What is it?

Updater, (www.Updater.com), is one of the few new real estate startups that takes real world client issues into consideration when releasing a product. While walking through the halls of “Startup Alley” at Inman New York this year, I was amazed at the simple applicability of this program and how it can not only provide this usable service to your clients, but successfully brands the real estate professional.

Born out of the frustration of moving, David Greenberg, Updater’s CEO and former New York Attorney, set out to create a single website that would take care of updating your address with utilities, magazines and even the DMV. The company was fine-tuned through the NAR REACH incubator program and is now open for business to both real estate professionals and brokers alike.

How it Works

The beauty of Updater is that it does one thing really well… it updates your new address across all platforms. From safely filing your change of address with the U.S. Postal Service to getting the best deals on cable and utilities at your new place, Updater lets you complete tasks that used to take hours with just a few clicks.

Many times, clients are so completely wrapped up in the process, they tend to forget things like address changes and the updating of important records. Even more often, agents are racking their brains to create a memorable customer experiences that extends beyond the home search. This is where I believe that Updater.com excels in what it delivers.

Real Estate professionals have the ability to purchase an “enterprise” platform that allows them to create individual links for their clients to take advantage of the service at no charge. Just log into your Updater account, enter your clients’ email address and let Updater do the rest.

After filling out a secure and simple form on the Updater website, clients are prompted through as many, (or few), steps as they would like to complete including:

• Securely file your change of address form with the USPS.
• Update your important accounts including banks, subscriptions and more.
• Setup cable, Internet and other utilities (where available).
• Update voter registration, vehicles and other government services.
• Email or socially share change of address notes to your friends and family.
• Access money saving offers and shop for best rates of services.

By using a personal phone to verify their identity, Updater allows them to update services and safely and securely. Best of all, their program saves countless hours of individual filing and standing in line at places such as your local DMV.

Part of the overall experience is their “moving concierge” who serves as your live resource for setting up appointments, cancelling or transferring services and even helps to evaluate least costly options. Your concierge will even help you schedule installations and cancel previous providers.

By providing a simple and cost effective value add for agents to send to their client, Updater provides top-of-mind awareness for the agent while providing a positive experience that extends beyond the transaction.

The Good:

As mentioned above, Updater does their core offering better than anyone else in the space and after evolving within the NAR incubator program, they actually KNOW real estate. It’s cost effective, simple to use and something that will only add to the experience of working with you. Updater has also created an API for integration with other services, can take a bulk upload of contacts from a brokerage and is still small, (and hungry), enough to evolve with client needs.

The Bad:

Where there isn’t really any “bad” regarding Updater, other than the fact that they’re currently only accepting “wait list” sign ups for their real estate product. They are currently signing up new users to their enterprise product as quickly as possible, but want to ensure a “white glove experience” which I can totally respect. Also, the services Updater can work with ARE dependent on your location. Some areas allow you to update utilities online where some do not. Also some of the features I would love to see are:

The Bottom Line:

Updater provides a great solution to one of the many headaches involved in the moving process and you, the real estate professional, are able to provide this to your clients in a cost effective and personalized manner. It provides a great way to stand out from the competition, gives your clients something to talk about and solidifies an awesome experience.

Tech Specs:

• Web based so works with any system
• To sign up https://signup.updater.com

Pricing: https://www.updater.com/pricing

• Basic Mail Forwarding: FREE
• Updater Premium for end clients: $9.95/household
• Updater for Real Estate Professionals: $99/year (individual account)
• Updater for Brokerages: Call for pricing (dependent on license count)