Removing data barriers: Constellation1’s partnership
with HomeStack

Real estate companies frequently hit barriers with managing real estate data sources, from public records to listing data from MLSs. The time and energy spent accessing and managing data feeds holds many companies back, preventing them from scaling in new lucrative markets. Many companies are now removing those barriers and giving their teams the tools and resources they need to succeed. Read on to learn how HomeStack, a Constellation1 customer since 2020, did just that.

HomeStack is a Los Angeles-based real estate tech company that creates customized mobile apps used by thousands of agents and millions of consumers nationwide. It empowers brokerages and their agents to connect more closely with their clients and their preferences. Each enterprise app is built with features like custom push notifications, in-app chat, and collaborative saved searches. These communication tools enhance the experience for all users and provide rich back-end analytics to enable long-term relationships with prospects and convert them to lifelong clients. Like all listing technology, HomeStack’s white-label apps are powered by MLS data. Data is their raw material—no data, no product.

MLS management challenges

“Our MLS data challenges were eating up a huge amount of resources. Having a data access shortcut is huge.”

— Will Grewal, Co-Founder and CEO, HomeStack

Anyone who has managed MLS data in house can tell you that it’s no walk in the park. There are nearly 600 different MLSs across the United States, each with their own unique way of doing things. Imagine an orchestra with hundreds of talented musicians playing together. Now imagine it’s over Zoom, and you’re the conductor. It would take a patient expert to get that orchestra to play beautifully, and the same is true for MLS data. Getting that data to play well together, through cleaning, standardizing, and troubleshooting, takes a lot of time and effort and can drive even the most talented product development teams crazy.

“Before partnering with Constellation1 last year, we had established relationships with about 20 MLSs on our own. On average, we were onboarding about one to two per quarter,” said Will Grewal, HomeStack’s Co-Founder and CEO. “These 20 relationships allowed us to power technology for about 400,000 agents.” But HomeStack wanted more.

“The problem is that MLSs are not one size fits all,” he continued. “For a company like ours, this creates a lot of work. To go from one MLS to the next, we had to dedicate time not only to the relationships, but also to testing, QA, deployment, compliance, and continuous updates—and this ate up a huge amount of resources and slowed our growth. Having a data access shortcut is huge.”

Your listing data shortcut

Constellation1 is your listing data shortcut. We have established relationships with 95% of the MLSs in the United States and Canada. This means we’ve already completed the back-end work to make MLS data work together like a well-trained orchestra. In other words, we are that Zoom conductor, and we have a dedicated 20-member data team making data work for you. The result: a single source for real estate listing data and feeds that can be spun up almost at the push of a button.

Today, HomeStack’s technology is powering two million users, a five-fold increase in under a year.

“Constellation1 is allowing us to time travel. Now, we can look into the future and focus on our strategy.”

— Will Grewal, Co-Founder and CEO, HomeStack

“I tell people that Constellation1 is allowing us to time travel,” Will went on. “When we look back, it took us five years to bring on 20 MLSs. With Constellation1, we’ve brought on 80 in just five months. Now, we can really look to the future.”

Before Constellation1, HomeStack used a “land and expand” model for exploring new markets. This meant that they were limited to where they were able to negotiate MLS relationships. “In new markets, we would definitely have to go deep, not wide, due to the nature of connecting with new MLSs,” Will said. “Now we’re like 7-Eleven, because we’re always open! We can start a dialogue about a new MLS and be live in just a few days. Data doesn’t hold us back anymore.” Today, HomeStack is in hypergrowth mode, and things show no sign of slowing down.

Empowering teams

Constellation1 doesn’t just break down data barriers to empower your team, we aim to be one of its most valuable members. We communicate transparently, work to understand your business needs, and put together a customized solution just for you.

“We really view Constellation1 as a part of our team,” Will went on to say. “We strategize and execute together, and we know we’re in good hands.” Now HomeStack can sell in any market with potential, and its sales teams feel free and enabled, not limited. “We know we’re competing against the big guys in this space, so we need fresh, reliable data, and operational support for our team. We have that with Constellation1 Data Services.”

Parting wisdom

“Data is starting to be seen as a commodity,” Will observed. “For companies like HomeStack, the data itself adds value, but it pales in comparison to everything else we offer our customers. We leverage the creativity and expertise of our team to make amazing products and provide top service, and not having to think about our data allows us to look to the future, where we want to go, and chart a course for getting there.”