STEEL HORIZONS | TAMPA: How canibuild is making “buy now” home sales a reality

⏱️ 5 min read

Sometimes, building is the easy part of a project. The real challenge is the time-consuming paper process beforehand. But with new cloud-based technology that no longer needs to be the case. 

Welcome to the STEEL HORIZONS speaker spotlight, where we unpack the most insightful moments from the STEEL HORIZONS | TAMPA event, so you can stay up to speed with the latest perspectives and technologies shaping the construction industry.  

In this spotlight, Greg Dettwiler, Head of Strategic Partnerships at canibuild, draws on his extensive experience in homebuilding, to outline a smarter, faster approach to pre-construction and the pathway to a “buy now” future. 

As the ex-owner of the California franchise for one of the largest global residential builders, G.J. Gardner Homes, Greg understands the real cost of pre-construction delays and the complexities builders regularly face, and how cloud-technology and data can help. 

Why pre-construction trips everyone up 

“We believe the answer to one of the most important questions in the building industry is simply in our name: Can I build?"  

While breakthroughs in building technologies like computational construction and telescopic framing have been transforming the speed with which we build, one area continues to lag and that is the pre-construction process. It was something Greg witnessed firsthand at G.J Gardner Homes: 

“It was taking us a year to complete the pre-construction process and six to nine months for construction." 

For most projects, the key challenge at the pre-construction phase is getting all site information. Whether it is sending people to the site to plot every tree or obstacle, or waiting for a municipality to send you a 95-page PDF (which still leaves you with unanswered questions), the whole process is as inefficient as it is frustrating and costly. 

“Time has gone by, and time costs money." 

According to one study in Washington State, permit delays added an average of 6.5 months to projects and US$31,000 in holding costs. This helped price more than 69,000 families out of affordable housing. 

Cloud power meets construction practicality 

"Think of us as like the Google of the building-related industry." 

Canibuild is a next-generation solution to the age-old problem of pre-construction planning.  It is an award-winning, cloud-based, property technology platform that has now completed more than ​​1 million site assessments for over 2,000 industry clients across North America, Australia and New Zealand.    

Founded in 2020 by Timothy Cocaro, a qualified builder with a computer science degree, canibuild aims to align the communication gap between the municipalities, cities, counties, sales teams, and builders, so that everyone is going to the site with the same information – and all that is required is an address: 

"If you enter your address, we can answer the question related to contours, setbacks, lot coverages, wildfire zones, flood zones." 

To demonstrate just how game-changing technology can be, Greg shared a recent report he had prepared for a large Tampa building company during a sales call.  
 
Asked to prove the platform’s value, he entered the address of the client’s next planned build, positioned one of their standard builds onsite, and showed them how a flood channel was running through the site. This meant the builder would need to elevate the home and that would add significant costs. Armed with this information before meeting with the developer, the builder was able to proactively suggest design changes and avoid unexpected costs. 

From instant site intelligence to instant home sales 

“Our mission is to revolutionise the traditional construction sales process into an instant point of sale.” 

Not satisfied with solving the 'knowledge gap' for builders, canibuild is now looking to do the same for homebuyers with their lead converter: a sales tool that enables homebuyers to visit a builder's or developer's website and explore house designs in context with all the site information they need to make a decision.   

Working with multiple industry-leading builder network partners, this tool could realistically transform the turnkey marketplace. 

Imagine potential homebuyers visiting a builder’s website at 11pm and entering an address. In the near future, not only will they be able to choose, position and specify a house design, but also do due diligence, flag any extra costs like earthworks and even arrange financing, before hitting the 'buy now' button. 
 
All this, without talking to a single salesperson. 

But can it really be done? Absolutely, says Greg. canibuild’s lead converter is already delivering qualified leads to businesses today and a “buy-now” component is the next step. Greg predicts it will parallel the way people buy, spec, and finance new cars online today. 

"It's certainly new for the housing industry, and we believe that we're a pioneer in that way. But five years ago, this was new for the car industry." 

Scaling site intelligence into the future 

By making site data instantly available, canibuild is helping builders de-risk projects and shave months off pre‑construction. That speed does more than cut holding fees. It frees capital, widens access to housing, and lets builders start jobs while interest is hot.   

It is a future that only gets more exciting as homeowners get access to the data they need to plan, specify and finance a new home, ADU (accessory dwelling unit) or pool in a single online experience. 

Keen to see what the visionaries in our industry are working on today?  Explore more in the STEEL HORIZONS series or talk to us about your next project.