If you’ve ever wondered how Simeon Garratt, Spark’s CEO, got his start in the real estate tech business, get in line. A first glance reveals humility and wholesomeness, but Garratt exudes nothing but pride and confidence as he shares about all the success Spark’s real estate platform has provided for its customers.
Garratt says, “My start in real estate was by chance. I grew up in Asia and became fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese. I studied and liked business, and moved to Vancouver when everybody who was buying real estate was from Asia. My linguistic abilities and understanding of Asian culture made me a good fit for partnerships with tech and real estate professionals who needed my skills. It was a combination of chance, timing, and the right-place, right-time in a market that was extremely hot and had a demand for someone like me, who was fluent in Mandarin.”
Simeon began working as a consultant, connecting people, and partnering in ventures. He was often an intermediary between groups looking to buy and sell real estate, representing buyers from Asia and introducing them to his North American connections.
“We started building Spark in my living room in Vancouver,” says Simeon. Having gained the experience of working with so many groups in so many places, he knew if he was going to build a platform, it had to be able to service all of those groups. “There are pros and cons to that,” he says. “When you address a large market, you have to build much more into an app to accommodate the platform in all of those places. It’s a catch-22! If you want to work in a lot of different cities, then you must have a platform that services those cities.”
Why do real estate developers and managers need Spark? The short version, according to Garratt, “The software will save them time and money!” But, this is what Spark is all about:
- Spark offers one central platform with multiple services for developers to access.
- It enables the real estate development industry to standardize processes and make better-informed decisions on how to build communities based on multiple levels of relevant data.
- Spark is industry-specific, designed by employees with experience in the New Development space.
- Its consolidated system eliminates inefficiencies and potential errors.
- It allows for transparency and insight throughout all stages of the sales process.
- Spark’s modern software infrastructure is nimble enough to incorporate client feedback.
- Its single-platform provides sales/marketing teams with greater intelligence from their customer data throughout the sales process.
- Its future-focused, environmentally-conscious approach is paving a path towards more paperless transactions for the real estate industry.
Spark’s commitment to improving the environment extends beyond just their products. In fact, they have partnered withTreeCanada to plant trees across Canada in an effort to give back environmentally for each contract that goes digital.
As far as the benefits and services Spark offers, who wouldn’t want the ability to do things faster, smoother, and with enhanced record-keeping and tracking efficiency? “The more clients use Spark, the better their insight into mission-critical data,” Garratt says. “Spark captures about 140 different data points for every contact in the system, including a potential buyer’s age, where they live, their preferences, what they have bought in the past, and how they found you. The more information you collect, the easier it is to access and analyse that data.”
The ideal client for Spark is involved in the new development industry. Providing the platform required to sell/lease-up, market, close, and report on a client’s entire portfolio of new development projects, Spark is a one-stop app for new developments of condos, townhomes, and master-planned communities.
Post-Covid, more people are working remotely than ever before. Spending more time at home increased buyers’ desire for larger units, luxury amenities, and outdoor spaces. Hot spots for real estate are popping up, like South Florida, Austin, Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and Denver, as people are moving out of traditional primary markets to gain the lifestyle advantages they desire. Developers are reimagining projects that are in the works to suit current buyer preferences. With the rush to ready projects in markets with high demand and low inventory, Spark is primed to assist with a speedy and seamless sales process. As pioneers, Spark has staked its claim in the real estate tech industry, and they are ready to save you time, money and provide you with statistical data aplenty.