Condopedia is a delightful new twist on the Wiki formula, combining real estate savvy with Internet community.
Nowadays, there are wikis for just about everything, From television series to video games, from flash cartoons to parody sites, just about every niche has found representation in the wiki model, and now, condominiums have found their place.
Operating under the motto “Every building tells a story,” Condopedia combines real estate savvy and the wiki model for a completely new twist on the condominium landscape, creating a hybrid that is so natural that, upon browsing the site, one is apt to ask, “Why didn’t I think of this?!”
Condopedia – Breaking Down the Condominium
The structure of Condopedia will hardly surprise anyone who has visited Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that is by far the most prominent wiki on the Internet. With each of its pages focusing on a specific condominium in a specific city, Condopedia breaks down the various aspects of the building into several easy to follow categories.
For instance, on the page for the famous Marina City condominiums in Chicago, Condopedia goes into detail on the background of the building, its location, the history of its construction, its layout and features, its floor plans, amenities, bylaws, sustainability features and even some trivia (for instance, did you know Marina City was the first building in the U.S. to be constructed with tower cranes?). And at the bottom of the page, there is a discussion option and ratings system.
In short, the page provides just about everything condo shoppers may desire to know about the building prior to a visit.
The Future of Condopedia
Condopedia is currently small, with only New York City, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Chicago represented on the site. But Laurence Putnam, the real estate agent who founded the site, has high hopes for what it can do for the nation’s condo markets, particularly with its ratings system.
“Consumers are able to seek out reviews before making just about every major purchase — except when it comes to real estate, one of the most significant transactions in one’s lifetime,” Putnam said in a statement. “Condopedia.com’s user-sourced rating system helps potential buyers make a more educated decision when comparing properties.”
It’ll be interesting to see how Condopedia develops, and if it has any apparent effects on the nation’s largest condo markets.