Systems and Methods to Track and Automate Home Management

Abstract

Home management tasks may be tracked, scheduled, verified, and accounted for using computer systems interacting with each other to maintain an overall “HomeScore” for a given property. The HomeScore represents an indication of compliance with overall quality of maintenance tasks for a specific residential property. Compliance may be required by local ordinances and building codes. Insurance companies may desire insight into upkeep (e.g., overall maintenance) of the property for which they are providing “homeowners insurance.” Disclosed systems may interact with a) government computer systems (e.g., building code enforcement, property tax authorities, etc.); b) real estate agent computer systems (e.g., systems that promote buying and selling of real estate); and c) vendor computer systems (e.g., service providers and do it yourself (DIY) retailers). This interaction, along with homeowner input of data, may be used to produce an individualized HomeScore representing one validated (i.e., not subjective) indication of “quality” of a property.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method to rate a subject property relative to a plurality of other properties, the method comprising:
 obtaining a first set of maintenance metrics reflecting maintenance activities performed on the subject property, the maintenance activities tailored to attributes of the subject property;   obtaining a second set of maintenance metrics reflecting maintenance activities performed on a first other property from the plurality of other properties;   obtaining a third set of maintenance metrics reflecting maintenance activities performed on a second other property from the plurality of other properties, the second other property different from the first other property;   analyzing the first, second, and third set of metrics by correlating maintenance activities respectively performed on each of the subject property, first other property, and second other property to one another to determine a HomeScore for the subject property;   determining a relative ranking of the subject property to the first other property and the second other property based on the analysis;   adjusting the relative ranking based on a scale associated with comparative properties; and   providing the relative ranking for the subject property, the relative ranking based, in part, on the HomeScore reflecting a relative maintenance grade for the subject property.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the subject property is a residential property selected from the group consisting of: a single family house, a townhome, a condominium, an apartment, and a multi-unit dwelling. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein adjusting the relative ranking based on a scale includes adjusting the relative ranking using data from each of a real estate agent database, a government database, and a home management database storing data reflecting other similarly situated properties. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein analyzing the first, second, and third set of metrics includes determining adherence to a prescribed list of maintenance tasks and timely completion of each task from the prescribed list. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , wherein adherence includes providing a greater weight to validated completed tasks over unvalidated completed tasks. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 5 , wherein each validated completed task is associated with at least two digital image captures that are each geo-tagged and time stamped, the at least two digital image captures including a first before image, taken prior to task initiation, and a second after image, taken after task completion. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the HomeScore for the subject property is provided to a home insurance provider as part of determining insurability or insurance cost for the subject property. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the HomeScore for the subject property is provided to a real estate agent or a prospective home buyer. 
     
     
         9 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions store thereon that when executed by a computer processor cause the computer processor to determine a HomeScore for a subject property relative to a plurality of other properties, the instructions to cause the computer processor to:
 obtain a first set of maintenance metrics reflecting maintenance activities performed on the subject property, the maintenance activities tailored to attributes of the subject property;   obtain a second set of maintenance metrics reflecting maintenance activities performed on a first other property from the plurality of other properties;   obtain a third set of maintenance metrics reflecting maintenance activities performed on a second other property from the plurality of other properties, the second other property different from the first other property;   analyze the first, second, and third set of metrics by correlating maintenance activities respectively performed on each of the subject property, first other property, and second other property to one another to determine a HomeScore for the subject property;   determine a relative ranking of the subject property to the first other property and the second other property based on the analysis;   adjust the relative ranking based on a scale associated with comparative properties; and   provide the relative ranking for the subject property, the relative ranking based, in part, on the HomeScore reflecting a relative maintenance grade for the subject property.   
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the subject property is a residential property selected from the group consisting of: a single family house, a townhome, a condominium, an apartment, and a multi-unit dwelling. 
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions to cause the computer processor to adjust the relative ranking based on a scale include instructions to cause the computer processor to adjust the relative ranking using data from each of a real estate agent database, a government database, and data reflecting other similarly situated properties stored in a home management database. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions to cause the computer processor to analyze the first, second, and third set of metrics include instructions to cause the computer processor to determine adherence to a prescribed list of maintenance tasks and timely completion of each task from the prescribed list. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein adherence includes providing a greater weight to validated completed tasks over unvalidated completed tasks. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein each validated completed task is associated with at least two digital image captures that are each geo-tagged and time stamped, the at least two digital image captures including a first before image, taken prior to task initiation, and a second after image, taken after task completion. 
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions to cause the computer processor to determine the HomeScore for the subject property include instructions to cause the computer processor to provide the HomeScore to a home insurance provider as part of determining insurability or insurance cost for the subject property. 
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions to cause the computer processor to provide the relative ranking for the subject property include instructions to cause the computer processor to provide the relative ranking to a real estate agent or a prospective home buyer. 
     
     
         17 . A cloud-based computer system comprising one or more computer processors configured with computer instructions that when executed cause the one or more computer processors to determine a HomeScore and relative ranking for a subject property relative to a plurality of other properties, the computer instructions to cause the one or more computer processors to:
 obtain a first set of maintenance metrics reflecting maintenance activities performed on the subject property, the maintenance activities tailored to attributes of the subject property;   obtain a second set of maintenance metrics reflecting maintenance activities performed on a first other property from the plurality of other properties;   obtain a third set of maintenance metrics reflecting maintenance activities performed on a second other property from the plurality of other properties, the second other property different from the first other property;   analyze the first, second, and third set of metrics by correlating maintenance activities respectively performed on each of the subject property, first other property, and second other property to one another to determine a HomeScore for the subject property;   determine a relative ranking of the subject property to the first other property and the second other property based on the analysis;   adjust the relative ranking based on a scale associated with other comparative properties; and   provide the relative ranking for the subject property, the relative ranking based, in part, on the HomeScore reflecting a relative maintenance grade for the subject property.   
     
     
         18 . The cloud-based computer system of  claim 17 , wherein the instructions to cause the one or more computer processors to analyze the first, second, and third set of metrics include instructions to cause the one or more computer processors to determine adherence to a prescribed list of maintenance tasks and timely completion of each task from the prescribed list. 
     
     
         19 . The cloud-based computer system of  claim 18 , wherein adherence includes providing a greater weight to validated completed tasks over unvalidated completed tasks. 
     
     
         20 . The cloud-based computer system of  claim 19 , wherein each validated completed task is associated with at least two digital image captures that are each geo-tagged and time stamped, the at least two digital image captures including a first before image, taken prior to task initiation, and a second after image, taken after task completion.