BuildZoom

BuildZoom
Industry Construction
Founded March 2013
Founder David Petersen & Jiyan Wei
Headquarters San Francisco, CA, United States
Website www.buildzoom.com

BuildZoom is an online remodeling marketplace that was founded in 2013 by Jiyan Wei and David Petersen.[1] The company is based in San Francisco, CA.

Features

BuildZoom aggregates a variety of data, including licensure information, building permits and consumer reviews,[2] which are made available through the company's website. In 2015, the company released an application that allowed users to browse building permit data in a variety of cities.[3]

Selected Market Insights

In September 2016, BuildZoom's Chief Economist, Issi Romem, released a study entitled "Can U.S. Cities Compensate for Curbing Sprawl by Growing Denser" that explored the long-run relationship between U.S. cities' housing supply, their outward expansion, and their densification.[4] The study was covered by the Wall Street Journal,[5] The Washington Post,[6] Bloomberg,[7][8] CityLab[9] and others.

In April 2016, BuildZoom's Chief Economist released a study entitled “Has the Expansion of American Cities Slowed Down?”[10] The study visualized the outward expansion of all U.S. cities (metropolitan areas) from 1940 to 2010 and classified their behavior into three city types: expensive, expansive and legacy cities. The study was covered by the Wall Street Journal,[11] CityLab[12] and others.

In early 2016, BuildZoom published a series of four blog posts on first-time home buyers.[13][14][15][16] Among other things, the series demonstrated that during the previous decade’s housing boom mortgage lending was available to people with a broad range of incomes, whereas since then first-time buyers had grown more financially select. The study was covered by the Associated Press,[17] USA Today[18] and others.

In 2015, BuildZoom collaborated with the Urban Economics Lab at the MIT Center for Real Estate to produce the BuildZoom & Urban Economics Lab Index, a set of indices tracking residential remodeling and new construction activity.[19] The Index leverages BuildZoom’s national repository of building permit data and is currently released quarterly.

In May 2014, BuildZoom collaborated on a research project with RealtyTrac to show the return-on-investment associated with home improvement expenditures prior to a sale.[20]

In November 2014, they showed a correlation between rising rental rates and decreased home improvement spending in San Francisco.[21]

History

The company participated in Y Combinator[22] and subsequently raised $1.4 million in seed financing from several investors including Formation 8 in June 2013.[23]

In October 2014, the company raised a second round of financing, estimated at $2.15 million.[24]

References

  1. ↑ Aushenker, Michael (6 Oct 2016). “BuildZoom Connects You to Contractors”. Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  2. ↑ https://www.buildzoom.com/faq
  3. ↑ Friedman, Ann (18 May 2015). “BuildZoom uses permit data to link homeowners, contractors”. Las Vegas Business Press. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  4. ↑ "Can U.S. Cities Compensate for Curbing Sprawl by Growing Denser?". www.buildzoom.com. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  5. ↑ Kusisto, Laura. "What If Urban Sprawl Is the Only Realistic Way to Create Affordable Cities?". WSJ. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  6. ↑ "The ugly choice American cities face". Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  7. ↑ "What's Wrong With America's Dream of City Living". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  8. ↑ Fox, Justin (2016-09-15). "We Don't Have to Give In to Sprawl". Bloomberg View. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  9. ↑ "The Density Paradox". CityLab. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  10. ↑ "Has The Expansion of American Cities Slowed Down?". www.buildzoom.com. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  11. ↑ Kusisto, Laura. "Why the Great Divide Is Growing Between Affordable and Expensive U.S. Cities". WSJ. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  12. ↑ "Blame Geography for High Housing Prices?". CityLab. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  13. ↑ "Are First-Time Buyers Buying Too Few Homes?". www.buildzoom.com. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  14. ↑ "Why First-Time Buyers Matter For The Housing Market". www.buildzoom.com. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  15. ↑ "The Rising Income of First-Time Home Buyers". www.buildzoom.com. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  16. ↑ "The Growing Homes of First-Time Buyers". www.buildzoom.com. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  17. ↑ services, Tribune news. "10 years after housing peaked, U.S. is more of a renter nation". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  18. ↑ "More first-time buyers skip starter home stage for bigger, better". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  19. ↑ "MIT Center for Real Estate and Buildzoom announce a new set of Residential Construction & Remodeling Indices - Center for Real Estate". Center for Real Estate. 2015-08-10. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  20. ↑ Hill, Catey (4 May 2014). “House flipping becomes more profitable”. MarketWatch. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  21. ↑ Garrison, Trey (12 November 2014). “Rising rents correlate with less home improvement spending”. Housing Wire. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  22. ↑ Perez, Sarah (14 March 2013). “BuildZoom Connects Homeowners With Contractors For Remodeling Projects, Doesn’t Charge For Access Or Leads”. TechCrunch. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  23. ↑ Perez, Sarah (25 June 2013). “YC-Backed Contractor Directory BuildZoom Raises $1.4 Million Seed Round”. TechCrunch. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  24. ↑ Kokalitcheva, Kia (6 October 2014). “With a fresh $2.15M, BuildZoom crunches data to pick the best home improvement contractors”. VentureBeat. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
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