HiHome- The Fastest Way to Find Your Dream Home

The Problem

Buying a home is one of the largest financial decisions you will make in your life. However, it’s also one of the most stressful processes out there. In fact, 40% of Americans reported that buying a home is the most stressful event in modern life. 52% of homebuyers say that the most difficult step of homebuying is finding the right home. Existing home search platforms are actually advertisement platforms, which means they don’t have the incentive to help you find the right home quickly. It’s no wonder then that the average home buyer spends more than 120 hours browsing through homes online.

What The Company Does

HiHome is a PropTech venture founded out of Harvard University that is simplifying the path to homeownership. Their Instant Home Matching Platform allows homebuyers to specify comprehensive criteria and then add weights to criteria to indicate relative importance. HiHome then calculates a personalized relevancy score for each home on the market and then instantly shows buyers a list of their top home matches. HiHome provides a one-stop home search dashboard to get matched, compare and rank homes, track home showings and offer status, and get matched with a buyer’s agent. In the long run, HiHome aims to empower agents and buyers to collaborate seamlessly to effectively manage the homebuying process

Market

Real estate is a massive industry. The market for buyer agent commissions in the U.S. alone totals $57b a year. Competitors are primarily advertisement platforms, incentivized to keep you endlessly scrolling through homes. If a company gets paid per click on an advertisement, they are not going to help homebuyers actually find the right home quickly. Companies like Zillow have also lost the trust of real estate agents. While Zillow recently ended it’s short-lived iBuying business, they clearly indicated that they were willing to compete directly with agents. In fact, 87% of agents had a negative view of Zillow’s move to become a brokerage themselves.

Business Model

Rather than competing with real estate agents, HiHome helps match serious buyers with an agent who best meets their needs. Agents pay HiHome an industry standard referral fee that is only paid if the buyer successfully purchased a home. Therefore, HiHome is invested in the success of both the buyer and the agent.

Traction

HiHome is helping buyers as we speak. They have recently rolled out in Massachusetts, with all 10,000+ homes for sale on the market on their platform. Their buyers have been visiting their top home matches, connecting with HiHome partner agents, and becoming homeowners. HiHome won first place at the Yale x Harvard Pitch Competition and first place at The MBA Fund pitch competition. HiHome is currently backed by Global Founders Capital, Hanfield Venture Partners, and the Allston Venture Fund (consisting of General Catalyst, Bain Capital Ventures, and more).

Founding Team Background

Co-founder and CEO, Tony Shu, is a recent graduate of Harvard University, a licensed real estate agent in Massachusetts, and previously co-founded Breaktime (a social enterprise working to end young adult homelessness). At Harvard, Tony was a Roberts Technology Innovation Fellow, a Cheng Social Innovation Fellow, and President of the Harvard Real Estate Club. Tony has been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, BostInno 25 Under 25 list, and has been recognized as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Leaders of 2020. Co-founder and CTO, James Parker, is an MS/MBA (software engineering and business) dual degree graduate from Harvard Business School and Harvard School of Engineering. James comes from a background in software engineering for the intelligence industry and has formerly founded a venture-backed startup.

What They Need Help With

The team is currently in growth mode and would love introductions to investors. Also, if you or someone you know is even thinking about buying a home in Massachusetts or elsewhere in the US, please reach out! Connect with the HiHome team.

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