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10 Things You Didn't Know about Property Shark

Property Shark is one of the numerous real estate websites that can be found out there. However, it is interesting in that it isn't meant to cater to the full range of people with a stake in the real estate market. Instead, it is focused on the real estate market in particular regions, thus making it very useful for people who share one or more of its focuses. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Property Shark:

1. Founded in 2002

Property Shark was founded in 2002 by a computer programmer named Matthew Haines who had finished renovating a five-family brownstone in Harlem. For those who are unfamiliar with that particular term, a brownstone can refer to both brown Triassic-Jurassic sandstone and a townhouse that is clad in either it or something similar to it.

2. Meant to Make It Easier for the Founder to Rent Out His Properties

Amusingly, Haines founded Property Shark for the purpose of making it easier to rent out his properties. In short, he realized that he needed to make the neighborhood more appealing in order to make his property more valuable. As a result, Haines set out to create a website that would make people more comfortable with buying properties in Harlem.

3. Launched on New Year's Day

It took some time before Haines could complete the website that would become Property Shark. To be exact, he didn't launch the website until New Year's Day in 2003, which followed some last-minute polishing on New Year's Eve in 2002.

4. Started Out with a Very Different Name

In those times, Property Shark wasn't called Property Shark. Instead, the website was first launched under the name of MatthewHaines.com. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't too long before this particular name was replaced, thus resulting in what was called NYCpropertyresearch.com.

5. Became More Rounded-Out Over Time

Haines had to conduct a fair amount of research to get the first version of what would become Property Shark off of the ground. Naturally, the website has become more rounded-out over time, which has been made possible by improved access to both public and proprietary sources of relevant information.

6. Got Its First Mention in New York Times in 2003

It wasn't too long before Property Shark managed to get its first mention in the New York Times. After all, this happened in 2003, which was when the website first introduced foreclosure listings.

7. Has Been Bought Out By Yardi Systems

Property Shark has been a part of Yardi Systems for some time, seeing as how the purchase happened in 2010. At the time, Yardi Systems made the purchase because it wanted to incorporate some of Property Shark's data into its own real estate software. However, it also had plans for expanding Property Shark's operations to cover the whole of the United States.

8. Not Limited to New York City

Given that Property Shark started out with a focus on Harlem, it should come as no surprise to learn that New York City became its initial field of focus. However, the website is no longer limited to said city, meaning that it can prove useful for people who aren't interested in that particular region as well.

9. Still Limited to Major Markets

With that said, Property Shark is still very much limited in the sense that it focuses on major markets in the United States. New York City would be one, but other obvious examples range from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area. It isn't impossible that Property Shark will continue to expand in the time to come to cover more and more regions, but for the time being, this is it.

10. Has a Paid Option

Like a lot of similar websites, Property Shark comes with both a basic option and a premium option. The first is meant to make people more interested in its services, while the second is meant to provide them with a wider, more powerful selection of services in exchange for payment. After all, Property Shark can't keep on operating unless it has revenues coming in, with this being one particular source.

Garrett Parker

Written by Garrett Parker

Garrett by trade is a personal finance freelance writer and journalist. With over 10 years experience he's covered businesses, CEOs, and investments. However he does like to take on other topics involving some of his personal interests like automobiles, future technologies, and anything else that could change the world.

Read more posts by Garrett Parker

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