Upwards of 80 percent of buyers want to see property photos first when searching for a home, according to Robyn Woodman, a real estate broker and head of business development at Portland, Ore.-based real estate startup Househappy.

Househappy, a participant in Startup Alley at Real Estate Connect New York City, was founded in 2011 by Kevin McCloskey, a real estate broker with 27 years’ experience in the business.

The startup launched its visually based search site in March 2013. Househappy.org is free for consumers, agents and brokers, and McCloskey has vowed it will remain so. He plans to monetize the site with advertising from home services and other merchants near properties. Listing agents or brokers are posted directly on a listing page with no competing advertising from other agents.

The site obtains its listings from broker data feeds and manual uploads from listing agents or brokers. A deal with a major listing syndicator is also in the works.

Househappy recently raised $1.5 million in a funding round lead by Skechers exec Jeff Greenberg. That funding was on top of $1 million in seed funding previously raised from angel investors.

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2014/01/15/buyers-want-a-photo-driven-search-experience/?utm_source=20140116&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinesam#sthash.S2Yc3QBi.dpuf