SaleFish: Point of sale software a hit with new home buyers

SaleFish, a cloud-based point-of-sale real estate software solution, has proven to be a hit with real estate developers, new home builders, salespeople and clients.

The software is being used to provide up-to-date information about the building lots and home design options in new developments.


Yvonne Dick, REMonline.com (Original article)

September 21, 2018


Andrea DeGasperis-Ronco, president of Opus Homes, uses SaleFish in several developments in the Greater Toronto Area. “Potential buyers of all ages use the kiosk and figure it out with little guidance,” she says. “For example, they can choose a lot first and find out which homes fit on it, or vice versa. They can experiment with different homes on various lots and their availability options. They can look up lot premiums, square footages, prices…just about anything needed to help make an informed purchasing decision.”

The design firm RN in Vaughan, Ont., founded by Rob Nicolucci, is where SaleFish software began. Canadian residential designers Nicolucci and Rick Haws created the concept in 2006. Their mission was to create an easier-to-use point-of-sale software system. From planning, building, buying or selling a home, the team wanted to make the process easier and provide more up-to-date information.

The software can also be used online by customers and sales reps prior to appointments with at the builder’s presentation centre. They can browse listings and receive accurate and timely information, gaining details and pricing of individual properties or housing communities after a first meeting or before a showing. It is especially useful for projects involving multiple types of dwelling units. The software can also confirm that home models and lots are in accordance with zoning bylaws and architectural requirements.

Using their proprietary coding and technology allows SaleFish to give buyers and builders live quotes and other information. For example, condo builders can show prospective owners which units are still available and the features of those units.

Price changes, site details, plans and more are done “live” between the builder/designer or seller. It can also be used on iPads and LED touch-display devices – such as in showrooms or on-site in a model home.

SaleFish also offers an ActiveMatrix management console. This offers developers control over a project or portfolio of properties. Software tools help with the pricing of building calculations as well as individual units. Pricing adjustments can be made based on floor, unit, size, orientation and other criteria decided by the builder.

Potential buyers can search condos by size, floorplan and other factors that may be of interest to them. Viewing a map with all available units highlighted, buyers can see exactly where in a building or complex they would be living in relation to other buildings, units and amenities.

Clients pay a per lot or per suite fee and monthly fees to use the software.

Early Origins of SaleFish — It was a classic, problem-solution start up…

SaleFish Software was born more than 15 years ago in the conference room of RN Design, in Toronto, Canada. Rob Nicolocci started doing design work for residential real estate developers back in 1991, and over the years he kept hearing the same complaint from his clients…

Rob would deliver all the renderings and floorplans for a subdivision or condo project, but the developers never had a way to organize those and sync them up with the available lots, restrictions, options, and other variables. Pre-siting was a mess.

Keep in mind, the residential real estate market at that time, was very hot. The sales offices were jam-packed and the sales managers had no way to keep track of anything. There was tons of paperwork and mass confusion… deals were getting lost in the shuffle.

Rob and Rick Haws, current SaleFish CEO, both had some experience with software development, and thought there might be an opportunity in that mayhem… a chance to devise some sort of programmable fix for that problem.

They started talking with the RN Design clients to learn about their frustrations with the sales process, with the existing tools and with technology in general. It turned out to be a much bigger issue than they ever imagined.

Talk about a can of worms. The more they dug, the more problems they exposed that needed fixing.

Start ups can be messy, especially when you’re trying to keep your day jobs, like Rob and Rick were. Their initial inclination was to solve everything, all at once. But the problem was just too complex… too nuanced. The more they worked on it, the bigger it got.

But when it comes to design and technology, you have to keep things simple.

They always refer back to that famous Einstein quote: “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

So through a process of trial and error, they started weeding out the issues they couldn’t realistically address and honed in on the required elements…

It had to be intuitive, easy to learn and easy to support. So elegance was very important.

As Rick likes to say, “If the software is elegantly designed and programmed, you hardly need any support.”

SaleFish’s Active Matrix System

It had to easily manageable from the back-end, so they developed an “Active Matrix” system that displayed the entire residential real estate project at a glance.

It had to provide comprehensive, real-time data, so salespeople wouldn’t duplicate their efforts or lose a sale.

It had to be user-friendly for prospective buyers, so we built it originally for iPads. Just touch and click.

