Story by Romi Mahajan for DataHunters
Interview with Clear Capital’s Kenon Chen wherein we discuss the role of data in housing/real estate and the PropTech market.
1. Clear Capital was formed around the idea of smart, usable data. Can you tell us the role of data in the Housing ecosystem?
Like many industries, data is the lifeblood of the Housing ecosystem, which is why it is problematic that it has stayed so paper heavy. The digital mortgage movement and now the digital appraisal movement are absolutely crucial to fully harness data that leads to better decisioning and opportunity.
2. Real Estate is a very important part of the overall economy- is actually a bellwether–and affects peoples’ lives in a profound way. Given that, what are the responsibilities of a data steward/producer/provider in this space?
Two themes that are front and center for us are accuracy and ethical data sourcing. Interestingly enough, these two often go hand in hand. We think a lot about ensuring that data is collected as close to the source as possible, while using technology to increase the consistency and fidelity of the data. Our recent acquisition of CubiCasa, digitized floorplans using a mobile device, affirms our belief that first hand observation of homes should be made available downstream to decision makers. And when we can’t collect the data ourselves, we take great care to ensure that obtained data has the appropriate usage rights and context to reduce risk for our clients.
