How HomeStars Got Started

Home renovation is all too often an agonizing process of unanswered questions, unknown vendors, mounting expenses, and empty promises.

People feel strongly about “home”. Whether it’s a botched electrical job, an unclear contract, or a wonderful new bedroom design coming to fruition, emotions tend to run high.

Increasingly, consumers fill the information void by going online, replacing emotion with facts and advice, lessening their uncertainty and apprehension through sharing with peers and the relevant community. Sometimes, that process leads to making great new contacts. Sometimes, it turns into a new career!

Nancy Peterson, founder and President of HomeStars, learned about the limitations of traditional word-of-mouth when she planned an extensive reno. The goal: take a relatively ordinary home on a beautiful, treed lot in a prime neighborhood, and transform it to its fullest potential. Like you, Nancy sets her standards high.

As the workload of tracking down and finding appropriate contractors mounted, Nancy thought: if only I could have tapped into a huge database of information that was as trustworthy as some of the great word-of-mouth offered by my friends and neighbors!

A little later, Andrew Goodman (an online marketing expert by trade) came on board with enough ideas for the growth of the HomeStars community (be careful what you wish for!) that he found himself wearing co-founder shoes (size 9). Andrew is currently known as Chief Strategy Officer.

HomeStars succeeded beyond our expectations in Toronto, our hometown. Homeowners are quickly finding information about home improvement that just isn’t available anywhere else.

Together, Nancy and Andrew (and Jodi, Cathy, and other team members, family and friends) decided that the plan had to be to share HomeStars with as many cities as possible. So the city rollout plan was born, and is currently in progress. As they say, coming soon to your city!

Homeowners Are The Real Stars

HomeStars couldn’t exist without homeowners sharing with their neighbors. In fact, the main motivation for adding your review remains: you’d probably do this for your neighbors... so this is just the kind of thing you do for your online neighbors.

How We Support Excellent Companies Without Compromising Impartiality

Homeowners aren’t the only heroes in this story. The many contractors and retailers who proudly go the extra mile deserve all those great reviews they get on the site. We’re delighted to help them tell their stories. We offer all business owners the opportunity to pay for a sponsored listing to allow them to add additional information, but our editorial policy is strict: review content is strictly off limits to any cash payment. Businesses cannot buy their way to a better ranking or rating. What you see is what you get: homeowners sharing information with other homeowners. Over time, we’ll add expert advice, checklists, Q&A, and a host of related resources.

Making Sure Reviews Are Real

We’re rigorous about ensuring that reviews are real. We know online word-of-mouth is growing in all fields, but it’s got to be high quality information. We take a dim view of phony reviews, and we’re always looking to improve the verification process. Homeowners can learn more about one another by messaging each other (anonymously if they wish) through HomeStars. Business owners are also free to respond publicly to negative reviews.