Whilst there have been some great highs for Mortgage Mates this year, there have been some personal challenges for both Jess and I. In August, my wedding was cancelled (as so many peoples were) and we had to accept that seeing family, even in difficult circumstances, was not going to be possible for us this year. Jess- living in Victoria, was faced with the unenviable task for doing a second ‘lockdown’ which saw many restrictions placed on individuals for the best part of six months.
Keeping motivated to move forward when these things were happening was challenging, but our focus was always on making the best website we could! During lock down we met with founders of Proptech websites across the world including New York, Amsterdam and San Francisco and we used these and all our experiences to look at version two of Mortgage Mates.
During Plus Eight and the SBE E3 program Daisy was part of we asked users what they were looking for from our website, and with their feedback and feedback from existing Mates we made a number of changes. The first, was to add a subscription email box on the site. This has allowed individuals to sign up to information and guidance on co-ownership before becoming an official ‘Mate’. The second was to change the layout of our Mates page- creating a clearer profile of each Mate for users to sign up to. The last major change has been including ‘motivators’ on our profiles. These motivators demonstrate the ‘why’ some one has when looking to own a home. Co-ownership can be for individuals who want to co-live together as part of a ‘community’, be co-investors as part of an ‘investment’ portfolio and ‘environmental’ because you want to positively impact the environment and reduce the need for additional builds.
These changes have lead to sign ups from Mates from Perth, to Hervey Bay, to regional Victoria. As we move into 2021 we also have a few more changes to be made to the site which we thing will improve the use of the website even further.
As we close off our year in review, we want to say thank you to everyone who has been part of our journey so far. As a new, bootstrapped startup we know it takes a lot to believe in something new and we appreciate each and everyone who has supported us. To friends and family who listen to us talk about ideas and plans, to our developer who takes these plans and turns them into reality (Marcus, you are awesome), to fellow innovators who share a similar story and third parties who have helped us take this idea to reality we appreciate you.
Most of all we want to thank our Mates for believing in us. By signing up to the website, we hope we set you on your journey to home ownership, but equally you are creating a community of co-owners, keen to take co-living into the next decade.
We have some exciting things already lined up for 2021, most of all doing some face to face events to meet our Mates in person, and really create an educational piece around permanent co-living and how it can best work for you. So if you see an invite to a night of wine, Mates and home ownership, we would love for you to come along and say hi!
Wishing you all a happy and productive New Year.
Daisy and Jess.