Proptech company OJO Labs and climate property risk platform ClimateCheck have launched an exclusive partnership that will place ClimateCheck’s risk assessment reports on listings in OJO Labs’ real estate search portal, OJO Labs announced on Wednesday.
ClimateCheck’s risk assessment scores for climate change data, including temperature risk, flood risk, storm risk and drought risk, will now be fully integrated into listings that are accessible to users on OJO Labs’ search portal, Movoto. As of Wednesday, the data will be available in all 50 states nationwide.
(Disclosure: Cal Inman, the CEO of ClimateCheck is the son of Brad Inman, the founder and chairman of Inman Group. Inman Group is not affiliated with ClimateCheck in any way).
Since climate change risk factors can vary widely from city to city and even home to home, making such data immediately available to homebuyers the first time they look at a listing could help prevent buyers from making a risky decision they’ll regret later.
John Berkowitz | Photo credit: OJO Labs
“At OJO Labs, we’re on a mission to bring unparalleled transparency to buyers, sellers, and owners nationwide, removing barriers to enable more informed, strategic choices about one of life’s biggest investments,” John Berkowitz, CEO and co-founder of OJO Labs, said in a statement.
“We’re thrilled to partner with ClimateCheck, the first company to offer a complete picture of climate risk at the individual property level. With this new knowledge, consumers will know exactly what features to look for in higher-risk areas, and exactly what questions to ask their real estate agents to avoid unforeseen costs and potentially expensive mitigation measures.”
Movoto, which is the fifth-largest real estate search portal, according to OJO Labs, provides a significant amount of additional data for real estate listings compared to some bigger household name search portals.
For instance, Movoto’s listings include neighborhood insights, points of interest, home value and comps, and Airbnb earnings estimates if an owner were to make their property a short-term rental. The new ClimateCheck feature is an additional feather in Movoto’s cap to set the portal apart from others.
The partnership follows a number of real estate search portals adding flood risk data to their listings within the past year or so. In February, Redfin started including flood risk data from First Street Foundation on its portal. Prior to that, realtor.com had started including the data, also via First Street, on listings in August 2020.
On Movoto, users will be able to click a link next to ClimateCheck reports that will redirect users to the CimateCheck website where they can download a detailed report for any listing. Comprehensive reports on ClimateCheck’s website will also include a checklist of measures homeowners can take to mitigate property damage as a result of climate change at the specific property in question.
Cal Inman | Photo credit: LinkedIn
“We want to help every homebuyer, seller, and owner understand how climate change impacts the real estate industry and what we can do about it,” Cal Inman, co-founder of ClimateCheck, said in a statement.
“OJO Labs is the perfect partner to bring our user-friendly insights to as many consumers as possible. The company’s search site, Movoto, provides a comprehensive and customizable assessment of every listing. ClimateCheck data will provide even further clarity for consumers, ensuring they have all the information they need at their fingertips.”