Support

Contact

Email xuberenttechnologies@gmail.com and say which account (the email you signed in with) and which house or market you are asking about. We reply within two business days during the TestFlight period. For a bug, a screenshot and what you tapped just before it happened are the two most useful things you can send.

Getting started

What is Short the Ask?

A game about home asking prices. Each listing asks one question: will the seller have to cut the asking price below a certain number before a buyer takes the home pending? You make your call, stake in-game tokens on it, and get scored on how right you were.

Do I need an account?

Not to look around. Anyone can browse the listings, the odds and the price histories. Forecasting, trading, Portfolio and Profile need an account, which takes one tap with Google or Apple, or an email and password.

Forecast or trade: what is the difference?

A forecast is your personal call at the odds of the day: it never moves the market, and it pays out at those odds if you are right. A trade on a live market buys Yes or No at the current price, and every trade moves the price a little. Both use tokens. Start with forecasts; trade when you disagree with the crowd.

What do the odds mean?

The chance the game currently gives that the seller cuts below the strike, from everyone's forecasts and trades together. 70% Yes means the crowd leans towards a cut. It is what players think, not an appraisal and not our prediction.

Tokens

What are tokens?

The in-game score. You get 1,000 when you sign up and 100 a day when you claim them on your Profile. You stake them on forecasts and spend them on live markets; being right pays them back at the odds.

Are they real money?

No. Tokens have no monetary value. They cannot be bought, sold, withdrawn, transferred, or exchanged for anything. There are no in-app purchases, deposits, or cash prizes, and there never will be a way to buy tokens.

I ran out. How do I get more?

Claim 100 a day on your Profile, and let your open forecasts and positions settle: every one that lands pays out. There is nothing to buy and nothing to ask us for.

My balance changed and I do not know why.

Portfolio lists every forecast and trade with what it paid or cost. A market that resolved pays out there; a listing that was withdrawn refunds every stake. If something still looks wrong, email us with the house and the date.

Markets and how they resolve

What is the strike?

The price the ask has to fall below for Yes to win. It sits on a price buyers search by, like $900k or $1M, within a normal cut of the asking price, because sellers cut to get under those search filters. When no search line is that close, it is one typical cut below the ask. A cut to exactly the line does not count: a cut to exactly $900,000 does not cross a $900k strike, and a cut to $899,999 does.

Why does a listing sometimes show a second, lower strike?

When the crowd becomes confident a cut is coming, the first question stops being interesting, so a deeper one unlocks: will the seller have to cut even further? Both settle from the same listing.

How does a market resolve?

YES if the publicly advertised asking price drops strictly below the strike before the home first goes pending or sells. NO if it goes pending or sells first with the ask at or above the strike. If the listing is withdrawn before either happens, the market is voided and every stake, trade or forecast, is refunded.

The listing went pending or was cut. When do I get paid?

Our team confirms each outcome against the public listing, then it pays out automatically, usually within a day. Your Portfolio shows the result and the payout. You also get a notification if they are on.

What happens if the listing comes back on the market?

Each market is about one stretch of the listing: from opening until the home first goes pending, sells, or is withdrawn. A home that is relisted afterwards appears as a new listing with its own markets, not a re-run of the old one.

I think a resolution is wrong.

Email us with the house and what you saw on the public listing (a screenshot with the date helps). We check every outcome against the listing's public record, and we correct mistakes.

Listings

Where do the listings come from?

Public asking prices and status changes for a curated set of Orlando listings, entered and checked by our team each day. Photos and the price history come from the public listing. Prices in the app reflect what forecasters think, not an appraisal or a prediction by us.

A price or status in the app is out of date.

Listings are checked once a day, so the app can lag the public listing by up to a day. If it has been longer, or a photo is missing, email us the address and we will fix it.

Can I get a house added?

Yes. Tap “Add a house” and give us the address, the asking price, a link to the public listing, and, if you like, your own photos. Our team reviews it before it appears. You can also tap “Request a market” on a listing that only has forecasts, to ask for a tradable market on it.

I am the seller or agent of a home in the game.

Everything shown is the public listing's advertised price and status; the game does not touch the listing or the sale. If you would rather there were no market, odds or forecasts on your home, you can opt it out. It is free and the same for every owner: we check you are the owner or the listing agent, close anything open (everyone gets back what they put in), and take the home off our lists.

Your account

I cannot sign in.

With Google or Apple, make sure you are choosing the same account each time; one Google or Apple account is one player. With email, check the address for typos, and if you just created the account, look for the confirmation email (and your spam folder) first. If you forgot your password, tap Forgot password? on the sign-in screen: enter your email and we send a link that opens a screen to choose a new one. Open that link on the same phone, or in the same browser, where you asked for it. If it says the link has expired, ask for a new one.

How do I change my display name?

It comes from the name your Google or Apple account shares with us, or the first part of your email. Email us to change it.

What do notifications cover?

Only your own game: a market you forecast opening, a market you hold a position in moving a lot, and a market resolving. Turn them on from Profile, and off any time in iPhone Settings.

How do I delete my account?

In the app, open the Profile tab and tap Delete account; it is immediate. If you no longer have the app, email us from the address on your account with the subject “Delete my account”, or see the deletion steps. The privacy policy says what we keep and for how long.

The app and the website

Is there an iPhone app?

Yes, and shorttheask.com is the same app running in your browser, so your account and forecasts are the same in both. The iPhone app is in testing through Apple's TestFlight; the website says how to get it once the public link is open.

The app looks stuck or shows an error.

Close it fully and open it again; updates arrive quietly on launch. If it keeps happening, email us what you see and whether you are on the iPhone app or the website.

I found a bug or have an idea.

We want to hear it. Email us, or use TestFlight's “Send Beta Feedback” if you installed the app that way, which attaches a screenshot for you.

Rules and policies

The Terms of Use cover fair play, what you can submit, and what the game is not. The Privacy Policy covers what we collect and how to delete it.