AI for Homeowners: Save Time, Money & Stress with Abodio

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Show Summary

In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Erika interviews Wouter Broekema, the founder of abodio, a software designed to help homeowners manage their properties more efficiently. Wouter shares his journey of creating abodio, the challenges of educating homeowners about the need for such software, and the role of AI in enhancing home management. He emphasizes the importance of building relationships within the real estate industry and discusses future plans for abodio, including potential international expansion and partnerships with manufacturers.

Resources and Links from this show:

• • • Investor Fuel Real Estate Mastermind
    • Investor Machine Real Estate Lead Generation
    • Mike on Facebook
    • Mike on Instagram
    • Mike on LinkedIn
    • Wouter Broekema’s Website
    • Wouter Broekema on LinkedIn
    • Wouter Broekema’s Email Address: [email protected]

  Listen to the Audio Version of this Episode

  Investor Fuel Show Transcript:

  Wouter Broekema (00:00)
  one of the like the smarter ways that we use AI is You can take a picture of your fridge It will identify it as a fridge the model the serial number the brands and then it will automatically

  find you here’s the manual, here’s where your customer support is, here’s what kind of parts you need, right? And then it will give you an automatic maintenance suggestions, well this fridge needs to be have a new water filter every six months, you need to clean the coils once a year. And so that kind of automation and now automatically being sent to you is something that is very low customer effort. ⁓ So that’s why how we’re trying to use that smartly.

  Erika (02:11)
  Hey, everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Erika And today I’m joined by someone that I’m excited to chat with, Wouter Broekema He has the software Abodio and it’s making serious moves in the real estate world. Wouter , it’s awesome to have you on the show today.

  Wouter Broekema (02:30)
  Thank you, Erika. So, so glad to be here and look forward to chatting with you.

  Erika (02:33)
  Yeah, so let’s jump in right away. What you have going on with Abodio is very interesting. Can you tell me more about what led you to form this company and software and how it’s really being a trailblazer and doing something different in the industry?

  Wouter Broekema (02:52)
  Yeah, thanks for the question and I’m truly excited about what I’m building and the whole idea and the drive behind this comes from both a personal and professional background.

  In my professional background, I had an opportunity to work in a very large facility management company that provided services for property managers of large commercial estate facilities. And in that space, there are so much exciting technology. And we worked with a particular software, which is called a CMMS software, computerized maintenance management software, that helped property managers really identify what needs to be taken care of in the building.

  schedule the maintenance and to make sure that stuff doesn’t break down and to begin with and when it breaks down is being serviced very efficiently by the right technicians whether it’s plumbers, electricians or what have you, right? And so I’ve always wondered like why does that software is so developed for the commercial estate but there really isn’t anything like that for the residential real estate. So I had this in my mind and you talk to friends and family members at holiday parties and

  you you run the idea, I like, my God, that sounds so amazing. You should build that. And so I’ve always had this in my mind. And a couple of years ago, I bought my, current home that I’m in. And I again, had the very much this, my personal pain point of getting the keys to a home and now wondering, well, how do I take care of this, this house? Right? When was last time the chimneys were swept? Who’s taking care of the sprinkler system? I have a septic tank. I don’t know how often that needs to be done. And so I

  had all these pain points that came back to again to the same idea like I’m buying a very important asset to me I want to take care of it help me with software that lets me do that so that’s where the idea from a Bodio really came from

  Erika (05:34)
  Yeah, wow. Was there kind of a moment for you with building the software that you knew this was gonna be your lane and that you were to keep growing and scaling it?

  Wouter Broekema (05:44)
  Yeah, was, you know, when you have an idea and you start talking to people, there’s one thing when people say like, hey, that’s a good idea, right? But when you start really talking to the professionals in the industry, like realtors, property managers, builders, and you hear the resounding, say, this is very cool. There’s definitely a gap in the market, right? At that point, you know you’re on the right track and listening and I’ve done a lot of meetings and talking to potential partners

  and having their feedback and input and what this platform can mean for them has been absolutely critical in developing what we have today. And I actually continue to developing it with their inputs in the future as well.

  Erika (06:28)
  And I know the software, you know, there’s such wide potential with who it can help. But as you’ve been growing and scaling, has there been a focus or niche where you’ve had a lot of customers?

  Wouter Broekema (06:40)
  Yeah, well, the primary user for our platform are individual homeowners, right? So what really ⁓ defines our product is that we let homeowners manage their homes much more efficiently, trying to save time, money, and definitely a lot of stress to stay organized on what needs taking care of in their home, how to do it, when to do it, and who can do it, right? All this basic question that every homeowner is struggling with. But as the focus of the

  homeowner is really, really present, other parts of the real estate industry have identified that that’s something that they are trying to solve for as well. And think about, especially realtors and property managers and builders, when someone builds a beautiful home for their clients and now wants to hand over like, you’re going to live in it as a client. Right. So what does the homeowner need to know about the home?

  traditionally that has been sold for by a big binder, a 30 minute walkthrough, and then here you go. So what we’re trying to solve for this software is that the builders and the property managers can more digitally stay engaged with their customers through our platform and that transforms everything. They have much better insight of what’s happening with the property, understanding the cost and operating, so much deeper than we initially have thought.

  Erika (08:09)
  Yeah, like I was saying before, like kind of like the sky’s the limit with how you’re able to reach to new people and help people. As you’ve been developing your software, what’s one challenge that you’ve faced with growing? mean, what you’re building, not a lot of people have right now.

  Wouter Broekema (08:29)
  Yeah, it truly is a wide space, right? So the challenge is that people think that they know how to do it and they have the tools, how to manage their own homes. So in most cases, people are very familiar with why they potentially would need the software, but they have Excel spreadsheet, Google Docs, a notebook, a file drawer with tons of manuals. And so there’s a basic feeling

  that I don’t need necessarily the software, but once they get exposed to the power of how our software can transform and save them countless hours and trying to have to dig through manuals and trying to find that receipt for something, then it completely changes their minds and there’s an instant adoption. So it’s truly an educational challenge that we have at the moment in creating the awareness that this type of software is available and no one needs to suffer through those notebooks and what have you.

  Erika (09:27)
  And your software has also saved property managers a lot of time. Do you have any stories with how you’ve been helping property managers?

  Wouter Broekema (10:10)
  Yeah, so property managers, when they ⁓ actually have different people in their homes, they try to understand like, how do I need to take care of these ⁓ items, right? And so the people who live in those homes, they want to understand like how my washing machine is broken, who do I call, what do I do with this? And so the homeowner through our software that is living in those properties has much more visibility.

  and how they can use their home ⁓ and that reduces the amount of time that a property managers have to spend with the actual the people living in the home significantly right and so it makes the onboarding process or someone moves into a property so much smoother because they can get direct digital access to the platform without having to you know do the lengthy walkthroughs and lengthy communication of everything that the new people need to know about the property.

  Erika (11:07)
  Absolutely. Just before this, had mentioned the hurdle of needing to educate people and have them see how this software is a need, not just a want. So what has your process been like with educating the public?

  Wouter Broekema (11:22)
  Yeah, so it’s things like this, right? Being on your blog and being out there and working with some PR agency to create stories out there, reaching out a lot to realtors. The realtors have been one of our strongest advocates for our platform because again, they understand the pain point better than no one else. If someone buys a home and they’re like, fostered with like moving in and everything else that they have going on and then

  but now comes the additional stress of how do I now take care of this, right? And so a realtor being able to communicate to the new homeowner, listen, there’s actually a tool that helps you do that. So outreach to realtors has been, I’d say, probably one of the best ways to get to the end user in a way that makes sense, because they have that trust relationship with the buyer of the property.

  Erika (12:18)
  listeners who are looking to level up and you know, maybe they want to create their own company. They find it, you know, some need in real estate that no one else is doing. What kind of advice would you give to someone?

  Wouter Broekema (12:33)
  I would say definitely talk to a lot of people and it sounds like the obvious thing, But in many cases you have an idea in your head that sounds great and you talk to one or two people but every person from the industry has a different kind of insight, right? So understand, talk to 10 different realtors, not just to five, right? Talk to 20 property managers, not just to two because there are so many different kind of use cases in this space that you truly need to understand.

  what

  are you solving for? What is the greatest value that your product and your service can do? And I’d say at the same time, the technology today is developing at such a rapid pace that your idea when you build it today…

  needs to be valid in six months or in 12 months. And so staying ahead, understanding what is the technology headed, having solid partners that have those kind of insights. If it’s your developer, if it’s a digital firm that can advise you on that. But really, really understand the technology because it can help you tremendously, but it can also also surpass you and make your product less relevant than you thought it would be.

  Erika (13:49)
  Yeah, and if I am understanding correctly, part of what your software has is a built-in AI, yes? Yeah. So how do you stay on top of that with how fast AI is changing?

  Wouter Broekema (13:57)
  Yes, exactly. Yeah.

