A Vancouver-based startup is changing the way realtors and buyers assess condominiums and townhomes, making the process more efficient and transparent.
Eli Report is an online tool powered by artificial intelligence (AI) that scans and summarizes condominium and strata documents, culling important information with speed and accuracy.
Aims to make understanding the health of a building and rules around living easy
“We wanted to help realtors save time on critical issues,” says Eli Report CEO Thomas Beattie. “This type of knowledge, when properly equipped, allows them to improve their negotiating position. It’s delivering value for them.”
Beattie describes it as a “breath of fresh air” from the client’s perspective. “It’s a single snapshot report about any lifestyle restrictions, critical issues and other things you wouldn’t be aware of in a new community.”
The Eli Report first started about six years ago, looking to solve a simple problem: to make understanding the health of a building and rules around living easy. It’s applied to condominiums, townhomes or any buildings or developments where a board issues rules to residents and owners collectively share responsibility for common areas.
A ‘huge time saver’ — strata or condo documents can be ‘fairly long and very convoluted’
“Strata documents are fairly long,” says Greg Zayadi, President of rennie, a company that provides real estate consulting to agents, developers and communities. “Some are very convoluted, with years worth of information basically about the health of a building. If you’re a realtor representing a buyer, that’s very important information to understand when you’re advising someone what they should pay, what they should value and if there’s liability.”
An early adopter, Vancouver-based agent Hani Faraj has been impressed not by just the efficiency of Eli Report, but the accuracy as well.
“It’s a huge time saver,” he says. “When I started using it, I was blown away by how quickly I can pinpoint stuff.” Faraj notes it can cut some reading in half, down from many hours to only a few. “You still have to read, it’s not going to read it for you, but it’s fully transparent. My clients love it. It only adds professionalism to our industry. On our team, every realtor uses it.”
Faraj relayed a story about how a colleague was fined for failing to read a strata document and providing quality support for his client. He also noted he couldn’t think of a moment when the program was wrong.
Accuracy of the report: ‘We’re very confident we are not going to hallucinate’
Beattie cited only one time in six years that a report raised a question; it wasn’t an inaccuracy, just something that wasn’t yet programmed by the team.
Its accuracy is due in part to the fact that Eli Report does not use generative AI — it’s not trying to create or speculate, but instead, extract.
“It’s designed to pull out anything that’s possibly relevant, even if it’s potentially irrelevant,” says Beattie, who notes his team also reviews the results. “We’re very confident we are not going to hallucinate. Everything you see that’s data-driven is manually approved and reviewed by me or my team. We check everything before it goes out.”
May give pause for sellers
Maria Senajova, also out of Vancouver, is another longtime user, citing Eli Report as a tool for efficiency as well as safety. She doesn’t depend on it completely, but it serves as useful information for clients as well as a third set of eyes on the documents.
“It offers a quick snapshot,” she says. “It’s really helpful for clients to start getting engaged.”
Senajova only uses it for her buying clients, as due diligence is on the buyer. The transparency that Eli Report offers, however, may give pause for sellers.
“I can see why sellers or listing agents are a little more reluctant,” she says. “I highly recommend it to buying agents.”
Indeed, Faraj was able to leverage information about an upcoming building assessment in a report to take some money off the sale price for his client.
Zayadi wants to see more agents and boards using Eli Report. “We’re talking about consumer protection,” he says, adding there is value in the insurance world as well, as data aggregation and access to key information could help mitigate costs when determining the health of a building.
For Beattie, it has always been and continues to be about providing all the necessary information for clients when looking to buy a condominium or townhome. “It’s the biggest investment most of us make in our lives,” he says. “Whether it’s a starter home or an investment in our future, I certainly believe it should be easier than it has been.”
