- Oyssey, an app that allows homebuyers to filter by political parties, is turning heads and attracting accusations of furthering the nation’s political divide.
Political division in the U.S. has rarely been more intense as recent elections, political debates, and social media have ended long-standing friendships and divided once-close families. Now that division is seeping into the real estate world.
A new app will let homebuyers get a sense of the political affiliations of their neighbors before they make an offer on a house. At best, that can prevent you from being the sole home with a yard sign for the other party come election season. At worst, it can further the divide that already exists.
Oyssey, at its heart, is a real estate search tool, like many others on the market. It leverages agents as part of its features, though, letting you look online with your agent and chat, ask questions, and share documents.
Like any real estate app, it has several search filters, but the ones on social and political data stand out.
The data, per screenshots from the app, is sourced from election results, political donations, and affiliations (plus any recent changes).
One of the other filter options looks at the neighborhood’s dog population. Average household income and the ratio of homeowners to renters is also a filter option.
Oyssey is, at present, somewhat limited in its listings. The app, which is in a soft launch, currently only focuses on homes in Florida and New York. It’s a free tool for homebuyers, who will have to be invited to use it by their agents. Those agents will have to pay a monthly subscription fee.