Michael Seibel

Playhouse - TikTok for real estate

Playhouse is a mobile app for browsing video listings of homes for sale - fun and addictive like TikTok, practical and actionable like Zillow.

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Alex Perelman
Hi Product Hunt - we’re super excited to launch Playhouse! 🚀 Remember ‘03, when Andre 3000 asked, what’s cooler than being cool? Ice cold! But now it’s ‘21 and what’s more addictive than porn? Real estate porn! 🥁 🎉 We’re not even joking. Real estate is not just a transaction. It’s an entire culture (did you know that HGTV is a top 5 cable network?). And it’s entertainment - with billions of views across all of your favorite social media platforms. There’s some really amazing content out there and it’s not just created by the pros in Hollywood - your neighborhood real estate agent, mortgage broker, contractor, and many others are all in on it... and if you haven’t lost yourself in #realestate or spent 3 hours listening to Arvin Haddad, then, well ok, maybe that says more about my feed, but seriously try it. 📱🏘️ Unfortunately, there’s a big gap between all of that content and your real life. Maybe you saw an amazing house tour, but is it even in your state? How much is it? Or maybe you think this one realtor is really funny and you’re ready to hire an agent, but oh, they’re on the other side of the country. And this one company does incredible tile work, but dang, not in your zip code. And so on it goes... a missed opportunity to connect millions of entrepreneurs and small businesses with potential customers in the real world. 🤝 We’ve decided to build Playhouse to close that gap. Our vision is a real estate app that is both entertaining and practical. The content is fun and addictive like TikTok, but also practical and actionable like Zillow or Yelp. Playhouse is THE destination for mobile real estate videos. On Playhouse, listings are exciting, insightful, and authentic. 📹 🤳 🌇 Thank you for giving our app a try - we’d love your feedback and support! 🙏🏻 Press ‘play’ for your next home. PS. We’re starting off in Palo Alto and can’t wait to come to your city next - tell us where in the comments! 🌎 Alex & Nathan
Will Bewley
@thinkmorebetter Congrats on the launch!! There is already a pretty sizable creator economy for real estate (look at the tags on TikTok), so building specific tooling for them in an app to record and edit these videos makes a ton of sense, and will become a huge market, perhaps the default way to showcase real estate (professional photographs of staged houses perhaps will go the same way out as professional brands moving towards influences to sell their product less "professionally" but more fun and real!)
Hasan Diwan
@thinkmorebetter Are you guys looking for help on the engineering side of things?
Alex Perelman
@hasan_diwan We're always looking for outstanding engineers to join the team.
Gigi Van Deckter
@thinkmorebetter are you looking for consultant? I’m filmmaker/video worked on Emmy awardtv show plus have 20 years real estate experience in NYC real estate?
Ryan Hoover
I wish every listed home had a video like this. The challenge is as a buyer I want to view all available options in my preferred geo, price, etc. so I will continue to default to Zillow/Redfin. But maybe Playhouse is more entertainment than a transaction (as @thinkmorebetter points out).
Alex Perelman
Completely agree, and rest assured, we’re working on it!
Buster Franssen
You can handle the search and purchase of real estate on your own if you have the necessary knowledge and extensive experience in such transactions. But more often than not, a real estate transaction is the most expensive and rare transaction in a person's life, so the necessary experience is simply not there. When I was buying a house, I found a lot of options that I liked, but the deal did not come to a deal. Specialist Jan Kotrbáček helped me. The realtor acts in your best interest and will surely help you get a discount from the seller of the apartment. Knowing the real estate market and the seller's psychology, the realtor, can give the right arguments to reduce the price.
Devan Rome
Cool app. Design feedback… You guys should consider adding an overlay on top of that white text. It can get very hard to see.
Alex Perelman
@devan_rome Good feedback, thanks
Mr Horipodo a
I like this idea too, that app would look better. Also, the idea of a real estate app is a good one. It's convenient to watch videos about the house or apartment you want to buy. You can see everything clearly, and it is much clearer than a photo. Also, we know from experience with Tik Tok that users like short videos a lot. Learning how to make such videos is easy, there are various guides and tips at https://ponatos.com/ on how to edit videos for Tik Tok. The same principle can be used to create videos for home sales.
Nicole Caba
This is absolutely exciting to see -- because I'm one of those real estate addicts! And yup, HGTV is my favorite too, so this is right up my alley. Thanks for making this so much more exciting than the typical static photos. Now it really is like playing "house" on the app and seeing such amazing properties. Excited to see this go national & international. Great work, Alex.
Alex Perelman
Thanks Nicole!
Trilok Hebbur
Love it! Toronto next :)
Alex Perelman
Thanks Trilok!
Julia Doronina
I like this idea!
Daniel Baum
I’m in! I check listings daily, so a product like this would make it even more fun! Nicely done
Stephen Wang
Congrats on the launch. Looking forward to seeing how creators innovate in this space.
David Breger
This is awesome! Have already enjoyed using it. A great mix of entertainment and looking at houses (which I already do anyway all the time!)
Alex Perelman
@dbreger Thanks! Appreciate the feedback
Bob Allen
Congrats on the launch. Great product! Can you direct me on who to contact to invest into Playhouse?
Alex Wonton
Just downloaded the app, love it! Well polished already, and could def be a major real estate app once it’s grabbing all listings through an API. What’s the tech stack? Developing in house? Using a no code platform?
Alex Perelman
@alexthegreat Node + React Native, in house. And a little low code with @retoolapp :)
Kate Syrneva
So great idea! Cannot wait to try it
Michael Bignold
Love it! A way better way to tap into the emotions of a buyer, which is what always drives the buying decision when it comes to a house.
Ilya Lazarev
Nice idea! Contact me if you want to expand to Cyprus.
Vadym Shcherbakov
Very cool way to promote your estate! Congrats on the launch and to the moon!
Barak Hayut
Love this!
Alex Perelman
Thanks Barak!
Gabe Perez
I dig this! Was legit looking at real estate the other day and ended up with Islands for sale...Love the approach of video first, with Zillow or Redfin sometimes the images can be misleading or not enough. Congrats on the launch ?makers and can't wait till you expand! PS - FL, Chicago, and Tokyo are my Geo spots :)
Carel Van Graan
Awesome App Alex! Love the idea
Ben Mehling
As 10+ yr daily redfin user, this looks interesting. When will you launch on Android?
Alex Perelman
@bmehling Don't have a date yet, but soon!
Franco Bouby
This is huge! Congrats to the founders!