REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY, REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
PRweb | June 05, 2023
Inside Real Estate, one of the fastest-growing independent real estate software companies and trusted technology partner to over 400,000 agents, teams, brokerages and top franchise brands, announced that CORE Home, the first-of-its-kind homeownership solution that puts real estate brokerages at the center of the lifetime consumer relationship, released new functionality and enhanced experiences for consumers, and is now widely available for brokerage clients.
“Real estate is more competitive than ever, and staying top-of-mind and delivering value post-close is more important than ever but rarely prioritized by agents. We all know the incredible value of generating consistent repeat and referral business, but the industry has had a difficult time solving for it,” says Grier Allen, Chief Strategy Officer of Inside Real Estate. “CORE Home solves this disconnect, acting as an extension of the agent, and enhancing the value that brokerages and their agents deliver at every stage of the homeownership process - not just the transaction process - to create coveted lifetime relationships.”
Completely branded for the brokerage, CORE Home uniquely allows brokerages to deliver a seamlessly connected experience throughout the entire homeownership lifecycle. The consumer-facing, one-stop resource, is tied to local, trusted expertise, and fully personalized to the homeowner’s specific home search and homeownership needs. The latest enhancements of CORE Home include:
My Search: An intuitive, addictive home search experience tailored to a client’s unique wants and needs.
My Home: Real-time alerts on home values, detailed local market data, and mortgages.
My Favorites: The ability to view saved searches and suggested homes while keeping the agent top-of-mind.
My Move: Valuable tools for buyers to view move progress, complete checklists, and receive service referrals.
My Transaction: Transaction checklists to keep buyers on task and closings on schedule.
My Maintenance: Home maintenance needs are tracked, and easily visible. Preferred service vendors can be requested in just a few clicks.
“CORE Home has given our agents the tools they need to easily stay relevant to their clients before, during, and long after the transaction has closed,” says Ron Snow, Broker & Owner of RE/MAX Associates. “The homeownership experience is not one-size-fits-all, and CORE Home taps into each layer of that unique journey exactly when the homeowner needs it. We are thrilled with the value and engagement CORE Home will continue to bring to our agents and clients alike!"
CORE Home is currently available to brokerages based on select criteria. For existing kvCORE brokerage clients, contact your Account Manager to learn more. For brokerages without kvCORE, visit insiderealestate.com/corehome to learn more about kvCORE and CORE Home.
About Inside Real Estate
Inside Real Estate is a fast-growing, independently-owned real estate software firm that serves as a trusted technology partner to over 400,000 top brokerages, agents, and teams. Their flagship product, kvCORE Platform, is the most modern and comprehensive solution in the industry known for delivering profitable growth at every level of a brokerage organization. Built on a modern, scalable, and flexible architecture, kvCORE enables every brokerage to create its own unique technology ecosystem through custom branding, robust integrations, and high-quality add-on solutions. Recent strategic acquisitions have expanded the company’s technology portfolio further, including BoomTown, Brokermint, and AmpStats solutions, which solidifies Inside Real Estate as the leading technology partner in the real estate industry. With an accomplished leadership team and its talented staff, Inside Real Estate brings the resources, scale, and vision to deliver ongoing innovation and success to their growing customer base. To learn more visit insiderealestate.com.
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REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY, REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
Businesswire | April 12, 2023
Sound Point Capital Management, LP, a credit-oriented investment manager overseeing approximately $32 billion in total assets, is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Assured Investment Management LLC and certain of its related asset management entities (“Assured-IM”), which conducts the institutional asset management business of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (together with its affiliates, “Assured Guaranty”). In connection with the strategic partnership, Assured Guaranty will become a significant equityholder of Sound Point and certain of Assured Guaranty’s U.S. insurance subsidiaries will commit to invest $1 billion over time in Sound Point managed vehicles and separately managed accounts. Sound Point will become the sole alternative credit manager for the Assured Guaranty U.S. insurance subsidiaries.
Sound Point will assume the management of 32 active Assured IM CLOs, comprising 25 US CLOs and seven European CLOs, making Sound Point the fifth largest broadly syndicated loan CLO manager globally on a pro forma basis. New York-based Sound Point is currently managing 39 CLOs of its own and also manages over $10 billion of assets in other areas of credit investing, including direct loans, capital solutions, distressed, structured products, commercial real estate lending, and specialty finance.
“This is a watershed event in Sound Point’s growth story, and it positions us for continued success in a business where scale has become increasingly important,” said Stephen Ketchum, Sound Point’s founder and Managing Partner. “It’s our largest transaction to date, and we’re extremely proud to be receiving a one-billion-dollar investment commitment over time from Assured Guaranty. We’re thrilled to be expanding our diversified platform through a powerful new partnership that will create immediate impact.”
The transaction is expected to be completed in the beginning of Q3 2023. As part of the acquisition, a significant number of employees from Assured-IM are expected to join Sound Point, both in New York and London.
Following this acquisition, Sound Point will take over the management of approximately $15.2 billion (as of December 31, 2022) in Assured-IM assets, predominantly across CLOs but also including structured asset-backed investments. Sound Point’s pro forma assets under management (AUM) are anticipated to total approximately $47 billion after consummation of the transaction.
“This acquisition further strengthens our platform and will allow Sound Point to leverage its already comprehensive firmwide infrastructure and investment teams,” said David Grill, Head of Strategy at Sound Point. “Assured Guaranty’s investment commitment will be allocated to Sound Point managed CLOs as well as a range of other credit strategies”.
