Nuhom — Dismantling The Traditional Homebuying Process
By: Bram Berkowitz
Tags: Venture Capital, Startup, Proptech, Real Estate, Home Buying

Nuhom — Dismantling The Traditional Homebuying Process

A seamless online home buying process that puts the buyer first and saves them an average $7,500 of the agent fee

The Problem

There are 75 million digitally native millennials that are about to start families and will begin buying homes. The real estate industry, however, has not been able to successfully adapt to consumer behavioral shifts and technology. It is true that home buyers use tools like Zillow and Redfin to find their home, but also isn’t surprising that six out of 10 homebuyers find the home they will ultimately buy without an agent. Technology has empowered house hunters, yet, for the majority of the process, people still buy homes the way our parents and grandparents did, while paying massive agent fees. Although all forms of buying and selling are moving online, home buying remains inconvenient, slow, and not transparent.

What The Company Does

Nuhom has created a seamless online home buying experience that puts the home buyer first. Through a guided digital buyer-first experience, Nuhom allows home buyers to find their homes completely online, allowing modern buyers to find homes, tour homes, make offers, and save money. Nuhom believes that home buyers should be rewarded for their hard work researching and finding homes online. That is why Nuhom gives clients 50% of the buyer’s agent fee back at closing. Traditional buyer agents earn about 2.5% of the home purchase price, which means that clients save an average of $7,500 with Nuhom.

The Market

Real estate is the largest undisrupted form of buying and selling in the U.S. worth more than $1.6 trillion annually. Today, online home buying is less than 1% of the total market, but expected to grow as 75M digitally native millennials are beginning to start families and will demand convenience and speed. Competitors include other tech-driven real estate companies that are also aiming to disrupt the industry such as Zillow, Opendoor, and Redfin. Nuhom acknowledges these competitors and is aggressively taking a buyer-first approach to solve many of the pains that exist today through better design, use of technology, and unique operational models that reward the modern home buyer.

Business Model

Nuhom earns the balance of the commission after providing home buyers 50% of the buyer agent commission. On average, that comes to 1% of the home purchase value. The company is also developing new ways to continue to provide value to clients after the home purchase is complete.

Traction

Nuhom launched at the start of the coronavirus, compelled to provide better value, savings, and safety for home buyers. The company is currently operating and generating revenue while they re-invent the home buying experience. The company has formed partnerships with lenders, real estate attorneys, and home inspectors to help home buyers get financing, and complete the transaction with ease. Nuhom is also receiving guidance from Northeastern University’s venture mentoring network program in marketing, technology, and operations.

Founding Team Background

Co-Founder Rishi Palriwala has experience in the real estate industry having worked as a real estate specialist for Century 21 Avon and as an analyst at John Hancock Realty Advisors. He has also worked at GE and co-founded several other ventures. Co-Founder Afjal Wahidi previously worked as the head of mobile and innovation at Staples and on several previous ventures as well.

What They Need Help With

Nuhom is always looking for advisors, investors, and talent. The company is on the look out for talented engineers, creative designers, marketers, and data scientists who care about what they build, and who want to help millions of people find the most important place in the world: Home. Connect with the Nuhom team.

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