In 2012 we released the first version of SaleFish Software with considerable success. Our beta testers were our clients at RNDesign, and the feedback they provided was invaluable.

Then it was just, iterate, upgrade and listen. Iterate, upgrade and listen. We’re still doing that today.

The latest iteration of SaleFish real estate technology is  better than ever.

We’re taking all the inventory from our developer clients and we’re putting it online for people to browse, select and purchase. So if you’re a real estate investor looking for new construction that’s sure to have a great ROI, you’ve come to the right place.

Or if you’re dreaming of a new home for your family, and you want an alternative to Zillow or the other online real estate buying options, you’ve come to the right place. 

What can SaleFish do for you?

  • Maximize revenue
  • Reduce costs
  • Mitigate risk
  • Elevate customer experience

SaleFish streamlines every step of the real estate purchasing process. Within minutes, and with minimal staff assistance, a client can become a homeowner.

Through our software, users can select lots, homes, and add ons, move quickly through automatically generated paperwork, import their required ID, and electronically sign all documents. For example, at a sales office or opening event, using only a tablet, a prospective buyer could complete nearly every stage of the purchasing process instantly on site. 

Information is updated in real-time through our software, meaning that sales teams are all instantly updated on which properties have sold. This process eliminates any confusion, including double selling a home, which could lead to disappointment and frustration for customers.

Using SaleFish, buyers and sellers across the world can stay connected – all closing documents, signatures, and transactions can be completed from anywhere globally. 

Through our software, architectural restrictions are also fully automated, meaning any streetscape designs or neighbourhood pre-sets are automatically figured into purchases.

SaleFish reduces costs by automating a process that used to require dozens of staff and hours of work. The very real risk of human error when creating and processing documents is also removed – no more risk of a simple typo derailing an entire purchase.

Sales teams love SaleFish as well: our software eliminates complicated paperwork tasks and provides a quick and simple experience for buyers. An easier process translates to happier customers and better sales. 

Most importantly, SaleFish is adaptable – we can easily integrate into your existing sales software, or provide a full suite of sales options. Our mission is to provide you and your team with exactly what you need.

To learn more about how SaleFish could work for you, request a demo today.

The First Blog: Take 3… ACTION!

I’ve considered writing a blog in the past. I even started a couple of times but never continued. I didn’t feel I had anything interesting to say, so it was forced, inauthentic, painful to write, and most surely painful to read.

Recently, though, I’ve come to appreciate where I am and how I got here. I’m formally trained in architecture. It’s amazing to me how similar the design of software is to buildings when it comes to attention to detail, form and function. It’s an art as much as it’s a technical skill. I’ve also come to take pride in the fact that we’re creating something very special, something that’s one-of-a-kind. This chapter of my life has allowed me to meet and work with many exceptional people and it’s a privilege to do so. 

My inaugural blog would be missing something significant if I didn’t mention my friend, business partner and SaleFish co-founder Rob Nicolucci. We’ve worked together for many years and we’re proof that yin and yang is a thing. Working together has been and continues to be a great time!

To get to know SaleFish will be to get to know Rob and me, our staff, our clients and the challenges that we face. For people who know me, they’ll be shocked to learn that this blog won’t be at all planned out or pre-canned. 

There will likely be TV and movie references (like the title), it won’t be about the state of the industry at large (I think there’s enough of that), the blogs will be short (sometimes), they won’t be vanilla, they may be polite and apologetic from time to time (because we’re Canadian after all) and they’ll be raw and unedited. I think they’ll be insightful, and I hope they’ll get easier to write (one down). 

This blog will be dedicated to the life and times of the people and things that have touched SaleFish. Please stay tuned and follow us on FacebookInstagramTwitter or LinkedIn to get the latest blog notifications.

If you have questions about this blog or anything else, please email me at rick@SaleFishSoftware.com.

Your Secret Weapon on Opening Weekend – and Every Day

Are You a Victim of These Common Inefficiencies?

Imagine that it’s opening weekend. The grand opening. Finally. After months of planning and hard work, your real estate development is ready to open its doors. You watch the line-up of buyers and investors waiting at the door. They have brochures in hand and are glancing at their smartphones. Finally the smiling sales agents pull open the heavy front doors, and the crowd rushes in. Everyone makes a beeline for the site plan display. Within a few seconds, dozens of people are pointing at the units they want and pulling sales agents aside. There’s a buzz throughout the sales centre, a buzz of audible excitement.

