Why we’re building the first people-powered real estate site
Transparency’s made every transaction easier — from buying a used cars to finding perfectly greasy poutine. Why’s buying or renting a home still so opaque?
Home-hunters deserve better
It’s day 32 in your new apartment, and you could be happier. Your newborn hasn’t learned to sleep through the 3 am train that runs by her window every weeknight. Your hot water’s out again and, as hearty as it sounds to start the day with an ice-cold shower, you haven’t quite warmed-up to the idea.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. You tend to make good decisions: you’ve read 150,000 words of parenting blog articles about strollers, you test-drove eleven sedans before buying your car, and you won’t even buy toilet paper without reading a few reviews online. Like the beer-pong table you abandoned three apartments ago, regretting your purchases was something you thought you’d left behind.
So how’d you end up here? You sent about 100 emails inquiring about apartments, heard back from 15, and saw 7 in-person. You took pictures, made charts, mapped-out school districts. So many spreadsheets.
But in the end, exhausted & frustrated, you settled on a place near-ish to work, persuaded by a real estate agent you’ve never met that this was a good place, and nothing better was going to come along.
“Here’s the thing,” you find yourself explaining to anyone who’ll listen, “no amount of diligence could’ve prevented this: the train, the plumbing, the funny smell every Tuesday–how could we have known? These things,” you say, as much to yourself as to others, “they just happen.”
Wayhome is rethinking the way people find homes
Of all the financial decisions we make, housing has two distinctions: it’s usually the largest, and it’s the only one we make with almost zero information outside of what we learn from the person selling or renting it. Why is that?
As it happens, this isn’t really anyone’s fault. The real estate sites you used to find your place, they’re sort of like car dealerships: they have little incentive to stop you from picking a lemon. And real estate agents? They’re–no kidding–legally required to serve the best interests of the landlord, not the renter. Even if you have your own agent, there’s some chance that their economic incentives aren’t strictly aligned with yours. Simply put: the only one looking out for you, is you.
But this is 2017, and we’re no longer forced to act alone. We check the Amazon ratings before buying anything. We give 5 stars to that awesome Lyft driver to make sure other users–strangers, get a great ride. We share pictures of the Best Sopapilla Ever with 4,000 people before heading to Yelp to write 1,500 words as a way of saying: “Hey, good job, Sopapilla-Depot.” Daily, we rely on others’ experiences to light the way in our own decisions. Shouldn’t this shared-experience economy cover our most important decisions?
Putting the community back into finding home
In 2015, 36 million people moved from one home to another in the U.S. Just about every one of them learned something important about the homes they considered–they took pictures, they wrote notes, they fell in love & they had their hearts broken. But, like so many late-night snaps, those stories are gone now.
We wanted to create a place for those stories. A place for people to learn about the next place they’ll call home, away from the noise of sales pitches & sketchy details, and to help others do the same. That’s why we’re building Wayhome.
We’re building Wayhome because we all have something to say about the places we live & love, and people want to hear our stories.
We’re building Wayhome because $7,000+ in deposits & fees is too much to spend on something without knowing the details–good and bad.
We’re building Wayhome because for every young professional frustrated with their leaky faucets & loud neighbors, there are a half-dozen single parents with a busted heater, sharing a bed with their kid to stay warm. Because no matter who you are or where you live, no one’s going to warn you that you’re about to sign a lease with a slumlord.
We’re building Wayhome for you, with you, because no one should have to find home alone.
