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House Hunting on the net

WITH THE country experiencing a real estate boom and properties springing up at such a fast rate, it has become very difficult for buyers to locate new freehold properties from their regular channels or sources.

Spinbits, a web consultancy company in Dubai, recently launched restate.ae, a real estate portal which aims to provide complete in-depth information on properties in the UAE. restate.ae will offer users the option of finding information on UAE properties, wherever, whenever and in whatever form they want at the touch of a button.

City Times talks to Cloves Carneiro Jr and Rida Al Barazi, Managing Directors at SpinBits to get an in-depth picture of restate.ae.

Could you explain the concept behind restate.ae?

Cloves Carneiro Jr: restate.ae is the leading web portal for freehold and leasehold properties in the UAE. The real estate portal has been developed in the interest of the public, making it easy for users to find their ideal type of accommodation for personal, business, or investment purposes.

restate.ae is designed to provide users with in-depth real estate solutions, delivering expert property analysis, property news, neighbourhood ratings and a customised filter option to suit the needs of the customer. In addition, users have easy access to unbiased information, in order to boost their awareness and confidence towards the real estate industry as a whole.

restate.ae is free for end-users and only charge real-estate agents a one-time fee to list as many properties as they want for an unlimited time. restate.ae is listing service aimed to assist UAE residents and does not charge any commission from the buyer or seller for any transactions occurred.

What are the unique features of restate.ae?

Rida Al Barazi:

* A filter option, where a user can instantly search properties without having to refresh the page or re-type similar information

* Property Listings for sale and lease along with visual images and a detailed mapping function

* Social/Demographic/Housing statistics for a particular neighbourhood or building

* City and neighbourhood amenity information and reviews

* User interaction allowing end-users to interact with other users on a particular property, neighbourhood and building.

Who are the target audience for this portal?

Cloves Carneiro Jr: restate.ae is a real-estate portal designed specifically to assist anyone interested in living or investing in the United Arab Emirates to locate their future home or office in an easy, usable and smart way.

Our target audience primarily are the end-users which includes UAE residents and expatriates and of course real-estate agents and developers.

restate.ae acts a two way communication link where:

* Real-estate agents and developers list their properties to provide end-users with a selection of properties to choose from.

* End-users register, to provide real-estate agents with a broader audience.

Would you be covering only the local property market or is it going to be regional?

Cloves Carneiro Jr: restate.ae was introduced to assist UAE expatriates and residents. The portal currently focuses on the Dubai market and will soon be covering the whole of the United Arab Emirates.

With so many options available for the property/real estate sector in the UAE, how does restate.ae propose to stand out?

Cloves Carneiro Jr: restate.ae stands out by taking a different approach allowing users to participate more actively in the portal. In addition, restate.ae aims to provide users with a wide array of information related to the real estate industry such as providing the latest news related to the market, assistance in home-financing and enhanced user functions.

How will restate.ae benefit users in UAE? What will your role be when they choose to buy/sell or rent property through your portal?

Rida Al Barazi: restate.ae will benefit users interested in investing or living in the UAE by providing them with unbiased information about the property market which will include:

* Average property prices for homes or offices on sale or rent in a specific neighbourhood.

* Statistical information by property type (villa, apartment, office) and size which will assist end users in making informed decisions when purchasing or renting in the UAE.

With detailed information available on restate.ae, the portal will confirm its role as one of the main real estate portals in the UAE, becoming a centre point of contact between end users and companies in the real estate industry.

What are the restate.ae plans for the future?

Rida Al Barazi: restate.ae has a detailed list of planned features that will be added in the future. Out of which, most of these features will be based on end user and real estate agencies requests.

The main features that we are currently working on at the moment include:

* Enhanced mapping functions in restate.ae, which will display street names and landmark areas.

* Multimedia tools which will include short videos on properties, buildings and neighbourhoods.

* An Arabic version of the portal.

* Option that allows users to calculate estimated monthly payments for a particular property.