After my HN debut two years ago, PropBox.co has evolved from an advertising platform called ziphomez to a complete MVP SaaS low-flat-fee solution for residential home transactions. What began as a physical model in 1989 that ultimately failed has finally found its digital wings in March 2025. To the 273 commenters who offered guidance, your feedback helped shape our new platform—Thank You. Persistence outlasts failure. The best innovations sometimes take many years to realize fully. Never give up.
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montgomster commented on 79-year-old's SaaS Rises from Ashes of a 1989 Failure propbox.co/... · Posted by u/montgomster
montgomster commented on We made many of the changes you suggested. Thanks again dev.propbox.co... · Posted by u/montgomster
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36365511
We could not make every change, but we made many. The Hacker News community is a valuable resource for startups. Thank you all for giving back. montgomster
montgomster commented on Show HN: 77 Year old launches SaaS platform today. Seeks feedback propbox.co... · Posted by u/montgomster
Hello, givemeethekeys. You are right on. We received many similar comments and you will start seeing big improvements in the message in the coming weeks. What would you think of a calculator that tells you what you should price your at to have it sold in ___ days? Check us out in six months and see how we're doing. Thanks for chiming in. Richard
Hello, Givemethekeys. Just wanted to let you know we are in the process of opening the 37 states we left out. If you haven't sold your home, we should be ready for in a week. Check in then. You can reach me at rm@propBox.co Thanks
montgomster commented on Show HN: 77 Year old launches SaaS platform today. Seeks feedback propbox.co... · Posted by u/montgomster
Main feedback: There’s no way I’m trusting an online third party to facilitate my home purchase/sale. Also: when doing FSBO, most of the work and difficulty is manually dealt with—negotiation back and forth verbally or on simple standardized legal documents. Then an escrow company takes over. Hard to see the benefit a third party in the middle who isn’t taking that off my hands (i.e., a human agent).
Hi, jamesgill. We realize not everyone is going to agree early. We think consumers have been trained by the internet to expect things fast, easy, ans cheap. The is a lot of evidence that demonstrates the trend. PropBox will fill a need for many people early because it is fast, easy,and cheap. There is a customer on this thread that is waiting for a photographer before he posts, who will save $100k if the home sells for anywhere near what they believe it is worth. Time will tell, but we are working for a bright future. Thanks for sharing your beliefs. Richard
montgomster commented on Show HN: 77 Year old launches SaaS platform today. Seeks feedback propbox.co... · Posted by u/montgomster
Its great to hear of someone of your age starting an online business like this. Its a real inspiration to a lot of us older people here to keep believing that that we can do this as well, or that we're not barred from participating in the online world just because of our age.
Keep on truckin'drumhead. When you are doing something you love, it is not work. It's a hobby. ;) Thanks for your comment. Richard
montgomster commented on Show HN: 77 Year old launches SaaS platform today. Seeks feedback propbox.co... · Posted by u/montgomster
not op, but most states have standardized forms that real estate agents are required to use. This is probably a place holder until those forms are ready, but given that the entire point is to make a legal transfer, that should probably be looked at :) another way to look at it might be that this is for the early adopters who are interested in splitting what would normally be 6% commission, like other 'for sale by owner' sorts of sites.
(in other words, this isn't really re-treading new ground, which is probably a good thing... there are tons of other sites that focus on actually closing a sale with very little commissions involved.)
gunapologist99, the forms are built into the product. They are simple forms to read and understand. I have answered thousands of consumer real estate questions and it is apparent by the questions they ask that many consumers are not reading the contracts. They turn to their trusted advisor and ask them if the doc is OK to sign. This is s very poor practice for consumers, brought on in part by the internet. The bulk of consumer do not read Amazon's ToS, or any other site. We don't think we can force people to read them, but if we make the purchase doc simple, and easy to read, they will read it. IMO, PropBox is breaking new ground. There is zero commission. Sellers are paying for an ad that makes the transaction easy by bringing the customers together instead of keeping them apart. A real estate transaction can be a win-win not a tug of war. Thanks for your review and your interest. Richard
montgomster commented on Show HN: 77 Year old launches SaaS platform today. Seeks feedback propbox.co... · Posted by u/montgomster
It looks like the relevant state law is missing in the ToS:
> These Legal Terms and your use of the Services are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of ________ applicable to agreements made and to be entirely performed within the State of _______ without regard to its conflict of law principles.
Also, not sure why you are loading your ToS in an iframe and making it non-selectable and non-copyable? Seems rather user-hostile.
Hello,DeLopSpot. Many ToS docs push skirmishes into one state. We are thinking it is easier for the customers to argue in the state the property is located. This is under advisement. The blank line is simply an oversight. Out of curiousity I will ask IT about the non-selectable/non-copyable comment. I suspect it has to do with speed. I am not technical. Thanks for your observations. Richard