REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY, REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
Accesswire | April 28, 2023
EquityMultiple today took another step in its evolution as a vertically integrated investment manager with the launch of its dedicated originations group, EM Investment Partners (EMIP). EMIP will help deliver on EquityMultiple's mission to provide accredited investors access to the highest quality real estate opportunities across the capital stack. EMIP primarily focuses on the middle market where it can leverage its asset management expertise to originate "win-win" transactions: bespoke financing solutions that simultaneously deliver attractive risk-adjusted return opportunities for EquityMultiple's investors. EMIP's institutional approach and proprietary network of sponsors allow EquityMultiple investors to participate in rigorously vetted real estate opportunities from quality operators.
EMIP is a natural extension of this industry leadership. Working behind the scenes at EquityMultiple, the EMIP team has originated over $400M in debt, preferred equity, and equity investments since the inception of the EquityMultiple platform, participating in transactions that account for over $4.5B in total market capitalization.
EMIP's originations approach is shaped by current market dynamics. Leveraging proprietary data, vast experience, and deep industry relationships, the EMIP team crafts a forward-looking market thesis in order to provide value to middle-market sponsors and unique deal flow to EquityMultiple's network of self-directed accredited investors. In conjunction with the launch of EMIP, EquityMultiple will be launching its first open-ended debt platform to provide borrowers with financing solutions beyond traditional banks. EMIP's first dedicated debt fund will primarily target first mortgage loans on most property types in markets with strong fundamentals, targeting low double-digit annual net returns to EquityMultiple investors. Middle-market operators seeking debt or equity financing can get in touch at eminvestmentpartners.com.
About EquityMultiple
EquityMultiple is a commercial real estate investment and technology firm whose mission is to build investor wealth through streamlined access to diverse real estate investment products. To date, EquityMultiple's investors have participated in over $4.5 billion in commercial real estate transactions through its online investing platform. The firm pairs innovative technology with real estate experience via its subsidiary, EMIP, and industry-leading investor services, to offer an unparalleled investing experience.
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BROKERAGE, REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
Businesswire | April 20, 2023
Lessen, the premier tech-enabled, end-to-end solution for outsourced real estate property services, announced today a strategic acquisition of Blue Skyre IBE, a global facilities management solutions provider. This acquisition allows Lessen to extend its offerings in facilities management and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) solutions, as it continues to pursue its vision of bringing unparalleled operational excellence and efficiency, enhanced services and advanced technology to commercial and residential real estate—all under the direction of a single, unified platform.
Blue Skyre IBE Chief Executive Officer Maureen Ehrenberg and Chief Strategy & Product Officer Colette Temmink will join the Lessen leadership team. Ehrenberg is now president of Lessen’s commercial division, which was formerly the commercial division of SMS Assist, acquired by Lessen in January 2023.
Formerly CEO of Blue Skyre IBE, as well as a co-founder, Ehrenberg is an internationally recognized real estate industry business leader, with more than 35 years of experience in business process transformation, strategic positioning and operations of large, complex portfolios. Before co-founding BSI, she was the Global Head of Strategic Real Estate Operations for WeWork. Her previous experience also includes being International Director and Global President of JLL Integrated Facilities Management Services; Global Head of Integrated Facility Management at CBRE, and Executive Vice President of Grubb & Ellis Company and President and CEO of Grubb and Ellis Management Services, Inc. Ehrenberg was named to the Woman of Influence Hall of Fame by Real Estate Forum/Globe St.
Temmink is Chief Operating Officer of the commercial division.
"This acquisition advances our goal of providing a game-changing, tech-enabled service model for the entire real estate ecosystem,” said Jay McKee, CEO of Lessen. “Lessen and Blue Skyre share a vision of leveraging technology to help shape the future of real estate for a better world, solving pain points, and replacing complexity with transparency and operational efficiency backed by data-driven insights. With this most recent acquisition, Lessen is uniquely positioned to transform commercial and residential real estate to the benefit of all the stakeholders.”
Added McKee, “I’m thrilled to welcome Maureen and Colette to the Lessen family. Their experience, industry track record and expertise will be invaluable as we continue to broaden our reach into commercial facilities management.”
As president of Lessen's SMS Assist Commercial Division, Ehrenberg will drive business strategy and manage overall resources, partnerships, and operations to provide the most advanced and innovative integrated facilities management operating platform for commercial properties. Ehrenberg is focused on growing the enterprise client space, creating additional value, operational advances and savings for existing customers and bringing frictionless, fluid and ESG-focused operating solutions to the market, challenging the status quo.
