Unique and Entreprenurial Idea requesting REVIEW!

[furca]

Hello.

My name is Andy i'm sixteen and I love tackling new projects. Just recently I had a script coded by a programmer for house listings. Basically we will be going all over the county taking pictures of homes and categorizing them in excel by address then uploading to the DB via a CSV file. It's all in working order etc. I just ordered a street map of the county, and i'm having shirts printed up and business cards.

What do you think of this idea? How could I improve it?

http://housephotos.org/

The only listing currently is:

197
Northmont Dr
Statesville
NC

Go ahead, search for it.

This is totally legal as long as photos are taken from public roads.

Looking forward to hearing from you,
Andy

 

[tonyfloyd]

16?...wow.....so u joined this forum when u were......13??

 

[furca]

That's correct.

Any suggestions for the site?

 

[acronym007]

I don't really understand the purpose or focus of this website. Does it just show photos of homes?

 

[DNGeeks]

It may be legal in the US, you'd have to check though. In Canada it may not be legal due to our privacy laws (search the news lately about Google Streets).

However, I fail to see the point other than to say "this is my house!". What is the income angle? And do you have a provision to remove the photos of houses that people do not want shown?

It could be used as an archival piece if a photo was taken yearly. But I still don't know where the income would be. Your current Google ads have nothing to do with your site theme, the last ones I saw were for database software.

Perhaps you could use the model of home repair/upgrades and find ads from local construction/renovation companies. Or you may have your own ideas, I dunno I was just thinking in text

 

[furca]

DNGeeks, thanks for the post! Check this out,

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/374832/teens_launch_a_website_to_help_emergency.html

Pretty much sums up our "Public" stance of what project.

 

[parker123]

If you were going to put this time and effort into the site I would buy housephotos.com, it's for sale on sedo. Looks like an interesting idea. Well done with the artile.

 

[furca]

I have already contacted the owner. He wants $8,000.

 

[scorpio]

Unique concept .. good luck..

whats your revenue model?

 

[furca]

Good question. I'd be nice to get some businesses contributing $10/monthly.

Basically I think it will pay off as a project to easily get into college, along with good grades. I will also be using this as my senior project next year for high school.

 

[Tia Wood]

I like it and I think you should add extra features mixed into it. Google maps would be great with this. And integration from a site that provides house evaluations. I know there is a site that will tell you the value of any home with an address, I just can't think of it right now.

I also think you should allow the availability of users to upload their own house photos. This will save you loads of time.

And eventually, buy HousePhotos.com as soon as possible! Because as soon as your site is popular, they are going to want more for it.

Another idea to throw at you is to allow users to make some photos private and some public. You can advertise this feature as an insurance "photo safekeeping" feature-thing-amabobber that if something where to happen to their home, they have copies online.

Tia Wood

 

[furca]

Cool idea meganerd. I just can't afford & don't think housephotos.com is worth $8,000 but what do I know.

We have covered approximately 8% of my city so far with about 350 photos collected in 1 hr time today - Making the DB approximately 850~ houses.

 

[VisualDigits]

I know there is a site that will tell you the value of any home with an address, I just can't think of it right now.


Tia Wood

I think you're talking about Zillow:
http://www.zillow.com/

Duncan: Cool idea. I think you should sell it to yahoo or google.

 

[Dale Hubbard]

Any update on this Andy?

 

[furca]

Sorry for the late bump. But obviously Google Street View trumped the idea.

 

[Dale Hubbard]

Andy, never mind. Stuff happens. You're older and wiser now by a few years. Go on and use your entrepreneurial flair on another project, and the best of luck to you!

 

[tetrapak]

The site is down for me now (Europe).