORE IS NOT MORE

Feature shock – a phenomenon that was represented in the presentation by a Swiss Army Knife.

“Someone can look at a product with all the features and innovations and say that’s cool, but would I pay extra for it? Hell no!”

“THEY GO LOW, WE GO MIDDLE”

Behavioural economics shows people will gravitate toward the middle product when it comes to price, but it pays (literally) to stick to 4 or 5 offerings.

IT’S ALL RELATIVE

A premium tier cost price can alter cost perception.

MINIVATION

The assumption has been a smaller screen has an effect on UX and therefore transaction outcomes. Not so. The experience of their clients is that consumers are not deterred by a mobile screen transaction, when it comes to higher price points.

PRICING MODELS SHOULD EVOLVE WITH YOUR PRODUCT

“No one model is best, it depends entirely on the efficacy for your users.”

• pay per use
• subscription fee
• flat fee
• introduction fee
• commission per transaction
• points or credits for partners

These can and do work – not for all, and not for anyone all the time.

In the words of serial investor and entrepreneur David Gonzalez Castro of Red Arbor to the Global Online Classifieds Summit in June:

“If content is king, cash flow is King Kong.”

It was a stark acknowledgement that if we want things to change, we have to look not to our politicians, but ourselves for change.

For example in property, where we are seeing so much entrenched disadvantage and worsening affordability, there is ample room to shake up the status quo.

RealEstateTube.com is an example of a business acting as a social enterprise and service, via founder and CEO Steve Makris, who wants us all to find our tribe.

In 2013, Steve was considering how to ensure customers had a ‘fair go’ in the real estate industry, where he had spent decades as a commercial sales agent.

“When I started out, a real estate agent had a lot to offer, we would study the market and there were no online tools, there was no RP data to see comparable sales. These days the vendors can do it all themselves.”

And so, RealEstateTube.com was born.

The online platform allows buyers and sellers, landlords and tenants to ‘meet’ via video, and crucially, make transactions without any property managers or salespeople.

In addition to saving households on average, $20,000 to $30,000 per sale, the platform is designed to offer overseas buyers a comprehensive, authentic look at a property from afar.

The rental side of the app is where Steve sees opportunities for social solutions.

“You can’t hide your true self in a video, so what happens when people see tenants and housemates on video is it takes out the guess work and fear of the unknown.”

In this way, Steve is hoping to drive a house sharing revolution, linking those who need company with those who need shelter.

“Consider a single mum fleeing domestic violence. She can’t afford to rent a place herself, and there is a waiting list for social housing.

“What if she could use her social security payments to contribute to an elderly person’s pension, and rent out a room or two in their otherwise empty house? These people could live together and benefit from the company and security of living in a real home setting.”

“In the same way, we want to see the Government start to consider housing newly-arrived refugees in share houses in inner-city suburbs, to facilitate true integration and relieve infrastructure pressure on areas with an influx of social housing tenants.”

The applications, as Steve and his team see them, are endless; the site already has a space for adoptee animals, with the hope that eventually, RealEstateTube becomes a problem-solving community.

“We say our motto is find your tribe, and that’s we want to see people do – because we all have a tribe, we may just not have met them yet.”

Countless articles and listicles have been published about how many CEOs and squillionaires wake up before the sun and exercise. Endorphins blah, blah, health et cetera – this isn’t that, but it does come with a happy clappy exercise content warning.

In our first hours in Manhattan, the RealEstateTube team did a Soul Cycle class – and by the end of it, we found ourselves still far from home, but in a very familiar place.

The first thing you’ll notice when you step into a Soul Cycle studio is the sense of urgency and smell of grapefruit – a confuzzling combination.  The staff are pleasant, but they’re clearly in a hurry – everyone is.

When ‘CEO Steve’ and I queued at the counter of enthusiastic spinners, we realised “on time” is too late for a front row seat. We came in on the opening beats of the first track, navigating our clip-on shoes in the dark. We were starting unprepared, with the wrong bike set-up.

