Disco, which increased transaction convenience by disclosing building and land prices… Working as an appraiser, draws attention to marketability
Information on commercial real estate such as buildings and warehouses… Unlike large corporations, individuals have difficulty accessing it.
Free for all transactions since 2006… City building-country land prices at a glance
Business diversification, including introduction of store owners and managers
There is a service that allows you to install an app on your phone and press a button to display the transaction history of land, buildings, and single-family homes around you on a map at a glance. This is an app service provided by DISCO (CEO Bae Woo-soon), which operates a commercial real estate brokerage platform.
Before Disco launched this service, it was difficult to know the transaction prices of land, buildings, stores, warehouses, and factories. Even if you get a copy of the real estate register, only some of the prices are listed. Disco quickly stepped in when the government incompletely disclosed information on commercial real estate and land transactions in late 2016. Using big data analysis and visualization technology, it completely made the incomplete information, which did not even include the exact address, complete. Then, in early 2017, it started a service that accurately displays it on a map so that anyone can quickly and easily find it.
People who wanted to trade buildings, land, factories, and commercial properties would pay to use this service, but Disco made it free. Even now, anyone can view transaction details for all land, buildings, commercial properties, factories, and single-family homes nationwide through an app or web. In addition to transaction information for typical residential properties such as apartments, officetels, multi-family homes, and multi-unit housing, all items listed for auction are also available.
While you are visiting your hometown during this Chuseok, it would be fun to look at how much land in your hometown and its surroundings is being traded, and it might also help you develop a sense of real estate. If you have saved up a lot of money in a big city, the land prices in your hometown that you haven’t paid attention to for a while might seem cheap.
On the 5th of this month, about 10 days before Chuseok, I met CEO Bae-soon Bae (42) at the office of Disco in Pangyo New Town, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do. I heard about the reason why he, who worked as an appraiser at an appraisal company, simply disclosed the transaction prices of buildings and land, the functions added to the platform service in addition to price disclosure, and what kind of service he will ultimately become.
● Unfairness felt while working as a real estate appraiser
Mr. Bae worked as a real estate appraiser from 2009 to early 2016. He wrote appraisal reports for buildings, land, factories, etc. commissioned by large corporations, and also provided consulting on real estate utilization. Large corporations were able to obtain information on commercial real estate through appraisal firms, but this was not the case for individuals or small businesses. Mr. Bae said, “In the early 2010s, I often saw businessmen buying office buildings in Gangnam, Seoul without even properly comparing prices,” and “I thought that if I could make commercial real estate transaction information transparent, there would be an opportunity for business success.”
The company was founded in early 2016. It was 3-4 years after real estate platforms providing price information, etc. centered around apartments, emerged. I decided to eliminate information asymmetry between buyers and sellers in the commercial real estate market. The government also released commercial real estate transaction information later that year, accelerating service development. However, the information released by the government does not include the address. Even now, if you go into the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s real transaction price disclosure system, only the name of the land is displayed. Based on this incomplete information, Disco combines various information such as the transaction area and purpose of the land to find the exact address, and then provides the information with the exact location on the app and website. You can see all transaction information released by the government since 2006.
● “I heard they are using it for cyber forestry”
If you’ve ever wondered “how much would a small building like that cost” while passing by a building in a big city, you can now find out just by opening an app. For example, a small building (land area 105㎡, floor area 728㎡) located in a general commercial area with 1 basement level and 7 floors above ground near Gwanghwamun intersection in Jongno-gu, Seoul was sold for 7.3 billion won in May of last year. In addition to the price, you can see various related information at a glance, such as the building status, which includes information on how each floor of the building is used. Recently, in collaboration with another startup, it has also combined a function that provides a design service on how to efficiently build a new building if it were to be torn down and rebuilt.
In real estate, the on-site inspection is considered important. This is especially true for buildings, land, commercial buildings, and factories that are not standardized properties like apartments. Using Disco’s service, you can see the property as if you were there. “I’ve heard that many real estate agents open our app or website and show street views while explaining the land, building, apartment, or single-family home to customers and then visit the actual site,” said CEO Bae. Convenience has also been improved by combining real estate information with road view information taken of the actual street so that transaction information or listing information for multi-family buildings is displayed directly on photos of the property.
![Nationwide land transaction information is pouring in… “Check out the land prices in your hometown during Chuseok”[허진석의 톡톡 스타트업]](https://dimg.donga.com/wps/NEWS/IMAGE/2024/09/14/130047881.1.jpg "Nationwide land transaction information is pouring in… “Check out the land prices in your hometown during Chuseok”[허진석의 톡톡 스타트업]")
For the disco service, various databases (DBs) are used, including the government’s actual transaction price information, serial cadastral maps, land use plans, individual housing prices, apartment prices, legal districts, court auctions, building-by-building ledgers, individual public notice prices, commercial establishment information, and building layouts.
● Land-building-factory transactions made as convenient as apartments
Disco has been making a small amount of profit every month since this year. “We are focusing on collaboration with real estate agents who specialize in land, buildings, and factories,” said CEO Bae. “We are not accepting all real estate agents as members, but rather accepting a limited number of them by region to expand our contact points with them.” This is because of the realization that in products like real estate, where consumers spend a lot of time and effort searching for information and making choices when making a purchase, the role of the distribution and brokering institutions and people is important. CEO Bae said, “That does not mean that we operate in an exclusive and closed manner,” and “In areas where there are many members waiting in line, we gradually increase the number of members after the period promised to existing members.”
Currently, the main source of income is the income from members, but various businesses are being integrated into the platform in various ways. We started a business that collaborates with franchise companies to find stores all over the country where franchise stores can be opened and match them with store owners. There is also a business that introduces building management experts, tax accountants, and accountants. As the work of certified real estate agents who are members increases, Disco is also increasing its income.
Mr. Bae seemed proud of making it easy for people to understand land and building prices. He said, “A situation where real estate prices are hidden or suddenly fluctuate is not good for sellers, buyers, or even brokers,” and “Disco’s goal is to make transactions for land, buildings, stores, warehouses, and factories as transparent and convenient as apartments.”
2024-09-14 11:31:28