Market Outlook, Real Estate Investment
PRNewswire | August 02, 2023
Zillow® Group's new-construction listings will soon be automatically syndicated to Redfin, connecting home builders with motivated buyers on both platforms. The strategic partnership will dramatically expand the reach of home builder listings on Zillow and allow Redfin customers to explore a broader range of new-construction homes for sale, creating a seamless home-buying experience.
The new partnership comes at a time when new construction is gaining prominence among buyers. In June 2023, new single-family home sales were up 23.8% from a year ago. This is partly because the inventory of existing homes is dwindling and consumers are shifting to new construction to find a home that meets their needs. Zillow's latest market report shows there were 28% fewer new listings added to the market this June compared to last year. A Redfin analysis found that in the first half of 2023, one-third of single-family homes available for buyers to choose from were new construction, a record-high share.
"Zillow provides a standout platform for home builders to highlight their communities and connect with potential buyers. Zillow's Community pages, in particular, help buyers understand the benefits of a new-construction home and give home builders a place to highlight all the amenities within a new-build community," said Owen Gehrett, vice president and general manager of New Construction at Zillow. "The partnership with Redfin extends this unique and valuable resource to a wider audience. It benefits home builders by expanding their reach to additional home buyers, while empowering home shoppers to make confident and informed decisions, regardless of where they choose to shop."
Zillow boasts the largest selection of new-construction communities of all real estate websites in the U.S.,1 making it the ultimate choice for buyers seeking new homes and home builders looking to connect with those prospective shoppers. Through this strategic partnership, home builders will also market their new-construction communities to Redfin's extensive customer base of 50 million monthly visitors. Builders partnering with Zillow will begin to see their listings and communities syndicated to Redfin in the fourth quarter of 2023.
"With buyer demand outpacing the supply of existing homes for sale, Redfin's home-buying customers are increasingly turning to new construction," said Adam Wiener, Redfin's president of real estate operations. "Our Zillow partnership will help our customers discover more homes that fit their criteria. This is a win-win-win for our customers, agents and the builders who advertise with Zillow, who will now reach the homebuyers on Redfin. The partnership provides a new revenue opportunity while allowing us to focus on what we do best, helping customers buy and sell homes with local Redfin agents."
As part of the rollout, Redfin will launch new features to help buyers discover new-construction communities and connect with home builders, powered by Zillow's Community pages. These pages highlight important community amenities, featuring photos, videos, community maps and amenity details, which is incredibly important to new-construction buyers. According to Zillow's 2023 New Construction Consumer Housing Trends Report, 53% of new-construction buyers greatly value shared amenities such as clubhouses and fitness centers, compared to only 24% of existing home buyers.
Community pages also list all available homes for sale within the community, including homes that are move-in ready, nearly complete and lots, and provide a direct link to the builder's website, contact information and sales center hours. These features enable builders to showcase their homes, amenities and details in one convenient place, and soon, the features will be accessible to both Zillow and Redfin shoppers.
Upon the launch of the partnership, Redfin will source non-MLS new-construction listings exclusively from Zillow. New-construction listings available through an MLS will still be discoverable on Redfin.
About Zillow Group
Zillow Group, Inc. is reimagining real estate to make home a reality for more and more people. As the most visited real estate website in the United States, Zillow and its affiliates help people find and get the home they want by connecting them with digital solutions, great partners, and easier buying, selling, financing and renting experiences.
Zillow Group's affiliates, subsidiaries and brands include Zillow®; Zillow Premier Agent®; Zillow Home Loans℠; Zillow Closing Services℠; Trulia®; Out East®; StreetEasy®; HotPads®; and ShowingTime+℠, which includes ShowingTime®, Bridge Interactive®, and dotloop®.
About Redfin
Redfin is a technology-powered real estate company. We help people find a place to live with brokerage, rentals, lending, title insurance, and renovations services. We also run the country's #1 real estate brokerage site. Our home-buying customers see homes first with same day tours, and our lending and title services help them close quickly. Customers selling a home in certain markets can have our renovations crew fix up their home to sell for top dollar. Our rentals business empowers millions nationwide to find apartments and houses for rent. Customers who buy and sell with Redfin pay a 1% listing fee, subject to minimums, less than half of what brokerages commonly charge. Since launching in 2006, we've saved customers more than $1.5 billion in commissions. We serve more than 100 markets across the U.S. and Canada and employ over 5,000 people.
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Market Outlook, Real Estate Investment
Businesswire | July 11, 2023
McGrath RentCorp (“McGrath” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: MGRC), a leading business-to-business rental company in North America, today announced it has acquired the assets of Inland Leasing and Storage, a regional provider of portable storage solutions in the Colorado market. The transaction was funded with borrowings from McGrath’s revolving credit facility. The acquisition adds approximately 600 assets to McGrath’s portable storage operations in Colorado.
“Our acquisition of Inland Leasing and Storage is highly complementary to our portable storage rental business,” said Joe Hanna, President and CEO of McGrath. “Consistent with our ongoing capital deployment and geographic expansion strategies, this opportunity provides us with accelerated regional density and a high-quality fleet to serve the Colorado market. We look forward to expanding our market share with a new set of customers.”
