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Emprove is an image-based tool to help homeowners predict the price and scope of renovation and improvement projects.
Platforms: Browser; mobile-optimized content
Ideal for: Buyer and listing agents
Top selling points
- Highly detailed project item lists
- Visual approach to launching projects
- Quality-based pricing models
- Valuable tool for listing agents
- Intuitive user experience
Top concerns
This is becoming a crowded field, and agents should inform clients there are a number of online tools to help them with listing-improvement projects and vendor searches.
What you should know
Buyer reps can use it to help clients consider all-in costs before making an offer.
A lot of home improvement pricing and analysis tools exist, and there’s no need to run down the list. Like customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, we’re in a time that requires careful due diligence of these services before agents align themselves with one of the options.
The truth is, most of them will work well for your clients, so find one with a unique approach that will overlap with your sales style.
What’s unique about Emprove is its visual launchpad for jumping into home improvement projects, the “SnapPrice Estimator,” which uses pictures to price specific rooms or projects.
Alongside the image is an estimated price and a series of menus to adjust the project’s high-level points according to location, room size and grade (best value, practical, upgraded, high-end, luxurious).
Clicking the “Customize Project Estimate” button opens up a rich dashboard of options, budget breakdowns and project details under overview, style, scope and logistics, the latter of which involves timelines and project steps.
Emprove’s user interface does a very good job of managing the depth of data required to understand a home improvement project, and it does it with a compelling sheen of mobile-inspired buttons, colors and white space.
Given the stress and budget headaches of construction, user experience is critical for the success of software that helps people understand it, especially at the consumer level. Emprove clearly thought through how to ensure its users don’t get overwhelmed.
The data and menus encourage interaction to swap out appliances and counter-top types, but the dynamic “Material and Labor Breakdown” pie graph is simply too cool to not play with.
Its categorized and color-coded lists correspond with its shaded percentage of project cost, succinctly summarizing everything a person will need to consider for their new room. Mix-and-match finishes and items to see the pie chart swell, shift and diagram costs.
At no point will the Emprove user not know what a room might cost, thanks to its ever-present budget reminders.
Here are some ways agents can benefit from using Emprove:
- Display it, and encourage use at open houses to be transparent about outdated rooms
- Sit alongside buyers to determine final offers
- Compare costs of projects in possible home purchases in different ZIP codes
- Share Emprove room plans with contractors to ensure clear communication of project scope
- Demonstrate upgrade suggestions in listing presentations
- Use post-inspection to augment negotiations
Emprove also gets into the nitty-gritty, such as project clean-up and appliance warranties.
The Las Vegas-based company told Inman there are plans in place to attract agents directly via a branding mechanism, which would entail creating and sharing accounts with clients.
Until then, know that Emprove is a very easy, fun way to show sellers and aspiring homeowners how much a renovation might cost.
It’s also a good way to benchmark what clients signed-up for when they decided living in their guest bedroom and using coolers instead of a refrigerator is no longer all that romantic.
Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe
