In an industry where search tools typically require typing filters into forms, Builders Update is testing a conversational front door. The national new construction database has launched Home Scout, a tool that lets agents and buyers describe their desired home in plain language, either by typing or speaking. Designed for those who prefer not to type, users can say, for instance, they need a three-bedroom, two-bath home in a specific zip code, even while driving, and the tool responds conversationally.
What sets Home Scout apart is its bilingual capability, working in both English and Spanish and switching automatically. “It doesn’t even ask if you want Spanish. If you start speaking Spanish, it responds in Spanish,” says Bill Gaul, CEO of Builders Update and chair of the RESO Data Dictionary New Construction Subcommittee. The translation aims to sound natural, not mechanical. The bilingual option has drawn significant interest in markets with large Spanish-speaking populations, including Miami, San Diego, and border regions.
The tool is available on the company’s website. After a search, results, floor plans, property details, and photos are sent to the user’s inbox. “By the time that person parks the car, the floor plans and the pictures are in their inbox,” Gaul says. Agents can forward those results to clients in two versions: a full agent view that includes the address and builder name, or a buyer-facing view that shows photos, floor plans, and pricing without the address or builder.
This two-version design reflects the platform’s agent-centric model. Detailed listing information is reserved for licensed agents, and buyers register through their agent rather than around them. The platform also offers electronic buyer registration: when an agent submits a buyer’s name, the builder can confirm the buyer is not already in its system, which protects the agent’s claim to the commission if that buyer later purchases. Gaul describes the registration process, part of the company’s patent, as a way to keep the agent’s role transparent and protected. “We’re trying to inject the agent into the process,” he says.
Adoption is a work in progress. Gaul notes that even where the tool has been available for a while, some agents have not tried it, and part of the effort now is simply encouraging them to click. The platform currently serves more than 860,000 agents nationwide.