About Inland Leasing & Storage
Inland Leasing & Storage is a locally owned and operated trailer and storage container rental and sales supplier serving a broad range of businesses with branches located in Loveland, Colorado, Chicago, Illinois and Tucson, Arizona. With our team of quality employees and proven sales force, Inland Leasing & Storage provides reliable storage and rental solutions for many personal, industrial, agricultural, and commercial business needs. This type of service is essential to a smoothly run operation for any industry. Inland Leasing & Storage philosophy is to fill the needs of customers when they need it most. From daily rentals to long term leases, Inland Leasing & Storage is your solution! We offer semi trailers for local and long distance transportation needs and also trailers & storage containers for storage only purposes. From 40' to 53' long enclosed trailers and flatbeds to 8' wide x 10' long to 10' wide x 40' long storage containers we are able to assist you in any storage need possible. Choose from 1 day rentals to long term leases. Our customer base varies from regional clients to single facility companies and the family homeowners. Trailer & Container modifications are also available. Call or e-mail us for more information or to get a quote on your storage needs.
AboutMCGRATH
McGrath RentCorp (Nasdaq: MGRC) is a leading business-to-business rental company in North America with a strong record of profitable business growth. Founded in 1979, McGrath’s operations are centered on modular solutions through its Mobile Modular and Mobile Modular Portable Storage businesses. In addition, its TRS-RenTelco business offers electronic test equipment rental solutions. The Company’s rental product offerings and services are part of the circular supply economy, helping customers work more efficiently, and sustainably manage their environmental footprint. With over 40 years of experience, McGrath’s success is driven by a focus on exceptional customer experiences. This focus has underpinned the Company’s long-term financial success and supported over 30 consecutive years of annual dividend increases to shareholders, a rare distinction among publicly listed companies.
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Real Estate Technology
Flyhomes | September 12, 2023
Flyhomes, creator of the world’s best home buying and selling experience, has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase certain assets from Innovative Holdings, LLC, doing business as Home Sale Assured, a leader in the field of ‘buy before you sell.’ Founded in early 2022 by Eric Meadow, Home Sale Assured’s flagship product is the Guaranteed Backup Contract, which empowers existing homeowners to buy their next home before closing on the sale of their current one. As part of the deal, Flyhomes will be acquiring the Home Sale Assured brand, and Meadow will be joining Flyhomes in a senior executive capacity where he’ll report to EVP of Mortgage & Closing, Dan Richards.
“Eric is a seasoned mortgage professional who has built something really special with the Guaranteed Backup Contract,” said Tushar Garg, co-founder and CEO at Flyhomes. “Its ability to remove friction from the buying and selling process, while adding assurance, flexibility, and customer-centricity, aligns perfectly with our core tenants here at Flyhomes. This deal strengthens our offerings and gives us more tools to serve more customers looking for a better way to buy and sell a home.”
Following the close of the deal, lender and realtor partners will be able to continue offering their customers access to the Guaranteed Backup Contract through the Home Sale Assured brand at Flyhomes. Understanding the importance of the customer-agent relationship, Guaranteed Backup Contract was designed to enhance the role of real estate agents and lenders. This ensures everyone moves in unison toward the common goals of seamlessly transitioning the customer into their new home and selling their prior home for maximum value.
“We’re thrilled to be adding Eric and the Home Sale Assured brand to the Flyhomes family of products,” said Dan Richards, EVP of Mortgage & Closing at Flyhomes. “Eric brings 25 years of mortgage industry experience, from his time as President of Celebrity Home Loans (at the time a national multi-billion dollar retail lender) to his recent success as an entrepreneur at Home Sale Assured. His deep operational knowledge and network of relationships will play a key role in extending our portfolio of products nationwide.”
“It’s an honor to be joining Flyhomes at such a critical point in residential real estate,” said Eric Meadow, CEO and founder of Home Sale Assured. “There remain far too many obstacles to home ownership these days, be it first-time home buyers, or in the case of Home Sale Assured, current homeowners trying to move. Consumers, agents and lenders are all looking for practical solutions to overcome these institutional challenges and Flyhomes has been at the forefront of this category. I’m ecstatic to now be able to leverage their advanced infrastructure and resources to bring the Guaranteed Backup Contract to more customers.”
Benefits of the Guaranteed Backup Contract:
With a valid purchase offer, a lender is able to apply standard agency guidelines to remove the departing debt obligation from the consumer’s debt to income ratio. Thus allowing the lender to approve the loan on the new home before the consumer closes on the sale of their prior home.
The consumer is able to close on and move into their new home and take up to 90 days to close on the sale of their prior home.
The consumer can work with a real estate agent to list their prior home for sale during this 90-day option period. If the consumer receives a better offer, they can cancel the Guaranteed Backup Contract and sell their home to the higher offer.
About Flyhomes
Flyhomes is building the world’s best homebuying and selling experience. Launched in 2016, Flyhomes has reinvented the homebuying and selling process at every step, making the process smoother and simpler for consumers with offerings like the Flyhomes Cash Offer and Buy Before You Sell. They back these services with a unique guarantee that gives both buyers and sellers certainty and peace of mind that is unheard of in real estate. To date, they’ve helped clients close on more than $6 billion worth of homes at prices ranging from $150,000 to $7 million.
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