Dwellory launches to help homeowners
Dwellory is like LinkedIn for houses, wherein homeowners can add updates about their home years before it ever goes on the market.
Did you find pictures of your home circa 1969? Did you add a gazebo in the back yard? Did you get all new lighting fixtures this weekend? Did you host a neighborhood watch party in your front yard and totally surpass the Joneses? Take a shot and add it to Dwellory – when it’s time to sell, you already have a massive file of your home’s accomplishments.
Started by Jim Straatman, Dwellory is a bootstrapped startup that is being developed simply because a homeowner wanted a tool like this for himself. “I wanted this platform, so I’m building it,” Straatman said. “I’ll own my home for over 10 years, why waste that time offline? Dwelloy is an owner marketing channel, connecting me to buyers, so I can sell when the time is right.”
One of Straatman’s goals is to empower homeowners and connect them with buyers, generating potential interest over time, rather than the weeks leading up to the sale which he says he believes will help command top dollar. He says homeowners have responded very positively, and he is seeing more interest from homeowners as well as agents, who he says are welcome to participate. Agents that have clients who are armed with endless data on their homes make for a better marketing strategy for all involved.
Like LinkedIn for houses
“The primarily value [of Dwellory] is owners promoting their home, without having to officially put a house on the MLS. Moreover, owners can use their social graph to promote a listing,” he added. Offering a pre-market platform has widespread implications not just with homeowners but for agents who may choose to use the platform for pocket listings prior to entering it into the MLS.
Straatman notes, “Think of it like a LinkedIn profile for your house. If you need a job, it’s better to have 100 edits on your resume over the years, instead of trying to start marketing your skills the day you need a job. Got photos from day one, before/after remodel shots, video from the neighborhood picnic, historic images from the roaring 20’s? Is all that content on your phone… why not online where buyers can find it?”
So is a pre-MLS site anti-agent? Straatman says he’s just “pro-owner,” and that if a decade from now it’s time to sell with an agent, “their job is that much easier with a rich story already told in the owner’s voice.”
