“I never want to look at this as a popularity contest,” Palmquist said. “I want it to be a way for agents to experience and learn about new technology, whether that’s in additional forms of writing or other ways that we showcase something. I think having interviews as a feature of the website, showing their tech stack, gives agents in the industry a roadmap to say, ‘I’m going to follow this, or I’m going to emulate this.’”
By combining peer reviews with practical demonstrations, HomeCode Reviews provides a level of insight that Palmquist believes goes far beyond what marketing materials alone can provide.
HomeCode Reviews will go live next week, Palmquist said.
Learning through experience
A signature feature of the site is the ‘Decoded’ badge, which is only awarded to products that have been personally tested by the HomeCode team.
For the site’s first Decoded demonstration, Palmquist tried a pepper spray alternative called Repulse Spray to highlight the accuracy of the platform’s testing process.
“It wasn’t fun being sprayed in the face with an alternative to pepper spray, but at least I can confirm that it does work and it does hurt,” he said. “It was important to really prove that everything we put a Decoded badge on is a product of us actually trying it out and pushing it to the limit.”
This hands-on approach extends to all product categories on the platform, allowing users to distinguish between marketing claims and actual performance, Palmquist said.
Marketing versus adoption
Palmquist noted how agents discover technology often differs from the way companies bring it to market.
“I think a lot of it is because people are introduced to each other by someone telling them about it,” he said. “That could be their manager or someone else in the industry. Sometimes it’s through social media, advertisements they find or they’re at an event and they see something. But there’s nothing that’s really highlighting these products or helping people find new solutions.”
HomeCode Reviews aims to bridge that gap, Palmquist said, by giving agents and teams a tool to evaluate tools without relying solely on sales pitches.
Customize technology for teams and agents
The platform recognizes that different types of real estate professionals find technology in different ways.
Large teams and brokers can rely on corporate licenses and established workflows, while solo agents or smaller teams often experiment with new tools on their own.
The platform gives agents a way to research products, read peer reviews, and watch demos before making a purchase, preventing costly technical errors.
Palmquist has outlined some common pitfalls that HomeCode Reviews wants to help real estate professionals avoid, whether they are alone or part of a team or brokerage.
“At the broker level, the hardest part is driving adoption of a product that you pay for to use across the company,” he said. “But even with real estate agents – at individual or team level – you sign up for something and sometimes forget about it [you] signed up for something. Or you sign up for the free trial and then it starts to weigh on the credit card. We lose our usernames and we lose our passwords.
“Hopefully we can at least help you make an informed decision before you sign up for anything by seeing what else is available in the competitive landscape for that product category.”
Tech stack trends, pitch battle
HomeCode Reviews launches with an analysis of more than 150 products – with categories including customer relationship management (CRMs), marketing, data and analytics, transaction management, artificial intelligence and operations support.
An emerging trend that Palmquist has observed is the adoption of workflow platforms such as monday.com.
“Many teams and even brokers use Monday.com for just about everything to keep track of their entire operation at a superficial level,” he said. “They’re like sticky notes on a whiteboard with how it works.”
The launch of HomeCode Reviews follows the company’s HomeCode Pitch Battle in New York, where 15 tech companies delivered 72-second pitches across three rounds of competition and attendees voted for their favorite. RealScout came in as the top winner.
“Winning the HomeCode Pitch Battle was exciting, but what was most important was the reaction in the room when we unveiled AI Search,” said Andrew Flachner, CEO of RealScoutthat converts leads through automated engagement tools. “Seeing real estate professionals immediately understand what is possible with a professional home search reinforces the gap between consumer tools and what agents actually need. We are grateful to the HomeCode team and honored to take home the top prize.”
Palmquist expects HomeCode Reviews to become increasingly intuitive for agents navigating a busy tech landscape.
“I hope to get a lot of reviews per product from practitioners who use it to help them make the right decision,” he said. “Before you sign up for anything, see what’s available, see reviews, watch a demo and then really do your research.”
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