Inman’s tech expert Craig Rowe reviews Virtuo, software that brings together homebuilders, agents and buyers into a single ecosystem to ensure every stage of the purchase process remains connected.
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Virtuo is a home concierge and purchase workflow platform.
Platforms: Web; iOS; Android
Ideal for: Builders; agents; homeowners
Top selling points:
• New build focus
• Human/AI collaboration
• HomieAI query center
• Task/transaction tracking
Top concern(s):
Primarily, that it’s hard to nail down a primary value proposition that isn’t already addressed directly by other stand-alone products. It may be best for those who work in new construction.
What you should know
It’s hard to define this product within the confines of proptech categories … and that could be a good thing?
Virtuo brings together homebuilders, agents and buyers into a single ecosystem to ensure every stage of the purchase process remains connected from acorn to oak tree. Rooted in new construction, the platform is part transaction manager and part post-close home assistant, a category many readers know I wasn’t always keen on reviewing positively.
Thankfully, Virtuo handles that part really well because it all starts at the foundation — literally.
Mature in its mobile and web experiences, Virtuo has been working with a number of large builders in Canada, and I was told it has seen success with more than 30,000 homeowners. That’s impressive. It’s creeping into the United States, with activity ramping up in Arizona, California and Washington.
The features and benefits aren’t specifically delivered in any truly unique way, but Virtuo provides notable value as the digital source of truth for a home. It’s like being handed a CarFax as a car rolls off the assembly line, adding a great deal of authenticity to its history and, frankly, addresses what I disliked about all the other home management solutions that have come before it.
(I must add that the onset of AI and involvement of smarter software players in the space has improved my outlook on this vertical.)
The builder (or their agent, likely) onboards buyers with a sequence of well-timed welcome messages with calls to action and insights on what to expect in the coming weeks and months. Staff is readily identifiable and available, and with a document library that populates as the deal progresses and a series of resourceful messages and outreach, it’s hard to argue that Virtuo isn’t on top of hurdles and snags when they pop up.
The company wants to ensure users that it’s not a service provider marketplace but instead a place for your trusted partners to become involved. This is likely best for lenders, inspectors, maybe, or other vendors that agents choose to involve.
In addition to an ever-building list of guides to help buyers, all parties can benefit from the application’s AI, a text-based query center called Homie.
The AI ingests terms, clauses and content from any transaction document it’s fed to tightly organize and quickly deliver answers from all that unstructured data that amasses along the way.
I have a folder inches thick from buying a 50-year-old home eight years ago, I can’t imagine its girth if its contents started accumulating before the cement was poured. In short, I’d much rather type in a question than dedicate physical file cabinet space, and I assume most buyers agree with me.
HomieAI is there for the buyer after move-in, too, ready to keep track of all that appliance information, tedious security system settings, home warranty terms, receipts and all other instances of paper-based detritus plaguing today’s homeowner.
I’ll note that Virtuo also connects with existing software products at your brokerage, such as your CRM or other tools. The company can brand the interface to a brokerage or team and spend time linking existing techstack partners. I noticed a Final Offer launch button in our demo.
To reiterate, I think Virtuo is ideal for any agent who works directly with builders or who is working with a buyer seeking new construction. It’s not something an existing homeowner is going to enter into laterally or for an agent to offer at close. Maybe they could, but every application’s value is at its highest and best when used as designed. In this case, from the outset of construction, or shortly after the CO is issued.
Lack of inventory remains the real estate market’s heaviest anchor. Granted, our president’s maniacal economic tantrums aren’t exactly aiding the market’s recovery, either. Nevertheless, we need more houses, and that means builders will likely be greatly incentivized to provide them. Point being: Software solutions like Virtuo will no doubt be good to have on hand should the market break open in the next couple of years.
Lastly, using this application would amp up the technical sophistication of your new community project, as well as serve as a great first step to bettering the general homebuying experience, something I think is rapidly eating away at the consumer’s opinion of the industry.
I’ve been ranting for months now that real estate technology providers need to shift who they consider their customer. They need to keep the term “consumer experience” scribbled at the top of their conference room whiteboards — write it in Sharpie — and benchmark every product decision against it.
It’s not likely Virtuo has gone that far, but they’re closer than most I’ve seen of late.
Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe
Craig C. Rowe started in commercial real estate at the dawn of the dot-com boom, helping an array of commercial real estate companies fortify their online presence and analyze internal software decisions. He now helps agents with technology decisions and marketing through reviewing software and tech for Inman.