It’s mayhem. A happy mayhem – exactly what you planned and hoped for. Everyone wants to buy a new home at this project. The sales are coming in hot. But do you have the technology to make a busy opening event a great experience for everyone involved? Will buyers come away smiling and satisfied? Will the sales agents meet the buyers’ exacting demands? Will your company make as many sales as the market allows?

Or will you get tripped up by inefficiencies, costly errors, and the inability to close as many deals as you want to?

If you’ve dreamed of a more streamlined sales process, SaleFish is the solution. Our sales management software allows you to close deals in a way so smooth, your boss won’t believe it.

As a real estate vet, you already know the glitches and challenges of selling real estate:

  • Having all of the pertinent details at hand for a specific unit or home can be hard to do. Think siting, architectural controls, add-ons, what’s sold vs. available and more.
  • Purchase agreements are slow and tedious to fill out – not to mention, easy to make typos and mistakes on.
  • Details often get mixed up on the floor, creating frustrations for both buyers and sales agents

With SaleFish software, the sales process is completely streamlined: – Let buyers select lots, homes and add-ons on their own, without needing a sales agent to figure out all the details.

  • Move through the sales process smoothly and improve efficiency by 75% with fully-automated documents and paperwork production.
  • Centralize all your closing documents and capture electronic signatures.
  • Change pricing, availability, documentation, and workflow from any device.
  • Access real-time sales data for fast, accurate oversight of all your sales processes with full analytics and metrics.
  • Integrate SaleFish with your CRM or ERP software for seamless data transition.
  • Over 50 Billion in sales and counting, close more deals faster than ever with SaleFish, anywhere in the world.

You want to close more deals, have happy buyers and streamline the sales process. SaleFish is your secret weapon to make it happen.

To learn more about how SaleFish could work for you, contact us today for a demo. And make sure to follow us on InstagramFacebookTwitter and LinkedIn for more news and tips.

FAQ – What’s in a Name?

One of the questions we get asked most frequently is how we came up with the name SaleFish and what it means.

I wish I could say that there’s some deep-rooted meaning, some grand historical significance, or that SaleFish is the long lost ancient god of real estate sales, but alas none of this is true. 

The name came about as a part of an elaborate rebranding exercise. SaleFish was one of the three best name options that were chosen to be printed and pasted onto foam core boards and ceremoniously revealed to Rob and I by our marketing agency. To be honest, I’ve never understood why three is the magic number of things that get presented, but it’s a marketing thing. I’ll have to ask our friends at COOLAID Studios. However, I suspect the answer is that too much choice is overwhelming, and less than three just isn’t enough choice.

Of course we had to know, so we asked, “What does it mean?” We waited with anticipation, our minds racing with the impending significance. The answer was dropped on us like a ton of bricks. “It has no meaning, we just liked it!”

So there it was… in a stroke of sheer marketing genius (or maybe they just ran out of time), we were left with something that was both nothing and everything – a blank slate. We were presented with the opportunity to create SaleFish out of nothing. When people ask, I still say it has no meaning, mostly because it’s fun to watch as they struggle with the concept. But in all seriousness, what have we created? And what does SaleFish mean to us? SaleFish is integrity, ingenuity, commitment, contribution and fun. These are our values. This is who we are. 

If you have questions about this blog or other things, please email me at rick@salefishsoftware.com.

How to Streamline Your Sales Process (It’s Easier Than You Think!)

SaleFish Software can transform your business. The software is designed to streamline the new home and condo sales process and to help you sell real estate 24/7 from anywhere in the world.

SaleFish Software is known to be the best in the business. It’s efficient, accurate, trusted, integrated and easy. Want to learn more? Let’s break it down.

Efficient: Improve your sales efficiency by 75%

What if you could cut a 45-minute process down to 5 minutes? With SaleFish Software, you can.

Move through the sales process smoothly and improve efficiency by 75% with a fully-automated work flow. Have the pertinent details for a specific unit or lot, architectural controls, add-ons and sold vs. available automatically available at your fingertips. A sales agent can easily assist buyers when selecting lots, models and add-ons through the carefully streamlined, fully digital sales process.