  Yeah,

  well, so there’s hardly different models being released even like with a different kind of models, right? There’s chat tbt applaud or any of the other models that are out there and so our our developers that help us build a Bodeo are very much in tune with this and so identifying so

  one of the like the smarter ways that we use AI is You can take a picture of your fridge It will identify it as a fridge the model the serial number the brands and then it will automatically

  find you here’s the manual, here’s where your customer support is, here’s what kind of parts you need, right? And then it will give you an automatic maintenance suggestions, well this fridge needs to be have a new water filter every six months, you need to clean the coils once a year. And so that kind of automation and now automatically being sent to you is something that is very low customer effort. ⁓ So that’s why how we’re trying to use that smartly.

  But some of the developments

  where

  this is going where it’s more around AI agents, right? meaning that the software can do things on their own self. So the way that where we’re going with all of this is that the software will remind you, hey, you’re a filter and your fridge needs to be replaced. Would you like me to order one? Because we know what kind of part you would need for that. And we’ll automatically find like the cheapest product for you on Amazon and order that for you. Or trying to integrate with your Google Calendar.

  to schedule your next chimney sweep. again, trying to understand. I personally have very strong affinity to digital and innovation and understanding how it can help business processes. So I’m not relying just on my developers. I’m very much in tune on what’s happening out there myself as well.

  Erika (16:32)
  Absolutely. And you had talked earlier about how you’ve been able to grow and scale because of your partners and in the real estate world, the relationships are so important. So for you, what has been the most helpful with growing your team and just building your network at large?

  Wouter Broekema (16:50)
  Yeah, you have to put yourself out there, right? And it’s sometimes scary at first, trying to reach out to different kind of partners in the real estate business. Tonight, I’m going to a ⁓ Boston PropTech meetup ⁓ with other founders of PropTech technology. ⁓ So those kind of conversations are super helpful because they give you access to additional funding sources and additional ideas of how your business can grow.

  I’ve had personally the benefit that I’m a would say a late-stage entrepreneur. I’ve worked in the corporate world for many years so I have a pretty wide network of people that have been in the industry and so reaching out to those people and not just evangelizing my own idea but truly listening and learning from their experiences right and bringing that into the business is it’s been super helpful.

  Erika (17:45)
  And what’s that next on the horizon for a Bodio? I know you got some big plans there.

  Wouter Broekema (17:51)
  Yeah, well, it’s an interesting development in terms of like how we can grow this both domestically but also internationally. So primarily, of course, our focus has been to grow in the US, but we have received some interest from other parts of the world as well where the technology is very much solving pain points in those markets as well. So it’s been very interesting to see that kind of geographical expansion. But we look forward to partnering more with the manufacturers

  manufacturers and understanding. Again, we have ⁓ much deeper insight in how ⁓ once an asset, whether it’s a fridge or your laundry machine, washing machine, once it’s purchased, we have much better visibility in how that asset is actually performing, how many times you need service and all of that. So looking forward to giving that kind of data back to the manufacturers, back to the property managers, the builders.

  So when you build a new home after 12 months, your warranty is passed out and then the homeowner needs to get served from other companies. And so we will be able to provide big data back to the builders in terms of what is the true operating cost and maintenance cost of ⁓ a home ownership. So we’re developing largely a tool for the homeowners and we truly believe that that’s where the value is primarily. But the additional insights that we will be able to get from

  platform for the industry at large is super exciting and something that we look forward to working towards.

  Erika (19:27)
  Well, you know, it’s going to be exciting to keep following along with what’s going on at Abodio. And before we wrap up, Wouter, if someone wants to reach out, connect with you, learn more about what you’re doing, what’s the best way for them to reach you?

  Wouter Broekema (19:42)
  Yeah, absolutely. So you can go ask this course to abidio.com and find all of our contact details as well. But hey, everyone that wants to get in touch, my name is Wouter Broekema, W-B-R-O-E-K-E-M-A at abidio.com, A-B-O-D-I-O.com. So look very much forward to talking to other professionals and hear your thoughts and ideas around our platform.

  Erika (20:08)
  Yeah, yeah, wow, this was such an exciting episode. I just love how you’re bringing innovation to the industry, Wouter.

  Wouter Broekema (20:14)
  Thank you so much for having me, Erika.

  Erika (20:16)
  Yeah, absolutely. It’s great. And for our listeners, if you got value from this episode, make sure that you’re subscribed to the Real Estate Pros podcast. We got more conversations lined up with pros who are out there building fantastic real estate businesses. We’ll see you on the next episode.