With the beginning of December comes the dreaded cleaning and home decorating for holiday get-togethers. Maybe you're hoping to impress loved ones with a redesigned kitchen or bathroom. Or, perhaps, you just want to spruce up the living room with some new rugs and throw pillows.
No matter the need, the Greater Washington area startup scene has you covered. In recent years, a small contingency of home improvement and home hunting apps have begun to call the District home. Those apps have considerable backing to them. One is funded by Revolution. Others have participated in 1776 programs or gone through humble ventures' cohort program.
Let's take a look at five of those home improvement apps you need to know about heading into the holidays—
HousePouch
Ideal for home interior design projects
Founded in early 2016, HousePouch co-founder Jake Metzger likes to describe his business as the Kayak.com for interior design. Head to HousePouch and you'll find a collection of furniture and decor items organized by style.
Metzger and co-founder Nick Fu participated in 1776's first startup cohort this spring, with the program ending in May.
RemodelMate
Ideal for large renovation projects
Founded in March 2016, RemodelMate is on a mission to simplify the large home renovation projects. The platform offers a place where homeowners can be matched up with a qualified contractor to redo their kitchen or a similar project, while contractors are able to use the platform to find new leads for projects. RemodelMate also provides a detailed explanation of expected project costs to homeowners and help manage the project on their platform.
Since launch, RemodelMate has seen month-over-month growth of 20 percent.
EFynch
Ideal for finding a contractor for home improvement and renovation projects
Baltimore-based EFynch recently expanded into the District in August. The startup provides a free, online homeowner community to help find the right contractor. Homeowners advertise their project on EFynch and receive competitive bids from the company's network of local professionals and independent handymen. Unlike at RemodleMate, where the startup does the matching for you, EFynch lets homeowners control everything — from finding the contractor to maintaining the project.
Read more in the Baltimore Business Journal.
Homezen
Ideal if you're looking to sell your house without a realtor.
So, you've decided you're just done with your house and need to start anew. That's a big undertaking, but plenty of D.C. startups are aimed at simplifying the process. Washington, D.C.-based Homezen takes out the middleman in home-selling so owners can list their property, get appraisals and line up professional services, like photographs and open houses, all on their own.
The startup launched at the end of 2016 and was founded by Opower alumnus Kevin Bennett.
Homesnap
Ideal for when you're looking to buy new property.
Backed by Revolution, Homesnap calls itself the broker's choice for home search portals. The service competes with bigger names, such as Zillow and Trulia, to help both real estate agents and prospective homeowners find new listings. Rather than charging real estate agents to list their properties, Homesnap lets agents list their information next to their properties at no cost. They also offer a few services for agents to manage their properties for a fee.
Homesnap also lets users simply take a photo of an home anywhere, and the app will bring up any listing information it has for it — perfect for whenever prospective buyers are walking around, looking for their next home.
