Kathleen Lappe

In 2022, Kathleen Lappe channeled her experiences as both a real estate professional and the parent of an autistic child together. She was issued a patent for Audio Tours, a service that helps those with visual disabilities listen to listing descriptions.

Lappe founded DirectOffer in 2019, a mission-oriented company to make homeownership accessible to everyone. The company’s patented DO Audio Tours™ and patent-pending InterestGrid™ features are changing the way home shoppers view and express interest in real estate, offering ADA features of audio, closed captioning, language conversion and transparency.

“After founding two successful real estate-businesses, I enjoy using my real estate knowledge to help agents serve those clients who often have the most difficult time buying a home due to neurodiversity, vision impairment and language barriers,” says Lappe. “My daughter, Abby, is autistic and suffers from neurodiversity issues. Like many others, she has managed to find workarounds to succeed. Abby is the inspiration for AudioTours patent, and I’m thrilled that I’m at the point in my career where I can use my experience to give back to Abby and the millions like her who benefit from the spoken word.”