Austin Allison, founder of Dotloop and co-founder of Pacaso, is joining the Board of Directors at Houwzer. The new board addition brings with him a wealth of experience and a well-earned reputation as an industry disruptor in real estate.
Allison started Dotloop in 2009 after seeing how inefficient and time-consuming the paperwork process was for buying and selling a home. Dotloop allows for buyers, sellers and clients to collaborate on documents within a single platform – transforming clunky, complicated transactions into a more streamlined, unified experience. In 2015, Dotloop was acquired by Zillow Group for $108 million and today, the technology is used by over 900,000 real estate professionals across the country. Following this success, in 2020 Allison teamed up with Zillow co-founder and former CEO, Spencer Rascoff to launch Pacaso.
It’s no surprise that Houwzer would capture Allison’s interest. Houwzer offers full-service listings for a flat fee of $5,000 plus 2.5% to the buyer’s agent, all paid at closing. Houwzer’s salaried agent model ensures that its team is focused first on client goals, not on commissions.
Houwzer recently brought both mortgage and title services in-house as a way to make the home buying process even more efficient and cost-effective for the consumer. Inc Magazine recently ranked the company as the fifth fastest-growing brokerage in the country – a testament to its popularity amongst consumers, while serving as validation that the Houwzer model truly works.
“I was first introduced to Austin back in December of 2014. He took my call and provided invaluable advice to a young, startup founder with a disruptive idea,” recalls Houwzer Co-founder and CEO Mike Maher. “Six years later, it’s pretty surreal to have him join our team as a Board Director, especially now with that idea having evolved into a rapidly-growing business that recently passed the $1B in sales milestone. Austin is an incredible addition to the team, and I’m thrilled to learn from him as we scale.”
With extensive experience in reimagining real estate operations, Allison is poised to be an incredible asset to the Houwzer team as it continues to move forward and enter new markets across the country. Houwzer’s mission has always been to reimagine the home buying and selling process to be a better experience for homeowners. Typically, agents use a wide variety of platforms to conduct real estate, despite the confusion and inefficiencies this introduces – but as independent contractors, they get to choose. Because Houwzer uses a salaried-agent model, they are able to get all agents to adopt the same technology, such as Dotloop.
“I’m extremely excited to be joining Houwzer’s board,” says Allison. “Houwzer’s mission-oriented culture and their use of technology and tools is compelling. Houwzer’s choice to rely on a W2 agent model acknowledges the tangible value agents bring to each transaction, yet serves as an elegant solution for maintaining a consistent consumer experience, whether you’re in Pennsylvania or Florida.”