Unlisted hopes to unlock more housing inventory

The idea for proptech firm Unlisted came to founder and CEO Katie Hill after she fell in love with a neighbor’s house and approached him about potentially buying it if he ever decided to sell.

“It caught my eye and the only thing I could do was walk across the street one day when my neighbor was out cutting his grass and mentioned to him that if he was ever interested in selling his house, I was interested in buying it,” Hill said. 

According to Hill, her neighbor “lit up” upon hearing this news as he was a few years away from retirement and thinking about relocating, but was uncertain if anyone would be interested in purchasing his home. Hill said she felt her and her neighbor’s experiences were not unique.

“There are so many people who are in the same position of knowing that they are going to sell in the future and, at the same time, there are so many people looking to get into certain neighborhoods or school districts,” she said. “And I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if these people could line up these transactions?” 

While consumers can view properties on the Unlisted platform, Hill noted that Unlisted is not a listing platform and that she and her firm want to “stay out of the transaction.”

“We feel like the industry is very crowded and competitive already in the transaction space, so we like the idea of being the space before the transaction is fully together,” she said. 

Consumers can view every home in America on the Unlisted site, whether it is for sale or not. Prospective buyers can join a waitlist for a property, and they will be informed if it is listed for sale. Homeowners can set up an account and “claim” their property and edit their property’s display on the site, adding photos and text descriptions. 

“We like the idea giving homeowners the control to highlight the best features of their property,” Hill said.

Homeowners can add a real estate agent as a collaborator on their property, which Hill said gives agents the ability to provide value to past clients in between their transactions. 

Additionally, agents can partner with Unlisted and pay a monthly subscription fee to be the local market expert in specific ZIP codes. 

Over the past several years, the real estate space has seen the rise and fall of various proptech startups, something Hill is very well aware of, but she is optimistic about the future of Unlisted. 

“I knew from the get-go that if I was going to start something in real estate, it was going to be able to ride market cycles,” Hill said. “With Unlisted, if it’s a buyer’s market, homeowners can see if there is interest in their home or have a backup offer. If it is a seller’s market, rather than seeing something pop up and have to run over and end up in a bidding war, buyers have the opportunity to proactively express interest in a property and hopefully get some early indications that the homeowner is exploring the possibility of selling.” 

Hill also acknowledged the current industry debate surrounding private listings and how transparency and seller choice seem to be pitted against each other.

“I like to think we are offering both transparency and choice,” Hill said. “You can see every home in America and indicate interest in it. Then, it is up to the homeowner to decide what to do with that information.” 

As Hill looks to the future with Unlisted, she hopes to see increased agent and consumer adoption, which she hopes will unlock more housing inventory and help more people find their dream homes. Although still in its early stages, Hill is optimistic especially after Unlisted earned a top-5 finish at TechCrunch Disrupt, one of the first real estate firms to do so in several years. 

“We hope to add value to the industry as a whole and we are excited about that and always thinking about how to do it,” Hill said.