1) Opendoor
Opendoor is a two-year-old San Francisco
based startup that is on a mission to make buying and selling houses simple.
And, not only simple, but, buying them simply online. Here’s how to sell your
home through Opendoor: go to their website and describe your home, then you
receive an offer on your home from Opendoor. According to Opendoor’s website,
they claim the offer is based off a comparative market analysis and the home’s
unique story. Next is the home inspection. Opendoor performs a free home
inspection to confirm the condition of your home. Then you pick your move out
date. The rest is up to Opendoor. They find a buyer and then you receive the
funds on your chosen closing date. Can it really be that simple?! According to
the testimonials on their website, it IS! Looking to buy a home? Opendoor makes
it very simple for you! Check out their homes for sale on line and let them do
the rest! They also offer a service to do a “Trade-In” on your current home.
This is another example of how our world is constantly evolving to a digitally
connected world. Get this though – Opendoor has a 30-day return policy! Unhappy
with the home you just purchased through Opendoor? You can return it within 30
days of purchase! This may be something I have to see for myself.
2)
VTS-Hightower
Two leading Commercial Real Estate Tech
Companies joined forces and together they have over five billion square feet in
their combined portfolio. VTS and Hightower completed a merger agreement on
November 29, 2016, with their vision being to “create the standard solution
that landlords, asset managers and brokers want to make more informed
decisions, improve efficiency, and ultimately drive better performance across
their portfolios and the entire marketplace.”
VTS was formed in 2012 by two long-time
friends, Nick Romito and Ryan Masiello and later joined co-founder Karl Baum.
All three working in the commercial real estate industry, they saw a need for
brokers, owners and investors to be able to collaborate in real time. VTS
allows landlords and brokers to manage deals, identify rends and quantify
performance all from the VTS dashboard on your desktop or mobile device.
Hightower was founded in 2013 by Brandon
Weber. Much like VTS, Hightower is used for real time leasing analytics and
seeing the performance of your real estate portfolio right on your handheld
device or laptop. All of your leasing data is right at your fingertips with
Hightower.
It is no wonder that these two companies
have now merged into one, VTS-Hightower. This is a company to watch out for. This
was one deal that was said to be “a historic moment for the real estate tech
business”.
3) Compass
Launched in 2013 by Ori Allon and Robert
Reffkin, Compass has been steadily and aggressively growing ever since. With 23
offices across nine regions and a new app, Compass is bringing real estate in
real time and Compass is now one of the largest owned luxury brokerages in the
country. This app is meant to replace quarterly market reports. It gives both
agents and consumers constantly updated housing data. In the app, you can
filter your searches by neighborhoods, number of bedrooms, price range, and so
on. But, you can also view more advanced metrics, such as prices per square
foot, year-over-year analysis of median price, days on the market, and
negotiability. Compass agents can also create PDF reports directly from the app
to provide to customers that aren’t as app savvy. Be sure to check out their
website to get a more detailed view of what it is this company can do.
4)
Real Matters
Real Matters was established in 2004 and
now has offices in Buffalo (NY), Cincinnati (OH), Middletown (RI), and Markham
(ON). The company is a provider of financial services technology. The company
also provides property valuation services as well as casualty insurance
inspections. Keep an eye out for this company….They were recognized as one of
Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies. They have also ranked for five consecutive
years (2010-2014) as one of the top 25 growing tech companies in North America
(in terms of revenue).
5)
LendingHome
LendingHome was started in 2013 by Matt
Humphrey. Matt had an idea to find people the best way to get a mortgage.
LendingHome helps people buy their homes “hassle free”. Their website claims
there are no fax machines and get this – NO PAPERWORK. You can upload all of
your documents online with the click of a button. You will have a customized
dashboard when you log in to the site that will show you exactly where you are
in the loan process. Their website breaks the process down by four steps.
Sounds easy, right? Step one – Select your rate. Answer some questions about
yourself and the property you are looking at. Answer a few yes or no questions
that their system has developed based on the initial information you provided.
Step two – Once you have chosen the loan scenario that best suits your needs,
you will pay the $199 application fee and submit your project. Step three –
Application submittal. Upload documents such as bank statements, Purchase
Contract, insurance information, Escrow/Title information. Step four – Close
your deal. You can start taking out draws as you go to cover your costs. The
company claims that the application process takes 20 minutes and once approved,
your loan can close in 14 days.
6)
Breather
Breather is an off-site office rental
company. This Montreal-based company actually has its biggest market in New
York. They rent out rooms in office buildings, furnish them, and offer them as
short-term offices or meeting rooms. Some companies use Breather when their own
conference rooms are booked up. Or, maybe they need to meet in a private place,
outside of the office. Currently, Breather is in seven different cities within
the US and Canada. Be on the lookout for this growing company.
7)
RealtyShares
RealtyShares was formed by Nav Athwal. The
company offers a wide range of financing solutions for both commercial and
residential real estate projects including both debt and equity. According to
their website, the process takes just four simple steps. Apply in minutes,
approval process takes 24 hours or less, RealtyShares underwrites, approves and
funds your project, then they also service investments and manage investors.
All with the click of a few buttons online. Raising capital can be a hard task
and very time intensive. RealtyShares claims they can do this in a simple,
streamlined way.
