I've been thinking about something similar for a year. I initially set out to solve the problem of identifying homeowners who just decided they want to sell their homes. This is a complex problem to crack so companies like Opendoor (where I was leading growth engineering program) rely on 9 figure marketing budgets to be on top of the minds for customers.

So how to have a homeowner's brain share and be top of mind?

My idea is to have a home management platform that enables homeowners with ongoing upkeep of their homes. This includes maintenance tracking, Bills tracking & improvements (eg, better mortgage rates to refi), utility tracking, connection with reliable home services, utility offers (e.g., better internet providers/plans), value adds recommendations (energy savings, smart appliances, ADUs).

Gen AI + AI agents within the platform could also do a lot of legwork for homeowners.

Let me know if anyone is passionate about building this idea with me.

@Adam Klenk Are you working on the home maintenance idea actively? I have thought about this for at least two years. The problem with home maintenance is in disjointed incentives between three groups:

1. Homeowner wants to maintain and increase property value with limited cost and work,
2. Insurance company wants to do the least amount of work and pays the least (never pays for maintenance)
3. Contractor wants to make as much money as possible with the least amount of work.

So the solution must be a new insurance + contractor company with the same incentive as the homeowner. For example, some sort of home ownership that the insurance, and the contractor have an equity stake in it.

If you are actively working on this, let's chat!

My most recent gig was at running ops for a business unit at Angi managing large AOV projects on behalf of homeowners and contractors, the idea being that there is a knowledge gap between the two and value could be provided in a account management style role. It was ultimately shuttered for what I assume is a desire to concentrate on the main business (ads and leads) but it showed massive potential. One issue is it lived within the Angi ecosystem, so in a way our unit was competing against other units within the company. And we didn't do a great job leveraging Angi's most important data anyway.

That said, I like the comparison below with a car that gives you warning lights. Or, imagine if you had a Carfax for your house and any prospective buyers. Homeowners who maintained their homes could add value over time, while those who didn't would see equity potentially dip. You'd even have the opportunity to set standards i.e. termite inspection no less than once every 3 years. But it could also be as simple as "your refrigerator water filter is about to expire -- order here (URL)".

You will also need to address contractors. Most are incompetent and there should be a way to do background checks and ratings on their behaviors/safety. As a single woman, I have had contractors try to kiss me, grab me etc. my next door neighbor was a single elderly woman and experienced the same things in her home so age was not the issue. Nothing worse than being vulnerable in your own home. I love the idea of this solution as I have learned to do so many repairs on my own and tackle even small reno projects at this point because i can do a better job. I have done tile work, plumbing, masonry, carpentry, painting. You name it. I am not mechanically inclined but found myself to be competent even though it takes me twice as long and i do not enjoy the process.

I have thought about this A LOT from many different angles. Vehicles will alert you when there is scheduled maintenance due from an oil change to much larger service like replacing all the major fluids. Not perfect as it's all based on a maintenance timeline the manufacturer creates, but still, following the recommended maintenance schedule usually works reasonably well and you don't have to look for it, there are basically in vehicle push notifications.

Most home appliances have similar regular maintenance recommendations but no method for delivering push notifications other than breaking or throwing an error code if pushed too far.

A recent example; my newish washing machine (under 2 years old I think) stopped running and displayed an error. After some internet searching I found this was probably due to a filter that I didn't know existed needing to be cleaned out. When I went to locate and clean out the filter (which was DEFINITELY the problem) I also found in small print I never would have otherwise read a manufacturer recommendation to clean the filter out every 2 months. That was the first I'd heard of it!

Multiply this issue by every appliance in the house, add non appliance house maintenance, and yeah, it's a lot.

Is there an opportunity for an all in one, home care service? Sort of like a property manager for an apartment complex or individual rentals? In Chicago (maybe other places), there is a company called Fulton Grace, who manages the rental where you just own the house/apartment and they, I imagine, take a cut of the rent in exchange for collecting rent, finding tenets, scheduling repairs, etc. In this case you would pay a set monthly fee and then they would have the contacts for repairs and other services, and schedule the repairs

We recently bought a home, and here have been my experience/challenges.

1. I have a laundry list of items from inspection, some urgent, some not.
2. This requires me to scour google and Facebook groups to get multiple contractors to come to my home.
3. Estimates can be all over the place, and you need clarification on the quality.
4. There is a maintenance component to understand as well.
5. Are there things I need to update this year? Can I wait until next year?
6. What cost can I anticipate for the next 6-12 months?
7. Urgent matters are an absolute nightmare.
8. When something goes wrong in your home, i.e., a hot water tank breaks. You need someone urgent.
9. This is a recipe for high costs
10. It's really hard to find someone to come out urgently to fix or replace the said water tank.

I think there is a big opportunity for "hometech" or "familytech". We use so many tools at work that it seems like we don't have the same sophistication in our homes. Keeping an eye on this.