See also the original story in Japanese.

Japanese startup 30min (pronounced as ‘san zero minutes’) has introduced gourmet-focused information services including a new 30min mobile app and 30min ramen app.

The startup was known for releasing these kind of apps previously in that space. However the market has been saturation with a wide variety of gourmet or restaurant related apps and services. This prompted the startup to consider a change to some other revenue model.

Recently Japanese people enjoyed the Golden Week holiday, the longest annual holiday in Japan. But during that time 30min’s CTO Noriyuki Nonomura has been developing a new service to help people find bargain-priced second-hand apartments. It has now officially launched as a 30min service.

Typically landlords or property investors can easily find relatively cheaper properties. But for average people, it can be really hard to do. This new bargain-priced apartment finder aggregates profiles from its partnering information providers, and shows you whether a listed property is a good or bad deal, comparing the average price in the area and the price per square meter. Factors like access to public transport and the age of the property are considered too.

As for monetization, Nonomura explains that they have partnered with Suumo, a property information service by Recruit. 30min will receive affiliate fees by driving user traffic to the property information site.

Many people feel Japan’s economic situation is improving, and this might positively affect the property market. But even for folks who don’t intend to purchase a property, the app gives you a great bird’s eye view of the market.