Exclusive: Founder of Off-Markt Alison Bernstein Is 'Redefining the Real Estate Experience' With Her New Platform

Alison Bernstein, previously the Founder of Suburban Jungle, found herself wishing she could scroll through a curated social media feed much like Instagram, but with her dream houses/properties, thus Off-Markt was born.

"Off-Markt is redefining the real estate experience by creating a platform where every home is a potential listing, and every user has the power to tell their home’s story. By removing traditional barriers and introducing innovative, user-driven content, Off-Markt is making real estate more personal, interactive and accessible than ever before," Bernstein exclusively tells Morning Honey about the platform.

"When you think about the residential real estate marketplace, it is one of the most inefficient markets that exist. In order to see your current home’s value, or to transact business — typically you have to find a broker to hire (which is an inefficient market in and of itself), then negotiate a commission, and then agree to a price only to have a few staged photos posted online and a description of a home that no one reads," she continues. "Currently there is no way to control the digital footprint of your home, which for most people is their largest asset. I can’t tell you the number of people that would transact real estate if someone were to approach them. The overall market would be exponentially larger. Anyone can be a buyer or seller at any point. We have a better way to share the story of our homes, to create a more efficient marketplace."

As for how Off-Markt is changing the real estate world, Bernstein shares: "We believe that anyone can be a buyer or a seller at any time. We open the market to truly being a 24/7 live marketplace, that at the end of the day creates a more efficient real estate transaction platform, eliminating all of the existing friction which exists."

With Bernstein's creation, "People can follow specific markets, properties, buildings – and see how homes are truly lived in," she says. "This creates a real platform where anyone can approach anyone at any time. People no longer have to wait for homes to 'come on the market.' Anyone is a buyer and a seller at any point in time, without doing anything but living in their homes and sharing the story of their homes organically."

Though being an entrepreneur has its ups and downs, Bernstein says it's been cool to see her idea come to life.

"When you see one small inefficiency in the marketplace — and you have a way to fix it — is the absolute most exciting part of any business. The most challenging part is all of the naysayers – those that tell you thousands of reasons you will fail or why it won’t work," she shares.

So far, the response has been "amazing," she says.

"People are excited to share the story of their home. I can’t tell you how many people are so proud of their homes, however cannot share on current social media platforms. Your home is so much of who you are (regardless if you own or rent). Being able to share what you are proud of without the stigma of current socials which would ask (why are they posting about their kitchen counters or their pumpkin display), is very exciting for everyone," she states.

Bernstein has always "loved" real estate and how "tangible it was."

"I’ve also seen how much the industry has transformed yet at the same time how little. Before the Internet, the broker really had control of all listings because you didn’t have access. With the internet, access became more readily available, but only for properties currently on the market that are listed through real estate professionals. If you do a search on Zillow, it obviously only is able to show you homes listed by brokers. It is ultimately a platform for brokers and enables the consumer to search — however, it is not a complete search," she shares, noting she always wanted to "build a business."

She continues: "I have always been passionate about reading stories of entrepreneurs building businesses, regardless of how big or small. It is a key component to anything you do — when you think about going back to school for law or medicine, you don’t really think about that. You ultimately would have to be an entrepreneur to build a practice or even build a team with a larger hospital or a law firm. Entrepreneurial skills or something I’m very passionate about teaching everybody at a young age."

As for what the future holds, Bernstein is excited to see how things unfold. "I hope to create a platform where everyone can share the story of their home (whether it be privately or publicly). On the backend, I hope to create a truly efficient real estate transaction platform," she says, adding that she wants Off-Markt to be the "leading platform where all real estate is searched and transacted."

"Currently, the real estate model is one of the most inefficient models. Our goal is to create a more liquid marketplace, enabling owners to have greater control of the digital footprint of their home and tell the real story of their home in order to enable buyers to transact anytime we are eliminating the concept of going on the market bypassing all of the friction costs and overall headaches of bringing property to market. Our concept is to create a truly efficient marketplace, whose functions appear to be pure marketplace, but can also bring in real estate professionals, such as real estate brokers, attorneys, and mortgage brokers to aid in the transaction," she adds. "Anybody, anywhere can be a buyer or a seller. Creating a transparent platform which showcases all homes organically is a game changer."

She concludes: "I hope that everybody learns that taking a risk is amazing and that failing is actually succeeding because you’ve tried something. Failure is only when you miss opportunities that you were too scared to take."

For more on Off-Markt, visit off-markt.com.