Accurate: Turn chaos into smooth sailing with a real-time solution

SaleFish’s real-time, live inventory software ensures smooth sailing when it comes to selling new homes. New homes’ siting, architectural controls, add-ons, what’s sold vs. available and more – all of the pertinent details are at hand for a specific unit or home, and they’re all guaranteed to be accurate. Goodbye, human error!

SaleFish Software puts the power in your hands. Make sweeping changes to pricing, lot availability and unit allocation at the press of a button. Make informed decisions with easy access to real-time, up-to-the-minute analytics and sales data so you can have a quick, accurate overview of all your sales processes and never leave money on the table again.

You can also move through the sales process smoothly with fully-automated document and paperwork production. Centralize all your closing documents and capture electronic signatures. Scan purchaser IDs for 100% accuracy of purchaser data. And because all documents within the software are automated, know that they’re guaranteed to be completed with 100% consistency.

Trusted: A name backed by years of experience and billions in sales

With over $55 billion in worldwide real estate transactions to date (and counting exponentially by the day), 100+ glowing testimonials and 15+ years experience, SaleFish is a name you can trust.

SaleFish remains the world leader in real estate sales software, just as it has been for over a decade. SaleFish truly is a trusted global solution. We have clients in North America, Europe, Australia and beyond.

Integrated: Seamless integration with your CRM, ERP and interactive platforms

SaleFish Software integrates smoothly with the construction, builder, operations, property management, customer relationship management and enterprise resource planning tech you already have to make life easier. It also integrates seamlessly with your website!

Sage, Yardi, Builder Lynx, Builder Software Tools, SmartTouch Interactive, Lasso, NEWSTAR Constellation HomeBuilder and so many more – you name the CRM or ERP platform and SaleFish pairs seamlessly to make the entire sales management process a complete and easy journey. Transitioning a prospect to a purchaser and beyond has never been simpler.

Marketing integrations are a breeze, too. SaleFish Software integrates smoothly and easily with NEEZO Studios’ and Pureblink’s – and others’ – 3D animation (VR/AR) to give customers an interactive experience.

SaleFish can also power builders’ and developers’ websites, creating a consistent experience from platform to platform and bringing all the power of SaleFish Software to your very own website. Builder websites that are powered by SaleFish Software include Lindvest and Lakeview Homes. No integration is too big or too small!

Have something custom that you would like to integrate? Get in touch!

Easy: Education, training and around-the-clock assistance at your fingertips

SaleFish Software is designed to make the lives of our clients and their customers easy and carefree. After all, our clients’ success is our success! We strive to serve.

SaleFish offers in-person and online demonstrations, education and training, sales team tutorials and around-the-clock assistance.

Learn how SaleFish can work for you. Contact us today to book your free demo! And make sure to follow us on InstagramFacebookTwitter and LinkedIn for more news and tips.

Our Mission Is Simplicity

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler,” is a famous quote that has been attributed to Albert Einstein. It’s generally believed, however, that he never actually said this; in fact, it was paraphrased by an interviewer in 1950.

I won’t delve into the actual wording that Einstein used, but the concept is that the fewest amount of details should be used to solve a problem, excluding everything that doesn’t expedite the process.

I learned this lesson many years ago in my architectural career. I learned that it was better to provide only the bare minimum of details when submitting a site plan or design for approval. Less detail, less for the reviewer to make comments on; also, the reviewer will ask for what they’re missing, all you have to do is provide it and you’re done. No guessing, no muss, no fuss.

We use this same approach when adding features to our software. We provide the basic requirements and we put it in our customers’ hands. They’re not shy about telling us how it could be better, so we do another iteration; we go from having parking, locker and storage, to customized items with an inventory component— problem solved.

I quote the “simple as possible” saying often, as a constant reminder to always strive towards an elegant solution, one that’s as simple as possible at the time, but dynamic enough to expand as requirements change. It’s generally in our nature to over complicate things, so this is not an easy task.

Simplicity is our mission and it’s what we strive for every day.

