OurHouse is free to use. You need an account because everything you collect. Watchlists, notes, photos, scores. Is private to you and the people you choose to share it with.
Creating an account
- Choose Start free on the home page and sign up with your name, email and a password, ticking the box to agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
- Confirm your email address from the link we send you.
- If a friend sent you a referral link, sign up through it and they earn points (see Points and referrals).
The welcome questions
The first time you log in, OurHouse asks what you're looking for, in three short steps. Every question is optional, and Skip for now closes it.
- Where: search for a suburb or a whole town or city and pick it from the list, or tap one of the popular cities. You can add up to 10 places. You don't need macrons or "Mount" in full: "te atatu" finds Te Atatū, and "mt roskill" finds Mount Roskill.
- What: what you're buying (a first home, a move, an investment, downsizing or just looking), the property types you want and the fewest bedrooms you'd consider.
- Budget: a price range, and when you're hoping to buy.
Your answers drive Recommended for you on your dashboard. A price range still includes listings with no asking price, such as auctions. To change your answers later, choose Edit preferences (or Set preferences) in that section.
Finding your way around
Every screen has the same three parts.
The sidebar
The menu on the left is grouped by the stages of buying a home, the same stages shown on your dashboard. On a phone, open it with the menu button at the top left. On a large screen, you can collapse it to icons with the arrow button next to the logo.
| Section | Menu items |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | Dashboard |
| Discover | All Properties, By City, Saved Searches, Private Properties, Add Property, My Listings, Agencies |
| Save | My Watchlists, Shared with me, New Watchlist |
| Visit | My Calendar |
| Compare | Comparisons, Watchlist Blocks |
On the Free plan, an Upgrade box sits under the menu. On Premium it shows your plan with a Manage link instead. See Free and Premium.
The header
- Search
- Search across properties and your watchlists from anywhere in the app.
- Coins and points
- Your reward balances. Tap them for a breakdown. See Points and referrals.
- Bell
- Your latest notifications, with a link to see them all. See Notifications.
- Light / dark mode
- Switches the colour theme. OurHouse remembers your choice.
- Your avatar
- Opens the account menu.
The account menu
| Item | What it opens |
|---|---|
| Profile | Your name, email, avatar, password, and deleting your account. |
| Settings | Property display. Which nearby-place categories show on property pages. |
| Notifications | What you're sent by email and in the app. |
| Referrals | Your referral link and the people who joined through it. |
| Billing | Your plan, payment method and subscription. |
| Agency account | Requesting an agency account, if you run a real estate agency. |
| Invoices | Receipts for Premium payments. |
| Dashboard | Back to your home screen. |
| Help | This guide, for whichever menu you're on. |
| Contact us | A form to send us a message. Our FAQ answers the common questions first. |
| Log out | Signs you out on this device. |
All of the settings pages are covered in Account settings.
A good first ten minutes
- Set up your affordability profile so every property shows whether it's within reach.
- Create a watchlist for your shortlist.
- Add a property you've already seen, or find one in All Properties.
- Add your work or school as a commute address so every property shows travel times.
- Save a search to hear about new matching listings.