Fixed-Fee Home Repairs Are Here

Angi Inc., the home services company formerly known as Angie’s List, is rolling out a feature that allows consumers to browse and buy common household services at set prices. Its goal is to offer tasks such as mounting a television, painting a room or repairing a roof in a format that mimics models in industries already transformed by tech, like ordering a taxi via a ride-share app.

The new option, which is available first for certain Angi subscribers, supplements the current system for booking services on Angi in which consumers browse vetted professionals or submit a project request, then take up details such as cost estimates directly with contractors.

Angi executives said they are trying to bring the price transparency and standardization of other businesses to home improvement.

“There’s all these barriers in buying service that we’ve been breaking down piece by piece over the last nine years, pretty much to get to a place where we’re now able to offer a productized service experience across hundreds of different service categories across the country,” said Oisin Hanrahan, chief executive of Angi. “And that’s the big shift that we’re making, so that you can essentially go and buy home services the same way you can buy products for your home.”

The feature comes amid a housing boom as well as a surge of growth in home improvement. Sales of home improvement materials, such as tools, lumber, paint and lawn and garden supplies, totaled $86.4 billion in the 12 months ending this May, an increase of $8 billion from the year before, according to NPD Group, a market research firm.

The Covid-19 pandemic opened consumers’ minds to digital services in areas that had still been largely analog, from car sales to home improvement, said user experience designers, who focus on product usability.

“More people across the board, not just millennials and Gen Z, are going to be more comfortable just going online and using an app to find a service,” said Janvi Jhaveri, founder and chief executive of Jack Strategy LLC, a product design and strategy studio.

Angi added language to the booking process to ensure people understood they weren’t scheduling an estimate with a contractor, but actually employing their services, said Mr. Hanrahan. The layout, designed to resemble an e-commerce store for more traditional goods, also helped, he said.

“The more we can merchandise and display to the user in a visual way, like the same way you’d scroll an Amazon or a Target catalog online, the more we can make it easy for people to digest,” said Mr. Hanrahan.

Other companies have taken different approaches to modernizing home contracting.

Home service platform Thumbtack Inc. in February introduced a feature that lets consumers book professionals for small service jobs like a television installation or to receive estimates on larger projects. The company previously offered information on professionals and their services but left it up to customers to schedule a day and time for the project.

It has stayed away from a model like Angi’s for larger, custom projects because the company believes it is impossible to reliably price many home jobs remotely, said Marco Zappacosta, co-founder and chief executive of Thumbtack.

If a professional arrives at a home and a customer asks for additional services, such as mounting two televisions instead of one, Angi will update the price, the company said.

Not all services lend themselves to pricing ahead of time because every home and homeowner is different, said Liz Young, founder and chief executive of Realm Living Inc., a home property analysis company.

But for tasks that don’t require extensive financing or massive renovations, some homeowners will forgo a human touch, or vetting process, she said.

“For the smaller projects, like a paint job or an installation of a ceiling fan, all consumers care about is this relatively accurate price instantly,” Ms. Young said.

Rumah means “home” in Indonesian and Malay, and it’s clear this designer property in Melbourne’s coveted beachside enclave of Brighton is a dream house in any language.

The uber-contemporary residence is a collaboration between builders Belot Property, Seidler Group architects, and the interiors team at Golden.

The result is a modern marvel that combines a brutalist concrete exterior ready to weather its coastal setting with inviting interiors using a mix of textures, from French oak to metal and brick finishes.

Just listed with Kay & Burton Bayside agents, Rae Mano, Matthew Pillios and Jamie Mi, the prestige property is on the market via a private treaty campaign with price expectations of between $10.5 million and $11.5 million.

Created to be a great entertainer while maintaining a level of discreet privacy, Rumah is, at its heart, a warm, family-friendly home that ticks all the boxes for detail-oriented design connoisseurs.

A palette of contradictions, Rumah blends angular and rounded forms, features hard steel and glass, and effortlessly incorporates the earthy finishes of brick and timber for a holistic sensory experience.

Beyond the oversized pivot door sits a large structural column wrapped in gold leaf, setting the tone for the rest of the residence. The three-storey layout offers a choice of multigenerational spaces, from the ground-floor everyday living level to the accommodation wing on the top floor and the large basement “clubhouse.”

At the heart of the home, a gourmet kitchen features a dramatic island bench, high-end appliances, and a full butler’s pantry. Multiple spaces feed off the kitchen, including a vast dining area and a large living room, which both spill out through full-height glazed doors to either a side barbecue terrace or the poolside deck to the rear.

Even the downstairs entertainer’s room – also known as the club – is effectively poolside thanks to an innovative glass viewing window framing swimmers and cleverly connecting the subterranean level to the rest of the home. This games room also houses a sophisticated bar, a wine cellar, integrated night club style lounge seating and a full bathroom.

Additionally, the lower floor features a hidden laundry room, two store rooms, direct access to a huge five-car garage with a convenient turning circle, and an extra bedroom or home office.

Via the private elevator, the top floor is dedicated to after-hours living. It has four spacious bedrooms, each with its own ensuite and walk-in wardrobes. In the luxurious primary suite, there is a hotel-inspired ensuite with a unique kidney-shaped freestanding bath and a dressing room.

Rumah’s added extras include warming indoor and outdoor fireplaces, automatic blinds, feature lighting, marble accents, bespoke wallpaper, built-in bedheads, an external spa and low-maintenance landscaped gardens.

Positioned on the corner of William and Halifax Sts, the 21st-century beach house is opposite William St Reserve, close to Brighton Primary School.

Rumah at 91 William St, Brighton is on the market via private sale with Kay & Burton Bayside and has a sales guide of $10.5 million and $11.5 million.

Fixed-Fee Home Repairs Are Here

A new feature from Angi to bring price transparency and standardisation to booking household services.

Blending brutalist strength with warm, refined interiors, Rumah is a bold architectural statement in Brighton’s coastal enclave — a designer family home where luxury meets liveability.