Redfin and Zillow have tangentially benefitted from the cultural phenomenon of the real estate market, but have they really leveraged it as the content machine it is?

HGTV figured it out early. The network's breadth of both filler and compelling content propelled it to a top 5 cable network in the US. Competitors like Netflix followed their lead, and also figured out that social media is as much a powerful content generator as it is a distribution channel. In today’s world, influencers get contracts to host design shows and popular accounts are adapted to TV shows.

“Real estate is not just a transaction. It’s an entire culture,” wrote Alex Perelman with last week's launch of Playhouse. The makers of Playhouse spotted a gap between all of the home-related content you consume and transactions IRL.

“Maybe you saw an amazing house tour, but is it even in your state?... This one company does incredible tile work, but dang, not in your zip code. And so on it goes... a missed opportunity to connect millions of entrepreneurs and small businesses with potential customers in the real world.”

With the Playhouse mobile app, users can browse video listings like they would TikTok.

“Our vision is a real estate app that is both entertaining and practical. The content is fun and addictive like TikTok, but also practical and actionable like Zillow or Yelp.”

Would social and local content make your home browsing easier or more enjoyable? Let the makers know what you’d like to see from the app.

More highlights from last week:

The Anti-Instagram: Glass is a new photosharing app and community for photographers.

Same-day delivery: Nash and Cache are making it easier for small businesses to offer same-day delivery.

GPT-3's descendant: OpenAI unveiled a new Codex, an “AI system” that translates your plain English text into code.

Arvid Kahl is a coder, an entrepreneur, and a writer. He co-founded a SaaS business with his life partner before selling it for a life-changing amount of money two years later. His latest book, "The Embedded Entrepreneur," is a guide to building a business the right way: by focusing on your future audience from day one.