Virtual ease in buying Perth homes

By Andrea Tan

SINGAPOREANS planning to buy or rent a property in Perth need no longer make frequent trips Down Under to view its potential. aussiehome.com, a property portal specialising in Perth properties, enables users to take a virtual 360 degree walkthrough of the properties.

"Asians would find this site very useful -- those planning to buy a property for their children or those who go down for golf and the casinos," says Charlie Gunningham, co-founder and director of aussiehome.com.

The site was started last year by a group of Masters students with some help from a couple of businessmen.

It has an interactive map which uses the Geographic Information Systems (GIS), allowing amenities such as restaurants and schools to pop up when the cursor moves over it.

From only seven agents last December, the site has now signed up over 70 and represent some 1,500 properties in Perth.

"We've done the difficult bit and got it going so the rest won't cost very much more," says Mr Gunningham. "I am convinced this would work especially in cities where you can't move around so well like in Kuala Lumpur or Hongkong."

Despite a slew of property portals which have sprouted recently and with several backed by property heavyweights, he is not daunted by the competition.

"Well, there are many sites in Australia that have roped in listed firms but we have come out of nowhere and dominated."