A recently launched Greater Cincinnati startup that’s developing a new mobile app to better connect real estate investors and independent contractors has officially debuted its platform in the Tri-State.
Renozee, pronounced “re-no-zee,” and short for “renovate easy,” launched its app Monday. It’s the 8-month-old company’s first market so far, but the team, which includes Cincinnati natives Cisol Hogan, founder and CEO, and Lamar Harris, co-founder and CMO, along with Vimal Patel, co-founder and CTO, said they plan to scale throughout the Midwest later this year.
Hogan, a local real estate investor, told me Renozee aims to alleviate the “laborious and cumbersome” process of finding available contractors and organizing bids. For contractors, the app eliminates the need to pay for leads. Hogan said it's the first and only app of its kind in the country.
“We created Renozee to take on the heavy lifting,” he said. “Typically the search for available contractors involves scheduling appointments, hosting multiple walk-throughs of the property, then comparing each bid price. The longer my property sat empty, the more it cut into my profit. [With Renozee] users can start their projects sooner and with more confidence.”
Here’s how Renozee works:
- Using the app, an investment property owner can upload photos and details about a project – eliminating the need for in-person walk-throughs. Owners can receive unlimited bids from contractors and review and compare those submissions – the bids are also live, which means the contractor can see who they’re competing against.
- Owners can also browse reviews, hire and pay their chosen contractor directly through the app. Renozee even calculates the average bid for each project.
- On the contractor side, Renozee attempts to address two major pain points: payments and upfront fees. Payments, for one, are put into an escrow account, and the app allows the contractors to be paid once milestones are reached, rather than final projects.
Renozee makes money – currently its commission is 10% – once a contractor’s payment has been released by the customer. That means Renozee doesn’t require contractors to pay for leads before bidding, unlike other apps or sites.
“That’s where the biggest disruptor is,” Harris told me. “On other platforms, they have to pay lead fees, and they don’t even know if they want the job. That’s a huge difference and a huge benefit.”
Similar to platforms like Airbnb, there’s a rating system on both sides of the transaction. And while its niche is investment properties, the app is available to homeowners as well.
“Our goal was to make the process as simple as possible,” Harris said.
Hogan said the goal is to have $1 million worth of projects on the platform by year’s end, and at least 10,000 users, both owners and contractors. The longer-term goal is to scale throughout the Midwest. He said the first spot outside of Greater Cincinnati will likely be Columbus.
One key metric, in order to scale, is liquidity – meaning, when a property owner posts a project, they’re able to get at least three bids within a half hour’s time. That, Harris said, will serve as Renozee’s green light to expand to another city.
“That’s a metric that’s highly important to us,” Harris said.
Renozee, based in Liberty Township, has three employees and is hiring. The app is now available on the App Store and Google Play.
