HotHouse Leads: Business Model Overview

Executive Summary

• Direct mail postcards with QR codes drive homeowners into an opt-in survey that captures property metadata, motivation, and consent to share anonymized correspondence with vetted buyers.
• Once a seller profile is complete, the platform publishes a redacted lead card and allows qualified buyers to spend credits or bid for exclusive access to the contact details and message history.
• The go-to-market strategy positions HotHouse Leads as a compliant data marketplace rather than a brokerage, mirroring data vendors that aggregate first-party real estate insights while emphasizing privacy-by-design controls informed by NIST guidance.¹

Acquisition and Warmup Workflow

1. Targeted mail deployment. USPS Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) enables postcard saturation at ~$0.24 per piece and offers ZIP-level demographic filters to segment likely sellers without purchasing bespoke lists.²
2. Digital opt-in. Postcard QR links to a disclosure-rich landing page where homeowners confirm sharing terms, complete a structured intake form (timing, price expectations, repair status), and can launch SMS/email/chat.
3. Conversation logging. The messaging layer captures transcripts, applies redaction, and generates insight summaries (e.g., “Owner wants to downsize within 6–12 months”).
4. Marketplace publication. Redacted lead cards highlight anonymized property stats, seller intent, and data assets (phone, email, conversation summaries). No names, addresses, or personal contact details surface pre-purchase.
5. Unlock & follow-up. Buyers use credits or an auction mechanic to purchase exclusive access to the full dossier, including original conversation threads, ensuring TCPA-compliant outreach tracking.³

Marketplace Positioning & Differentiation

• Warmer than list vendors. PropStream markets nationwide property data, 165+ filters, and automated marketing tools that help investors find opportunities fast.⁴ HotHouse Leads differentiates with first-party consent and live correspondence that demonstrate seller intent.
• Compliance-forward posture. GAO research highlights that U.S. privacy law is fragmented, particularly for marketing data brokers, and calls for stronger consumer controls.⁵ Our marketplace emphasizes opt-in consent, audit trails, and role-based access to mitigate these concerns.
• Risk-managed auctions. Ohio’s auction statute defines an “auction” as the sale of property via bids; HotHouse Leads sells data access only, with disclaimers clarifying no transfer of property rights.⁶

Compliance Guardrails

• Maintain explicit opt-in records before sharing conversations or dialing homeowners to comply with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s restrictions on unsolicited outreach.³
• Adopt NIST’s privacy framework to inventory data flows, rank privacy risks, and align mitigations (e.g., anonymization, buyer contracts, access logs).¹
• Publish postcard and marketplace disclaimers that reinforce the company’s role as a data vendor, not a licensed brokerage or auctioneer of property.
• Bind buyers via terms of service that require adherence to TCPA, CAN-SPAM, Do-Not-Call rules, and respect for opt-out requests; log all unlocks for auditability.

Near-Term Research Priorities

• Prototype anonymization workflows that balance lead utility with privacy (e.g., city-level masking, conversation summarization templates).
• Validate state-level postcard disclosures and data vendor licensing triggers in primary markets beyond Ohio.
• Model credit pricing and auction increments informed by lead acquisition cost, conversion rates, and competitor price benchmarks.

References