Is your worst nightmare coming home to a leaky faucet, a flickering light or a broken fridge — then having to track down a plumber, electrician or appliance repairman? If so, you may be the ideal customer for a new startup.
Casa, according to The New York Times (1), is preparing to make its debut after two years of behind-the-scenes work spearheaded by founders who were formerly involved with Uber. Backers, who have invested around $27 million, include Sandberg Bernthal Venture Partners, founded by former Meta chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg.
The startup promises to manage home maintenance for you, for around $200 a month. But, while this may sound good on the surface, especially with Consumer Affairs (2) reporting maintenance costs typically run 1% to 4% of the home's value each year, is the cost actually worth it?
Managing the logistics
Casa's (3) tagline is "Home, taken care of," and the company promises that everyday life at home will become much easier if you pay them $200 monthly to anticipate and tackle home maintenance needs and respond to problems.
When you sign up, Casa uses tech tools to get a complete picture of your home, even down to scanners that detect the paint color on the walls. The company then identifies potential work to complete.
As part of your $200 monthly fee, you'll get 1.5 hours of handyman time, plus AI tools that track your home's systems and alert you to fixes you'll likely need soon. If you have other problems, like a broken dishwasher, you just call Casa, and they'll take care of it. However, those extra services come at an extra cost — Casa just manages the logistics.
One user told The New York Times that Casa responded to her report of a leaky dishwasher, gave her three options for a new one, and offered to purchase what she wanted on her behalf. While she covered the costs, she had to make only one phone call to Casa to get it done.
"The ultimate vision is that Casa is building the autonomous home," Michael York, Casa co-founder and chief executive, told The New York Times.
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Freeing up time may be worth it for some
Casa operates only in the Bay Area and Los Angeles for now, so you may not have the option to sign up. However, the company is hoping to enter more markets soon.
If it is in your area, should you pay $200 for Casa's help? That answer depends on factors such as labor costs in your area, the age of your home and your tolerance for tackling repairs. It also depends on whether Casa can prove its workers are good, and its services are truly effortless.
The average hourly rate for a handyman is between $60 and $75 per hour, according to Thumbtack (4). So the 1.5 hours of services included as part of the overall costs are worth around $90 to $112.5 per month, on average.
Casa's approach also helps you avoid deferred maintenance, which can raise upkeep costs in the long run.
Of course, if your home is newer and you're not likely to need a lot of routine work, if you're handy yourself or if you want to establish your own relationship with local workers to keep on call, this service may not be for you.
Ultimately, Casa caters to customers who think freeing up time is worth the $200 they'll spend to offload the hassle of thinking too much about home maintenance. With the startup just getting off the ground, it remains to be seen just how many Americans will pay not to have to make that call to a plumber.
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
The New York Times (1); Consumer Affairs (2); Casa (3); Thumbtack (4)
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Christy Bieber has 15 years of experience as a personal finance and legal writer. She has written for many publications including Forbes, Kilplinger, CNN, WSJ, Credit Karma, Insurify and more.
