Katie Hill's neighbor conversation about his pool sparked a $4 billion idea. Her startup Unlisted Homes just took the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 as a Top 20 Startup Battlefield finalist, announcing their iOS app launch while sitting on waitlists for 5,700 homes worth $4 billion in potential transactions. It's like Zillow, but for houses that aren't for sale yet.
Katie Hill wanted her neighbor's pool. That simple desire just turned into one of the most talked-about PropTech startups at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. Unlisted Homes, Hill's pre-market real estate platform, announced their iOS app launch on stage while revealing some eye-popping traction numbers.
The story started with Hill eyeing retirement dreams. "I've always imagined myself as an old lady with a big hat and big sunglasses, sipping a martini by the pool," Hill told TechCrunch. When her kids started moving out, her neighbor's smaller home with a pool looked perfect for downsizing. So she made a bold move.
"I mentioned to my neighbor one day while he was cutting his grass that if he ever wants to sell his house, I was interested in buying it," Hill explained. His response surprised her: "He lit up, and he was like, 'Are you serious? Because I'm starting to think about retirement.'"
That casual conversation revealed a massive market gap. Hill realized countless neighbors were having similar thoughts but had no way to connect before properties hit the market. The scramble of seeing a "For Sale" sign and having to react fast was all too common.
Unlisted Homes launched as the solution - essentially becoming Zillow for houses not yet on the market. Using public records from 21 million homes, the platform creates detailed property profiles with the same information you'd find on traditional listing sites. But here's the twist: every property has a waitlist.
"We put a waitlist on every single property profile, so a buyer that admires a home can add themselves to a waiting list," Hill said. When someone joins, homeowners get notified there's interest in their property. From there, they can update their listing, add information, and chat with potential buyers.
The numbers since launching the waitlist feature in June are staggering. Hill reports 5,700 homes now have active waitlists, representing approximately $4 billion in potential real estate transactions. That's not just interest - that's demonstrated buyer intent for specific properties.
Unlike traditional real estate platforms, won't facilitate transactions directly. Instead, they're building a revenue model around ZIP code sponsorships. Real estate agents can sponsor individual ZIP codes, getting their information linked to every home in that area as the local expert. The company just signed their first mortgage company partner and plans to expand into connecting homeowners with local services like roofers and electricians.
