Real estate tech firm Tribus is integrating Planwise, a consumer-focused financial planning tool that helps homebuyers evaluate the affordability of listings they find online, into websites that Tribus builds for brokers and agents.
When visiting the new Tribus sites, consumers who have set up a free Planwise account by inputting their income, spending and debts can click on an “Affordability” button on listing detail pages to see how buying a particular property would fit into their financial goals.
Launched in 2011, Planwise helps consumers visualize the financial parameters around a big purchase like a home. The company is participating in the National Association of Realtors’ tech accelerator program REach, and another incubator run by financial management software firm Yodlee.
“Planwise offers our real estate broker and agent clients an opportunity to connect with potential clients in a unique and different way,” said Tribus CEO Eric Stegemann in a statement. Integrating Planwise into Tribus websites will help brokers and agents build trust over the long run, and further solidify relationships with clients.
It’s the first large-scale rollout of the Planwise platform, Planwise founder and CEO Vincent Turner told Inman News.
All Tribus’ broker and agent sites will incorporate Planwise, said Rachel Rusnak, director of marketing at St. Louis-based Tribus. The websites of 4,000 brokers and agents who are existing Tribus clients will be updated with the tool in the next 30 days, she said.
All of the websites Tribus builds for its real estate agent clients going forward will come preloaded with the Planwise platform. By providing access to Planwise through agents’ websites, they remain connected to the agent.
Screen shot of a sample Planwise-integrated Tribus agent website.
Brokers and agents will be notified when a consumer checks the affordability of a home using Planwise on their site. In order to see the contact details that consumers provide to Planwise, agents must purchase a subscription plan from Planwise for $99 per year.
Consumers’ financial information remains private. “We don’t ever share financial details that consumers provide, to anyone,” Turner said. “Not even we see it.”
Real estate pros who subscribe to Planwise also get features that come with the agent-focused product it rolled out in August. Those features include the ability to brand the tool, place a direct-call button in it, and share a branded version of Planwise via email, social media and other platforms. Agents in the Berkeley, Calif., office of Better Homes and Gardens Mason-McDuffie are currently piloting the agent tool.
“We’re enabling agents to empower consumers to get self-service financial insight without leaving their side,” Turner said.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to note that the Planwise upgrade gives agents and brokers the contact info of the consumers who signed up with the platform, not their financial info as a previous version of this story incorrectly stated.
