Brook Denny

Hi All - I spent months building my data layer for a free tool that helps homebuyers know before they put in the offer if what they want or need to do to a house to make it their dream home/meet their needs is likely to be approved. Slogan: Know before you buy.
Why does this matter?
The problem lies in that the system is broken. Your options all include risk, loosing money or loosing the house. You really have 3 options:
1. Trust that your real estate agent (if you use one) has researched is an expert in zoning, has any HOA documents and properly informs you. This sometimes works, or it doesn't. Not all agents are created equal.
2. You DIY research. Ball's in your court but do you know the legal codes and what they mean? Do you know where to find them? It's an option, 1000% but comes with risk
3. The least risky is waiting for the city or county to verify.
But imagine the day when we are in a hot market again. Waiting could mean you loose the home OR you go in blind just hoping you can do it. Later to find out you can't and you either accept that or walk away from our deposit (typically thousands)
In come AskAugur, named after the old Roman Augurs that would read signs from the gods if something would be successful, my tool uses Machine Learning to predict the likihood of approval for a given project at a residential property.
How?
Our data base combines layers of data all to create features and signals to train the model on predictable gov outcomes and compare it to the user input for a pool, or a ADU, a fence etc.
1. We pull Zoning. Both the zoning for the requested address & its regulations
2. We pull historical permits (these are our yes/no signals) - what has THIS governing body done for this request in the past
3. We pull HOA restrictions
4. We pull environmental restrictions
5. We categorize government style. No one should ever compare a rural alabama county to NYC. Ensuring we don't use any Apple and Pear's for signals.
Users:
Free Tier > The Hobbiests & The Homebuyers aka the "Average Joes" - Someone who doesn't have alot of experience in government codes and regulations. Their benefit, Engagement, WOM, etc. They open the door for Ad spaces down the line.
Lite > The bottom of my subscription model. These are my professionals that analyses real estate deals more frequently. They might know where and how to find these things but I enable them to do it in seconds. Plus they get access to download and share HOA documents that I've sourced from Counties across the country. A feature that to my knowledge only Attom has available online and for a hefty price tag.
Pro > Same as above but Unlimited and with seats. This is a team tier.
Competitve Advantage:
1. I have not yet located any zoning tool that's aimed at homebuyers > most on market are aimed to developers, investors, or real esate agents.
2. For those tools > They focus either on zoning analysis or permits but never both. & For permits, its all historical. We are the only tool that applies machine learning techniques and multiple data layers to run a feasibility of approval.
3. We are pending google approval the pro level that will be the game change / friction killer. No one wants yet another app, tab, or tool to manage. So we built an accompanying chrome extension that investors can run to understand if they can get a permit right where they are already scouting homes. It will pop right on zillow, redfin, realtor, and trulia. Without leaving the page the extension grabs the address, subdivsion if available and runs the report based on what they want to do.
A very likely one would be to check if a STR permit will be allowed at an address as there has been a huge shift in STR regulations nationwide since 2020.
I am seeking feedback. Poke holes. Would you use this because it's free. Would you pay for it if you are someone that invests in real estate. Are there ways to tighten value add? Assuming my marketing is great and it can get off the ground - what questions would you have?
Thank you!