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BOSSCAT, HouseAmp link could ease pre-sale renovations

Craig Rowe; Canva

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Two companies in the home update business have agreed to work together in a marketing partnership to capitalize on the growing trend of pre-sale renovations, initially popularized by companies like Revive and Curbio, Inman has learned.

HouseAmp is a technology-backed financing resource, a fintech company, that specializes in providing home equity-based funds to brokers to market pre-sale maintenance and update financing. Its new partner, according to a Sept. 24 press release, is BOSSCAT Home Services and Technologies, a web-driven home contractor.

The co-marketing agreement will help affiliated brokers further streamline their ability to promote to sellers the need and ease to complete a project prior to entering the market.

Through traditional models, a seller would need to separately lock in project financing or use existing funds otherwise better put toward the transaction. Renovations are notoriously difficult to live within and their completion becomes even more pressurized under the creeping deadlines of a sale and marketing timing pressures.

Material choices, fixture decisions, noise, surprise financial demands and constant face-time with vendors are only a few of the landmines that await homeowners who decide to undergo a home renovation of any size. BOSSCAT’s technology-laden offering and “single-source of truth” project management models are aiming to soothe these common headaches.

This partnership should provide consumers and their agents with a vertical solution that could ease the multi-vendor morass that is most home renovation projects. Naturally, the promise of modernizing the financing process with the added value of a trusted broker should bolster the appeal of a pre-sale update.

Rick Hennessey, CEO of HouseAmp, said in an email to Inman that the partnership reflects his company’s efforts to affiliate with top-level home maintenance professionals.

“We provide a seamless lending experience for BOSSCAT to provide pay-later capital to their homeowners in a fast, easy and regulatory-compliant manner,” Hennessey said. “Basically, in five minutes, the homeowner [is] approved and begin[s] work. While our brokerage and agent partners can use any service providers they like on our platform, they often choose from our curated list of the best providers. BOSSCAT is one of those and we are thrilled to have them participating to help homeowners enjoy the value that comes along with improving to sell.”

Launched as PunchList USA in 2018, BOSSCAT earned three stars in an initial Inman review, back in 2018. The company was noted for its broad application of in-depth construction and home maintenance information to a modern software experience.

In late 2023, it launched a product called Homebase, a system that provides users with a range of tools for monitoring critical tasks, system upkeep, repair budgets, estimates, renovation ROI and data on home value.

“We want Homebase to become an essential tool for homeowners to manage their most valuable investment,” said Stefan Pampulov, Bosscat’s chief product and data officer, in December 2023. “For all homeowners, whether they own one home or a portfolio of properties, Homebase elevates home management from reactive tasks to a proactive strategy.”

HouseAmp states on its website that its national expansion is ongoing throughout 2024. It also states that listings that have undergone pre-sale improvements sell on average 12 days faster.

Email Craig Rowe