“Leading Lessen’s commercial business division is an incredible opportunity to drive breakthrough innovation in facilities management,” said Ehrenberg. “The market is calling for a new business model for facilities management solutions; clients seek comprehensive data integration, real-time performance management, portfolio resiliency, service excellence and operationalizing ESG—all of which Lessen delivers through its advanced, integrated digital operating platform.”
As Chief Operating Officer, Commercial Division, Temmink is responsible for leading service delivery and operational excellence in the day-to-day support of clients.
Most recently Chief Strategy & Product Officer at Blue Skyre IBE, Temmink has also served as Senior Vice President and Chief Administration Officer at Apollo Education Group and held global real estate executive roles at Cushman & Wakefield, Oracle and Boeing. She is a renowned speaker and thought leader on corporate real estate, facilities management, ESG and PropTech. Temmink is the co-chair of the International Facilities Management (IFMA) ITC, a top-rated faculty for the MCR Capstone CoreNet course and serves as an editorial board member for the Corporate Real Estate Journal.
“Facilities management has been going through a transformation and Lessen has been at the forefront of this change,” said Temmink. “Delivering value, quality, predictive and efficient services to clients while providing real-time business insights is critical. Lessen’s dynamic approach to strategic integrated facilities management is exactly what the industry requires today.”
About Lessen
Lessen, together with SMS Assist, is the world class, tech-enabled, end-to-end property service provider transforming how commercial and residential real estate services are delivered and managed at scale. Our technology platform provides data-driven insights that unlock key growth opportunities for the entire real estate ecosystem—including investors, owners, managers, and service providers. Lessen enables local field managers to deploy and oversee a network of vetted, qualified vendors acting as one unit across distributed property portfolios—serving a national footprint of more than 1 million properties and completing more than 2.5 million work orders annually across an expanding range of services. Lessen, Inc. is a venture-backed, privately held company with offices in Scottsdale and Chicago. To learn more, visit Lessen.com and smsassist.com.
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MARKET OUTLOOK, REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
PRnewswire | May 18, 2023
Curbio, Inc., the leading pay-at-closing home improvement solution for the real estate industry, today announces the launch of its new home staging service. Real estate agents can leverage Curbio's latest offering to help stage their clients' homes seamlessly with no upfront costs, saving sellers time and helping them make more money.
Staging is shown to decrease days on market and increase the price a home sells for. According to the National Association of Realtors, 23% of buyers' agents said that staging a home boosts offers as much as 5% compared to similar homes that weren't staged.
Curbio's physical home staging services includes a team of design experts who strategically lay out furniture and decor to highlight and accentuate a home's most appealing assets.
Home staging is just one of Curbio's services for agents to leverage. The company offers updates and renovations that get sellers a high ROI for their home – everything from cleaning, painting and organizing to full kitchen remodels and whole-home makeovers. Curbio also recently launched its new inspection repair tool, streamlining the estimate and repair processes for agents following home inspection reports, getting homes to the closing stage faster. Sellers do not pay for Curbio's services until closing – with zero fees or interest.
"We are no longer in a hot seller's market, which means buyers are choosier and less willing to pay more for a home that is not move-in ready," said Olivia Mariani, CMO at Curbio. "At Curbio, we are leveraging technology to make it as convenient as possible for agents and their sellers to take the steps that will get them the maximum value for their house – whether that's through home staging, simple updates, major renovations or inspection report repairs."
As the licensed and insured general contractor, real estate agents can hand off any pre-listing home improvement projects to Curbio, so that they can sell their listings for top dollar without spending hours on the phone lining up contractors. Pitching Curbio's fix first, pay-when-you-sell service to win listings is also a popular use-case for agents in a tight inventory market.
Curbio's recently launched mobile app allows real estate agents to get instant estimates for staging services, pre-listing projects and necessary inspection repairs for current and prospective clients. At the touch of a button, real estate agents can generate an immediate price and ROI estimate for repairs, updates and renovations.
Curbio's full-service staging solution is currently available in Washington D.C., Baltimore, Richmond and Philadelphia/South New Jersey markets, with additional market expansions to come. Other markets can work with any stager they choose and use Curbio to pay at closing.
About Curbio
Curbio is on a mission to help real estate agents fix and update homes before they go on the market, so they sell quickly and for the best price, with zero payment due until closing. Founded in 2017, Curbio has quickly become the largest national home improvement company dedicated to pre-listing repairs, updates, and renovations. Curbio has modernized home improvement with an easy-to-use app that accelerates project timelines by 50%, while removing the delays, uncertainties and other frustrations that have plagued home improvement for decades. Their rapid time to listing, coupled with a turn-key approach and project ROI expertise, has made Curbio the most trusted fix first, pay-at-closing home improvement partner to thousands of realtors and brokerages nationwide, including eXp realty, RE/MAX, HomeServices of America, Long & Foster, @properties and many more.
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