Case study · Builders Patch

SiteMatch

Affordable housing developers spend months evaluating potential sites — manually, without data. SiteMatch surfaces the best sites based on estimated QAP score, so developers can find and secure funding faster.

Company

Builders Patch

Focus

B2B · Site Selection · QAP Optimization

Timeline

Jan – May 2023

Background

A process built on guesswork and regulation.

Affordable housing development is one of the most complex and bureaucratic processes in real estate. Developers rely on a government scoring system — the QAP (Qualified Allocation Plan) — to secure LIHTC tax credit funding. The higher their QAP score, the better their chances. But navigating QAP criteria across 50 states, with constantly changing policies and scarce data, is nearly impossible to do accurately at speed.

Scarce funding

Construction costs are rising while profits are capped by rent limitations. Every point of QAP score matters.

High demand, low return

Affordable housing is urgently needed, but the development process is longer and more complex than market-rate projects.

Government dependency

Region-specific policies and requirements shift constantly. Developers need to stay current across multiple states.

Research

10 expert interviews. One clear opportunity.

We interviewed developers, architects, and consultants working in affordable housing along the East Coast to understand where the real friction was. The answer: site selection. Developers had no reliable tool to identify and evaluate sites against QAP criteria — they were doing it manually, with outdated information, from scattered sources.

What is QAP? The 5 selection criteria developers must optimize against

Value opportunity analysis — where in the process could we actually intervene?

Defining criteria — the 7 values developers prioritize

Design thinking

Three concepts. One winner.

After a Build-a-thon with Crazy 8 ideation and physical wire-framing, the team converged on three concepts — each solving the problem from a different angle.

SiteMatch · chosen

Surfaces best sites based on estimated QAP score. Directly solves the site selection problem.

SiteGPT

Conversational guidance for developers. Broader scope, harder to scope for MVP.

SiteScope

Browser extension to save and analyze sites. Too passive — doesn't proactively surface opportunities.

Co-design workshops with developers, architects, and multi-housing experts

Final design

Find the right site. Score it. Win the funding.

SiteMatch is a one-stop platform for reliable, integrated, and up-to-date site information — organized around what developers actually need to decide: which site gives them the best shot at funding.

Site search & filter

Filter potential sites by location, preferences, and market demand to find optimal development opportunities.

QAP calculator

Estimates potential QAP scores per site — identifying which sites have the highest probability of securing funding.

Site comparison

Compare multiple sites side by side, ranked by QAP score, so developers can make confident decisions fast.

Live data

Data scraping and parsing keeps site information current — no more stale spreadsheets or manual research.

Impact

Value delivered.

SiteMatch reduces pre-development time to under 12 months, centralizes scattered site data, and gives developers a clear path to maximizing their QAP score — and their chances of securing LIHTC funding.

Lessons learned

Experience level shapes everything. New developers want simplicity; experienced developers want their existing workflows respected. Show deliverables to users as early as possible — in complex B2B, knowledge gaps are wide and data gets messy fast. Pivot, prototype, co-design, and workshop continuously.

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