There’s no arguing that one reason ibuyers have been able to gain so much traction is because developers have given them such an easy inventory to understand and value.
Las Vegas and Phoenix, for example, are weighted down with endless tract housing that is borderline identical, minus a degree of beige here and there. Homes with character demand more unique attention from evaluation algorithms.
Upsetting the plague of characterless home building is part of Higharc’s goal, a company that lets home buyers customize their own home out from under the suburban boredom that’s come to define the look of the modern cul-de-sac.
The company recently announced a $4.7 million seed round and its founders hail from 3D modeling, architecture, engineering, and video game design.
Without using an architect but powered by an algorithm influenced by one, home shoppers can access Higharc’s suite of tools to three-dimensionally design their next house.
Finished plans can be handed-off to builders for approval and construction.
Buyers will still have to go through standard municipal processes and own their lot.
After completing a short survey about budget, location, and lifestyle wants and needs, users can then drag and drop rooms, add a bay window, or shift kitchen layout.
Every alteration delivers a budget update to keep people in-line with their estimated mortgage.
Each digital addition and subtraction to a home is dependent on the algorithm’s ongoing calculations that ensure it’s actually physically possible. In other words, people can’t go too far with their imagination, it still has to meet the general properties of construction physics.
The software also abides by the International Code Council and uses public data to integrate lot specs and terrain information. It’s also partnering with builders.
Higharc is working with 25 families in Chapel Hill, NC to further test its product. The first example is set for completion by late summer.