Employing some 700 real estate experts, Kiinteistömaailma is Finland's largest real estate agency in terms of number of sales. Each month, 350,000–400,000 visitors to the Kiinteistömaailma.fi website view 8,000 or so homes.

The online service, built with Wakeone in 2014, was revamped in 2019 to reflect the brand change. Experiencing a full update, the new online service has been implemented with mobile users particularly in mind, because almost 80% of users access the site with smartphones and tablets. Not only does the website serve customers looking for a real estate agent, but it is also the third-biggest housing portal in Finland.

Harmony between a great visual look and excellent usability

The Wake platform enabled the development of a visually impressive and reliable service. Wakeone has also been praised for its ability to deliver both a solid technical performance, and great look and feel.

"In many cases, technical and graphical solutions must be ordered from two different companies, or if obtained from one place, one of two aspects will not quite meet the quality requirements. But with Wakeone, there was no need for compromises as the website not only looks good but is also technically excellent", says Rikhard Sjöberg, Kiinteistömaailma's Development Manager of Digital Services.

Implementation with everyone around the same desk not only has considerably synergy benefits, but also has a reassuring effect on the customer.

"It is important to me that we did not need a coordinator to communicate between the two parties in a project", says Rikhard Sjöberg.

Rapidly growing requirements

The need to revamp the online service arose rather quickly. In 2013, the amount of mobile users in Kiinteistömaailma online service was 8 percent of cases, while the 50 percent milestone was reached in 2018. The current figures indicate a very sudden change.

The massive increase in presentation videos also places high demands on online services.

"We launched video presentations in 2015, and the resulting growth in them has been stunning. Whether it's about watching videos of homes, searching for information or sending a message, everything must also work optimally with a smartphone", says Rikhard Sjöberg.

In addition to pictures, videos and other information about the homes sold, the online service contains a huge amount of other useful information. You can easily browse details by using zip codes, for example, and a customer looking for an estate agent for their home can read about the estate agents' sales history, customer feedback and recommendation percentages.

Below the surface, the Wake platform is integrated with Kiinteistömaailma's real estate management system.

"The fact that we operate in a highly regulated field of business means that every piece of information of the apartment listings we publish online must stay up to speed. Knowing how well the Wake platform performs I'm not having any sleepless nights", says Rikhard Sjöberg.

The new look, feel and updated functions have increased the number of contacts in particular. Ease of use on mobile devices has been warmly welcomed.

"Usability has been praised by all users, consumers and estate agents alike."

www.kiinteistomaailma.fi