The combination of Sound Point and Assured-IM’s technology and systems will further improve reporting capabilities and speed. The combined team will focus on continued excellence and tight operational controls, benefiting from each other’s existing processes and previous experience.
Sound Point will remain a privately held company, with Stephen Ketchum as Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer and the firm’s controlling equityholder. Principals of Stone Point Capital LLC and Dyal Capital Partners will continue to be important members of Sound Point’s ownership group.
Assured-IM was formerly known as BlueMountain Capital Management, LLC. BlueMountain was acquired by Assured Guaranty on October 1, 2019, and subsequently rebranded as Assured Investment Management.
BofA Securities acted as financial advisor, and Pryor Cashman LLP and DLA Piper LLP acted as legal advisors, to Sound Point. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Insurance Advisory Partners LLC served as financial advisors to Assured Guaranty and Mayer Brown LLP served as Assured Guaranty’s legal advisor.
About Sound Point Capital Management, LP
Sound Point is an alternative asset management firm founded in 2008 with particular expertise in credit strategies. Based in New York, with offices in London, Florida and Connecticut, the firm manages money on behalf of institutional investors including top-tier pensions, foundations, insurance companies, wealth management firms and family offices. Sound Point's strategies span the spectrum of liquid and illiquid credit alternatives and include funds and managed accounts focused on leveraged loans, special situations, distressed debt, structured credit, direct lending and commercial real estate. Sound Point currently manages approximately $32 billion of assets. Five principals of Stone Point Capital LLC, as well as Dyal Capital Partners, a division of Blue Owl Capital Inc. [NYSE: OWL], are also strategic investors in our business. For more information, please visit Sound Point's website at www.soundpointcap.com.
About Assured Guaranty Ltd.
Assured Guaranty Ltd. is a publicly traded [NYSE: AGO], Bermuda-based holding company. Through its subsidiaries, Assured Guaranty provides credit enhancement products to the U.S. and international public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets and also provides asset management services. More information on Assured Guaranty Ltd. and its subsidiaries can be found at AssuredGuaranty.com.
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REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY, INVESTMENTS
Businesswire | June 01, 2023
SmartRent, Inc. (NYSE: SMRT), the leading provider of smart home and property operations solutions for the rental housing industry, today announced the launch of its Community WiFi solution, built by multifamily experts for the multifamily industry.
Through Community WiFi, SmartRent is elevating renter expectations for wireless service at their communities in terms of connection speed, dependability, portability and affordability. It is also raising the bar for management teams by upgrading infrastructure and working harmoniously with major property management systems and existing tech stacks for smooth integration and implementation.
SmartRent is an established industry leader, specializing in smart home technologies, self-guided tours, access control, asset protection and IoT solutions. Broadly, the impact of smart technology has often been limited by the WiFi system deployed at the property level. Resident-acquired WiFi varies substantially from home to home, and bulk WiFi packages are still dependent on the signal strength and reliability of individual routers and modems in each home, common area and amenity space. After analyzing the needs of apartment communities and experiencing the challenges firsthand, SmartRent decided to help solve the long-standing industry issue. Through its development of Community WiFi, SmartRent strives to deliver dependable, accessible, community wide internet access to serve as the bedrock upon which rental housing communities can confidently build out their smart home and proptech systems.
“SmartRent’s Community WiFi is the culmination of years of discovery with our clients and a deep understanding of the pains associated with connectivity at the property level,” said SmartRent CEO Lucas Haldeman. “We are uniquely positioned to bring a truly game-changing WiFi solution to the market. Through our infrastructure upgrade expertise, vast hardware and software installation experience and intimate knowledge of smart home technologies for IoT, we have designed Community WiFi to power fully connected communities. Dynamic and reliable high-speed internet connectivity is not only one of the single highest demand amenities for today’s renters, but also the backbone of efficient, high-performing properties.”
Residents can initiate Community WiFi in a matter of minutes, with no need to set up an installation appointment, through the SmartRent app — the same platform used to manage smart home devices and smart access controls and receive calls from video intercoms. Featuring up to 1 GB connection speeds, the service is competitive with individual in-home WiFi plans. A consistent connection encompasses the entire community, including amenities, common areas and office spaces, so residents and on-site staff aren’t required to connect to various routers as they move about the property. The powerful, reliable connectivity also enables WiFi calling, making it essential in areas with marginal cellular reception.
As a marketable amenity, Community WiFi can be leveraged to boost lead conversions and resident retention. Through infrastructure ownership, operators can gain a direct NOI boost from a monthly connection fee per unit and an overall increased asset value through significant infrastructure upgrades. Community wide connectivity fortifies smart communities, providing stability for property technologies and smart home devices to enhance overall IoT performance.
About SmartRent
Founded in 2017, SmartRent, Inc. (NYSE: SMRT) is a leading provider of smart home and smart property solutions for the multifamily industry. The company’s unmatched platform, comprised of smart hardware and cloud-based SaaS solutions, gives operators seamless visibility and control over real estate assets, empowering them to simplify operations, automate workflows, benefit from additional revenue opportunities and deliver exceptional site team and resident experiences. SmartRent serves 15 of the top 20 multifamily owners and operators, and its solutions enable millions of users to live smarter every day. For more information, please visit www.smartrent.com.
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