Relive: simplifying the real estate journey
A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure to talk with Sérgio Pinto Ferrás, co-founder of Relive, a portuguese startup that wants to simplify the realestate day and be a Relive for agents and homes buyers.
But how did it all start? While working at BiG Sérgio got in touch with the founder of Forall Phones, José Costa Rodrigues. The two started talking about real estate, exploring business opportunities to bring some fresh air to the industry.
Real estate agencies aren’t really digitized, agents need to login in 4 to 5 websites in order to work: one for videos, one to register contracts, one to access clients’ information and so on.
José and Sérgio first tried to simplify the agents’ life in the traditional way, buying a Remax franchise, opening an agency and making processes as simple as possible. But they encountered some difficulties, as Sérgio told me: “The fact is for good or for bad they(Remax franchises) have their own systems, they have their own brand and they have a model to which you must obey”.
So Sérgio and José took an alternative way, they sold the franchise and built their own platform to give agents one place to find all the relevant information they needed to work, Relive was born.
Problem and solution
Real estate agents have a hard time doing their job, they struggle to follow up with their clients and remember their needs, they can’t easily check properties’ values and might end up forgetting important information. For Sérgio and José the solution is simple: one login, one password and one platform. Agents can access all the information they might need with few clicks. But this is not all, Relive centralizes marketing and training making their knowledge base way more accessible and allowing anyone to start working as a real estate agent without the need to open a physical agency. This model is more cost efficient and allows Relive to pay commissions between 4% and 6.5% of the property selling price.
Market size and validation
The market in Portugal seems quite big, if not gigantic. As Sérgio told me, the main Remax agencies owner in Portugal, who owns 20 out of the 300 Remax agencies, made €30M in commission revenue last year. Even assuming these 20 agencies owner account for 10% of Remax revenue in Portugal, and considering Remax has around a 15% market share that would account to a market size €2B.
But big markets are worthless if you don’t manage to find the product/market fit. To do that, Sérgio and José built a POC platform using several google sheets and Calendly’s api to allow customers to book home visits.
After months of good growth, in January 2021 they launched a proper platform to serve even better their agents and customers. Relive currently has around 20 agents and 40 properties listed. What remains to be seen is how the launch of the new platform will impact growth.
Business model
Relive has 2 revenue streams: commissions on sales and a monthly fee. Commissions on properties’ sales are the main revenue driver. Relive charges 5% of the selling price to the client and gives the agent up to 3.25%. The commission paid to the agents depends on the number of sales completed. On the first 5 sales agents receive 2.5% and on the following ones 3.25%. Apart from that, agents have to pay a fee to join Relive and a monthly subscription.
Competition and unfair advantage
The market is really fragmented, with several traditional players like Remax and new entrants, like Casavo. Relive takes a more traditional approach compared to other startups, this makes them a potential partner to real estate agencies rather than just a substitute. Relive also has in my view an unfair advantage, two amazing founders, with complementary skills that make them the perfect duo for the mission. José has an incredible track record, a strong entrepreneurial talent and is a superb executor having founded and sold Forall Phones, which he started a few years back by selling a used phone online. On the other hand Sérgio has a degree in Aerospace Engineering, a master in Finance and experience in an investment bank. But this is not all, Sérgio developed the platform with the help of other team members, showcasing strong technical skills.
Conclusion
A good idea, a big market which desperately needs to be more digital and two skilled and complementary founders. Relive is not actively looking for funding, but they might consider an investment that would allow it to expand in new markets. Bottom line, Relive is definitely a Portuguese startup to keep an eye on, showcasing once more the growing startup scene in the country.