If you have questions about this blog or other things, please email me at rick@SaleFishSoftware.com

On Our Own Bus

I’m a fan of the shows Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank. They’re essentially the same show with slight differences: business owners try to convince investors (dragons and sharks) to invest in their business. The episodes I like the best are the ones in which the business owners are ‘on their own bus’ (is the way I like to put it), or as the would-be investors say, they are creating their own market segment. These are the riskiest propositions for all involved, but I like these episodes; I can relate to them.

In the beginning everything was simple. The software was simple, the pricing was simple, and the offering was inexpensive. Somewhere along the line the software became big enough, robust enough and expensive enough that everything changed. When this type of thing happens to companies that are on their own bus, the going gets interesting. Now you gotta justify the value, you have to try and figure out what line item on a balance sheet you might fit into when no such product exists—an interesting proposition. If you’re a bit lucky, stubborn as hell, selectively oblivious and surrounded by great people and have great clients, you can push forward and pave the way.

We’ve found that sometimes new practice adoption is driven by the owner, sometimes by sales, other times by marketing or admin and even by the CTO (yes, this has happened). You learn it’s not the position that matters but the particular type of person. The type that wants transparency or efficiency or data to make better decisions or less mistakes or a better customer experience. These types of people have the vision, confidence and influence to affect change.

Now we’re traveling to new countries and meeting with leading companies and thought leaders—and I can confidently say we are still on our own bus.

Being on your own bus means paving the way and pushing forward, standing in the face of no results and continuing to stand there. It’s one idea at a time, one line of code at a time, one feature at a time, that’s how driving the bus is done.

If you have questions about this blog or other things, please email me at rick@SaleFishSoftware.com

Identity Selfies, Security and Online Broker Sales

SaleFish Software is once again proving that they’re the industry leaders and innovators when it comes to real estate transaction software.

Having created the market segment and being the first to incorporate ID scanning and selling online, SaleFish is once again leading the way with identity verification and by providing the highest level of cyber security available on the market today. In addition, they’re launching a new broker application to further expand their software offering.

SaleFish Software is proud to introduce these new features to its software:

Identification Verification

SaleFish Online is integrating with a Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) approved verification software. Now it’s possible to comply with FINTRAC requirements by digital means.

In October of 2019, FINTRAC made provisions for software to be used for the purposes of verifying a person’s identity on behalf of the reporting entities (builders/developers/sales companies). After doing extensive research, SaleFish Software invested in a partnership with a software company that offers end-to-end AI-powered identity verification and authentication. With this new software embedded in SaleFish Online’s application, SaleFish can now validate the front, back and content of a person’s ID and then the person’s face, using facial recognition technology, through the process of taking a selfie. The powerful software can recognize multiple different types of IDs in Canada and also in Australia, Germany and Turkey, supporting SaleFish Software’s initiatives in its expanding markets.

Cyber Security

As a real estate technology firm operating globally, SaleFish Software recognizes that it handles valuable homeowner data daily and it is now able to safeguard the information. SaleFish Software was recently certified by Cyber Essentials Canada, making it the first and only real estate software platform in the world to have achieved this level of cyber security certification.

Cyber Essentials is the most comprehensive annual third-party cyber certification process for business in the world today. Cyber Essentials certification requirements and processes are the global gold standard for auditing any business that handles personal data, with a specific focus on securing all types of data that interact with firewalls, secure configurations, user access controls, patch management and malware protection.

Broker Link

SaleFish Online’s new Broker Link is a valuable new layer that has been added to the software. It will allow new home builders, developers and sales companies to assign suite

numbers or unit specs or lots to a specific broker, multiple brokers or all brokers. Brokers will be able to access SaleFish’s Broker Link for real time pricing and availability. Content will include floor plans, lots, elevations, suite plans and floor plates. The broker will be able to submit a worksheet based on what has been allocated to them. Successful/approved offers will be converted to sales and the sales will be completed using SaleFish’s secure, end-to-end sales platform, including digital signatures for purchasers, witnesses, signing officers and others as required. The entire digital workflow is now as smooth as ever with remote signing capability and digital FINTRAC compliance.

It’s All Possible with SaleFish Online

SaleFish Software has extensive experience with online real estate sales and is the trusted solution for new home builders, condo developers and real estate agents all over the world. SaleFish Online is a proven method of selling homes, and the world has never been more ready to make the transition to selling online.

Want to learn more? Contact us today to book your free demo. And make sure to follow SaleFish Software on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for more news, updates and tips.