Abode, a new free digital platform that aims to make the homebuying and selling process easier for both consumers and real estate agents, was launched in 2017 by tech entrepreneurs Kyle Stoner and Carson Junginger.

“People often describe buying a home as the largest, most overwhelming, and stressful event that they have to do in their lives. … And that’s because it’s manual. It’s fragmented,” Stoner said to ChicagoInno. “Something had to be built to make it easier for people to buy a home.”

Consumers can enter information about the kind of home they desire, their budget, their ideal neighborhood and other key components for finding the right real estate professionals that can guide them through the procedure. Abode then utilizes data analytics to assemble all of the necessary resources and information that homebuyers and sellers need to complete a successful transaction, including Realtors, property listings, mortgage companies, inspectors and attorneys.

The site currently has more than 6,000 professionals active on the platform. Lastly, Abode uses a cloud-based dashboard to help users manage their entire process.

“People are more willing to engage with real estate online. Part of what we’re engaging with is a macro trend around that, and that includes mortgages,” Stoner said. “What we’re trying to do is better integrate that whole experience.”

Abode was originally a member of the latest Techstars Chicago class and now works out of Chicago technology and entrepreneurship center 1871. It collects funding from firms like SoFi, Abode and is planning to expand to Atlanta; Dallas; Los Angeles; Fargo, North Dakota; Minneapolis; and Tampa, Florida, sometime this year.

Stoner and Junginger also are launching a new consumer product for Abode that is slated for a March release. “It’s far more feature-packed, and it makes it much easier for the consumer and the real estate agent,” Stoner said about the new product. “We built better tools for both the consumer and the real estate agent to collaborate in one place.”