The class gathered momentum as the instructor shouted, we sweated and I wondered how it was possible to pedal so hard and stay in the one place. Do you see where I’m going with this? The stifling, exhilarating 45 minutes of spinning felt a lot like the early days of a business.  If you’ve ever toiled on a startup venture, you’ll recall that heady mixture of adrenaline, exhaustion and fear.

It was during a particularly bass-heavy rendition of Bruno Mars “Teach me how to Dougie” that I came to this conclusion, and the lessons of the hour lasted long after Paolo Nutini sang us out the door.

1. Show up early, warmed-up and dressed for the part.
2. Be consistent
3. You’re in the room – stay there

If you’ve paid stacks of money to be at a conference, meeting or an exercise class, stay in the room. You paid to be there, so if you’re mind and body aren’t there in spirit – you may as well have gone for a walk.

Imagine how much more you can get out of that meeting, class, conference if you’ve had a warm-up, plenty of water and a stretch. At the end of the ride you’ll be sweaty, dishevelled and tired anyway, but if you’re on your game you’ll also be stronger, fitter and ready to go again.

By the way, we’re heading to Soul Cycle again tomorrow – it’s addictive like that.

RealEstateTube.com for example has hit 21, 000 users in 12 months – it’s one of several emerging platforms entering a space dominated by major players in an industry ripe for disruption.

The issue of housing affordability is not exclusive to buyers: renters are being priced out of the areas in which they work and applying for tenancy has become depressingly like an auction.

Last month, we saw historically low wage growth, fixing a number to what we already knew: the housing affordability crisis is not limited to buyers.

CEO Steve Makris and Content Director Camille Bianchi are heading to the Big Apple in June to soak up the sun and scout out some locations for a New York office.

“We believe some of our biggest opportunities will come from dense rental markets such as the United States east coast, and it makes sense to be operating in the same timezone,” Ms Bianchi said.

Real Estate Tube has just come from the Wholesale Investor series in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Maroochydore and are now taking their show on the road.

Real Estate Tube will also be attending the Global Online Classifieds Summit in Miami from June 20, where they will be meeting with some of the world’s biggest digital commerce platforms.

“This conference is an amazing opportunity to meet the best and brightest in the space, there are major players there and the energy will be incredible. We are so excited to attend,” Mr Makris said.

Wish us luck!

Do you know which expression turns me into ‘old man shaking fist at cloud’ most rapidly?

“Just buy an investment property, get your foot in the door”

Maybe I don’t want to jam my impoverished foot into “the door” for the sake of overextending myself financially to secure a depressing apartment for the imaginary tenants who will miraculously want to live in aforementioned dump. And for the love of all things holy I certainly don’t want to live in it myself.

Another pearler: “rent money is dead money”. Sigh. Do you know what else is “dead money”- the hundreds of thousands of dollars you pay on accrued interest over the course of a home loan. 

Then, if you default on your mortgage you’ve lost it. May as well flush it down the toilet, as I will do with the delightful breakfasts I have digested and enjoyed being an “irresponsible renter”.

Also: you are lecturing me on fiscal sense when you bought that tiny outer suburbs dive for $900,000 at the peak of the market, at a hyper-inflated price. Spoiler alert: prices can and do and will correct themselves eventually in any major market where median wages aren’t rising proportionately with real estate.

Another fun fact: rising casualisation of the global workforce means that the income upon which your hefty home loan was calculated… well, it might not be there for the 50 years you’ll spend making installments. 

Do you know what else is great? Not having a mortgage. Highly recommend, much brunch, few forms. Don’t know what negative gearing means? Well, you don’t have to if you never own a house. 

So forgive me for snorting into my espresso as you chastise me for not magically having more money and an endless pool of baseless optimism in the market and workforce. 

And DON’T get me started on those of you with charming, four-walled nest eggs who were able to live at home sans rent to save for them. Just don’t.

Do you know what is great? Brunch. I happily admit I could have built thousands of artisanal toast houses and sold them to foreign buyers, glued together with avocado. I have had my share of fancy breakfasts, and I don’t want my money back.

And so I will continue to nibble at my overpriced avocado toast (smashed, goats cheese, wooden plate the works). 

Wake up and smell the coffee – (it smells great by the way) – rent money is sense money.