Home inspectors gather reams of information as they poke around houses that are about to change hands.
- In some cases, the information prompts buyers to back out of a deal or demand concessions, such as a new roof or a lower price.
- But in many cases, the information is simply dumped into a binder or PDF, rarely to see the light of day again.
- A Blair County startup is hoping to change that by turning the inspection report into an ongoing resource for homeowners.
- “We envision that inspection becoming more like a living document,” said Celeste Starchild, president and COO of the startup, InspectionGo, also known as iGo, based in Tyrone, about 15 miles northeast of Altoona.
How: Founded in 2019, iGo partners with lenders, real estate agents and home-inspection companies to offer a service called HomeBinder Assistant, which incorporates technology developed by a company called HomeBinder that iGo purchased earlier this year.
- Launched in June, HomeBinder Assistant uses the inspection report as a foundation for helping new homeowners manage everything from signing up for utilities to scheduling maintenance to organizing appliance manuals and warranty documents.
- The service also connects homebuyers to consultants who can help guide them through their options.
- “The assistant can help that home buyer get set up with all these services in one 30-minute phone call instead of calling around and Googling for hours,” Starchild said.
- Real estate agents who work with inspectors taking part in HomeBinder Assistant, meanwhile, can take advantage of another iGo product called Repair Pricer, which uses artificial intelligence to quickly generate estimates of any needed repairs.
- Agents can use the estimates during final negotiations in a home sale, Starchild said.
- iGo acquired Repair Pricer earlier this year.
What’s the revenue model: iGo collects revenue when homeowners use HomeBinder to sign up for a service, said Starchild.
- The company does not have exclusive arrangements with service providers, she added. “We feel strongly that consumers want choice. And to provide the optimal consumer experience, we’ll provide them with options.”
- The company generates revenue from other business lines, as well, including a coaching service for owners of home inspection companies (iGo Community), an online booking service for home inspectors (iGo Network) and a training program for home inspectors (iGo Academy).
What’s next: The company is on track to enroll about 10,000 home buyers this month in the HomeBinder program.
- By the end of 2024, the company hopes to be enrolling 35,000 per month, said Starchild.
- iGo also is planning to expand the products and services available through HomeBinder.
- Additions could include solar panels, home insurance and replacement appliances, she said.
- To support its growth, the company expects to hire about 100 people over the next year, primarily in Tyrone. It currently employs about 30 in Tyrone and another 25 who mostly work remotely.
- “We’re seeing all of the right signals right now that we’ve built a product that brings value to the whole ecosystem, to the inspection companies, to the agent partners that they serve, and ultimately to the homeowner. And we feel now is the time, really, to ramp up,” said Starchild, who joined the company as COO in 2020. She was named president this week.
The background: iGo was founded by three entrepreneurs – Chad Hett, John Russell and Mark Wise – all of whom had worked in real estate and the budding field of property technology, referred to as proptech.
- Russell is the CEO; Wise is chief product officer; and Hett is chief evangelist.
- In May, the company announced it had closed a Series A funding round of $5.5 million led by Wasatch Equity Partners, an existing investor based in Logan, Utah.
- Other investors include Altoona-based Alleghenies Angel Fund, Mountain State Capital (based in Pittsburgh and Morgantown), the West Virginia Jobs Investment Trust and Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central & Northern Pennsylvania.
