Househappy
| Foundation date | March 2011 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Area served | International, 196 countries |
| Industry | Real Estate |
| Services | Global Real Estate Search Portal |
| Website | househappy.org |
'Househappy' is a free community platform for buyers, sellers, and brokers to connect, search, and post property for sale in 196 countries.[1][2] Launched in March 2013, the online service provides a platform for individuals to search properties for sale internationally by photos and specific property features.[3]
In May 2013, HousingWire featured Househappy on their RETech:50 list of top 50 firms “most likely to have an impact on the real estate transaction in the next 12 months.”[4]
The company was one of 150 startups invited to the 2013 Dublin Web Summit STARTglobal event.[5]
Users of the site can create a personal online profile that allows them to post properties for sale and bookmark others by “liking” them.[6] Each property listing includes contact and other biographical information for the seller.[7]
Houses are displayed in a grid of photos with no labels or headings, and filtered by user-selected criteria such as location, price, features, and financing options.[6] It has been likened to other photo-centric social networking sites like Pinterest and Instagram.[2] It is optimized for desktop, iOS, and Android devices.[8]
History
Founder Kevin McCloskey is a licensed broker in Oregon, Washington, and California with over 25 years of experience.[9] He thought of the initial concept for Househappy after reviewing a friend’s Match.com dating profile and imagining a photo-based real estate service to connect property buyers, sellers, and other real estate professionals.[9] He said he “wanted to create an open platform with free access, social features, and user-friendly search.”[8] McCloskey has stated use of the platform will always be free to search and post.[8]
The search platform launched internationally online on March 27, 2013.[3]
In November 2013, the company raised $1.5 million in funding led by Jeff Greenberg, Senior VP Electronic Media and Director at Skechers. and founder of G9 Development, a luxury real estate development company.[10][11] Househappy previously received $1 million from angel investors in seed round funding.[12]
References
- ↑ /Househappy | About
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Househappy will use photos to drive real estate searches". Inman News. September 24, 2012.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Njus, Elliot (March 27, 2013). "Househappy, a Portland-based, dating service-inspired real estate platform, goes live". The Oregonian.
- ↑ /HousingWire RETech:50
- ↑ "Househappy is Headed to Web Summit!". October 24, 2013.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Weir, Tracy (September 7, 2013). "Househappy is the First Visual Search Engine For Real Estate. Can it Help You Win Clients?". Eight Eleven.
- ↑ Shipe, Angie (April 26, 2013). "Househappy Brings Photo-Based Social Sharing to Real Estate". agent campus.com.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Househappy Announces Launch of Photo-Driven Real Estate Platform: Search and Post Property for Sale Around the World - for Free". Yahoo! Finance. March 27, 2013.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Row, D.K (February 4, 2013). "Househappy aims to be comprehensive information and services platform for real estate industry". The Oregonian.
- ↑ Spencer, Malia (November 12, 2013). "Skechers exec leads $1.5M Househappy round". Portland Business Journal.
- ↑ "Househappy.org raises $1.5M in funding round led by Skechers director". Inman News. November 12, 2013.
- ↑ "Photo-Driven Real Estate Platform Househappy.org Secures $1.5 Million in Series A Financing". Yahoo! Finance. November 12, 2013.