Home storage that lives in the cloud
The founders of Haps, a Dunedin-based fintech startup, think they can help Kiwi homeowners turn around a poor record of home maintenance.
Angela Howell and Liesel Mitchell noticed how cloudbased software provided by the likes of Xero was making life easier for business owners, and felt something similar could help homeowners keep their homes in as-new condition.
Haps is a digital ‘‘home management tool set’’. Users pay a $25 monthly, or $280 annual, subscription and in return get access to an online system in which they can store digitised documents and manage home improvement projects, insurance, and other aspects of housing maintenance.
Despite the cost, Mitchell and Howell believe users, whom they expect will include owneroccupiers and landlords, will be able to bring down the long-term cost of home ownership.
They believe widespread adoption of Haps could also lift the average standard of homes, many of which are in a sad state.
‘‘We have to save up so much to buy our homes, and yet we ignore the maintenance,’’ Mitchell said.
She contrasted that with the love and attention many people paid to their cars, which are also locked into an annual cycle of warrant of fitness checks and maintenance.
Haps allows users to set up maintenance schedules, and generate automatic reminders to undertake maintenance tasks that frequently get ignored.
The idea for Haps began when Mitchell was preparing to sell her Dunedin home last year, and found herself thinking how much easier it would be if she had all the documents in one place and could show the home’s maintenance history.
‘‘That kicked off the process,’’ she said.
Then she met Howell, a successful businesswoman, who liked the idea and helped launch the business.
Mitchell and Howell went searching for management systems and found one in the United States called Homezada, which was being used by about 39,000 people to manage their homes.
The two women secured the sole-distributor rights in New Zealand to the system, which has been in use for eight years.
Data indicates many people could do with some help in keeping their homes in good order. Research from building research agency Branz indicates there are many poorly maintained homes in New Zealand, especially in the rental sector.
Stuff is the media partner for Small Business Month, supported by Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.