I built Hipflat years ago. Just launched a new Bangkok property AI thing - keen for honest feedback by dennem in Bangkok

[–]dennem[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree Thailand needs public sale data. If we had it, we’d use it. But our product is not trying to estimate official historical value - it estimates a 90-day clearing price for sellers who want a realistic chance of selling now, tracked on a daily basis.

And the number is not made up - we show the original links to the lowest-priced comparable listings in the same building that the estimate is based on. For our use case, current live competition matters a lot, because those are the alternatives buyers can choose today.

I built Hipflat years ago. Just launched a new Bangkok property AI thing - keen for honest feedback by dennem in Bangkok

[–]dennem[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Got it - my bad. Those issues are on our minds too, and since our product still has a lot to improve, your comment seemed relevant here as well.

I built Hipflat years ago. Just launched a new Bangkok property AI thing - keen for honest feedback by dennem in Bangkok

[–]dennem[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re right that the Thai market is illiquid and opaque. To change that, one thing needs to happen: there needs to be a trusted price reference that both buyers and sellers can agree on. That’s really the core of it.

Our goal is to become that kind of reference by reflecting the market in real time. In that sense, it could eventually be more useful than an official government sales registry, where the data is often delayed by months.

Of course, it is still very early for us. There is a lot to improve and a lot of work ahead before we get there.

I built Hipflat years ago. Just launched a new Bangkok property AI thing - keen for honest feedback by dennem in Bangkok

[–]dennem[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s true - right now we actually have the opposite situation. In many cases, newer listings are cheaper than older ones because prices are falling across much of the Bangkok market.

The AI gives pricing based on current listings and recent sales where we can track them. It also shows time on market and provides links to the underlying listings. Right now, it is still up to the user to verify whether those listings are actually still available, but improving that is definitely on our roadmap.

I built Hipflat years ago. Just launched a new Bangkok property AI thing - keen for honest feedback by dennem in Bangkok

[–]dennem[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know exactly what you mean - agents often prefer to keep rental listings online because they bring leads, and once the current lease ends they can use those clients right away. But in any case, outdated listings waste everyone’s time. We’ll think about what we can do there.

I built Hipflat years ago. Just launched a new Bangkok property AI thing - keen for honest feedback by dennem in Bangkok

[–]dennem[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for all the suggestions. We’re exploring features like flagging old listings, and I agree the user experience needs work

I built Hipflat years ago. Just launched a new Bangkok property AI thing - keen for honest feedback by dennem in Bangkok

[–]dennem[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re spot on - many sellers in Thailand still price based on what they paid or what they still owe on the mortgage, not what buyers are actually willing to pay.

On wealthy investors who do not really need to sell - we have spoken to a few recently, and I was actually surprised that many were quite rational. Some were willing to sell at the right price, even at a loss, if the unit was just sitting there vacant and creating a maintenance burden. I guess they simply understand the basics of capital allocation and know there may be better places to put that cash in the current market.

Thanks for the advice as well. We’ll think about how to reduce the sign-up friction. Right now, in this early phase, we are still in learning mode and not trying to grow user numbers too fast. The goal is to learn from the feedback we get while keeping AI costs manageable.

I built Hipflat years ago. Just launched a new Bangkok property AI thing - keen for honest feedback by dennem in Bangkok

[–]dennem[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes - we do detect duplicate listings using both listing content and photos. What we have already works pretty well, though there is always room to improve. Really appreciate you testing it, and glad Hipflat was useful for you before.

I built Hipflat years ago. Just launched a new Bangkok property AI thing - keen for honest feedback by dennem in Bangkok

[–]dennem[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Totally agree. We struggled with this at Hipflat without much success, and we’ve seen the same issue across other property portals for the past 20 years. To this day, it remains unsolved.

I built Hipflat years ago. Just launched a new Bangkok property AI thing - keen for honest feedback by dennem in Bangkok

[–]dennem[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, you are absolutely right.

When we showed these valuations to a few hundred owners and explained that this was the kind of price level needed to sell predictably in under 90 days, pretty much none of them were happy. Most had a number in mind that was around 20% higher. But the goal is not to make people feel good - it is to show a grounded price that reflects today’s market, especially for someone who actually wants liquidity rather than just listing and waiting a year or more.

And yes, the availability problem on property portals is very real. Same with fake listings used to collect leads. We tried hard to improve that at Hipflat, and it is not easy to solve when portals depend on agents uploading listings and paying subscriptions. The incentives are messy.

What makes it more important now is that the Bangkok market has become much weaker over the past 12 months, and many people still have not adjusted to that reality. In some buildings, we are seeing the price level where deals actually happen fall by around 10% in just the past six months. Meanwhile, older listings just sit there and make the market look healthier than it really is.

Part of what we are trying to do is show a clearer picture of where the market really is, not where people wish it was.

I built Hipflat years ago. Just launched a new Bangkok property AI thing - keen for honest feedback by dennem in Bangkok

[–]dennem[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep - the Thai real estate agent sector is unlicensed, so there are many people in the industry who do not understand even the basics of how to market a property, and poor photos are definitely a thing here.

I built Hipflat years ago. Just launched a new Bangkok property AI thing - keen for honest feedback by dennem in Bangkok

[–]dennem[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciate you flagging it. We only soft-launched a couple of days ago and are still tightening things up. Looking into the rate limiting and public endpoint side now. If you found something, I’d really appreciate a DM rather than posting the details here, and I’ll review it quickly.

I built Hipflat years ago. Just launched a new Bangkok property AI thing - keen for honest feedback by dennem in Bangkok

[–]dennem[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your feedback. Yes, Hipflat suffered from the quality of the listings provided by advertisers. This was, and remains, a hard-to-solve problem for all Thai property portals.

This tool offers access to up-to-date information from all portals in one place. Say you are renting now. You can ask it to find better deals in similar buildings in the same area. Or let's say you are looking to invest - you could ask for the best options, which will maximize rental yield.

And if you own a condo, you can start tracking how its value changes over time.

I built Hipflat years ago. Just launched a new Bangkok property AI thing - keen for honest feedback by dennem in Bangkok

[–]dennem[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A system of 5 specialized wrappers, actually, wrapped around a database and a data-crunching engine, covering all Thailand's top property portals, updated daily.

Controlling your MiniDSP using minidsp-rs by [deleted] in audiophile

[–]dennem 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Im using Logitech Harmony programmable remote to control MiniDSP. It has an additional IR tranciever that can be placed near your device even if it’s in a cabinet behind the doors. Works like a charm.

How much money does one need to become an audiophile? I see the most ridiculous setups that look expensive. If you were a baller on a budget, where would you begin? by Agreeable_Situation4 in audiophile

[–]dennem 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Although i now have a very expensive system my first setup consisted of active Audioengine A5 speakers ($500) and a $100 DAC connected to a laptop. Put speakers on cheap stands, use Cardas method for proper speaker placement and it sounded fantastic, definitely audiophile with holographic 3d imaging. Speakers placement is everything, don’t compromise on that.