REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY,REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
Lessen | January 17, 2023
Lessen, the leading tech-enabled outsourced property services platform, recently announced the strategic acquisition of facilities maintenance technology leader SMS Assist.
By combining the complementary strengths of both organizations, Lessen will continue to address real estate's pain points, offering its clients a scalable, tech-enabled enterprise solution for residential and commercial services. As a result, the companies will serve around 250,000 residential and commercial properties nationwide, enabling approximately 2.5 million repair and maintenance orders annually, in addition to expanding their property services.
The transaction is completed with stock and cash, with Lessen raising roughly $500 million in combined new debt and equity. SMS Assist stockholders exchanged a portion of SMS stock for Lessen stock, resulting in a combined company valuation of over $2 billion. Debt and equity investors, including Värde Partners, Monroe Capital, and Koch Real Estate Investments, assisted with this transaction. Invitation Homes and American Homes 4 Rent are among the clients who invested in the deal with Lessen.
Following the conclusion of the transaction, Lessen's Jay McKee will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of the newly-merged company. He states, "Lessen recognized early on the opportunity to provide an enterprise-level solution that solved the real estate industry's long-tenured property services pain points." He added, "This deal demonstrates the increasing demand within the underpenetrated, $330 billion addressable North American property services market for a unified, extensible delivery platform that provides transparency, efficiency and data-driven insights for the entire real estate ecosystem including investors, owners, managers and service providers.
(Source – Business Wire)
The new, unified technology platform will allow various service providers—from painters, contractors, and plumbers to electricians and more—to work as one on a national scale, which was previously impossible. The quality of this work will be supervised and inspected by Lessen's in-house project managers. This integrated solution will assist owners in overcoming skilled labor shortages while lessening administrative burden, enhancing project efficiency, and providing real-time project updates.
About Lessen
Lessen is the only end-to-end tech-enabled solution for outsourced real estate property services that delivers consistency, quality, and speed at scale, focusing on single-family and multifamily rental renovations, turns, and maintenance. Through automation and real-time analytics, the firm's technology suite is disrupting and modernizing a project management space that is still reliant on traditional organizational and communication models. The company's professional field project managers provide on-the-ground service, utilizing a network of verified service professionals in over 40 markets across the country, all powered by its proprietary technology platform.
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REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY, REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
Marcus & Millichap | February 01, 2023
On January 31st, 2023, Marcus & Millichap, a renowned commercial real estate brokerage company specializing in investment sales, research, financing, and advisory services, signed an exclusive representation agreement with Deep South Studios LLC to secure joint venture equity for the development of Deep South Studios Phase I.
The project is based in New Orleans, Louisiana, and involves the construction of a 262,560-square-foot, full-service television and film production facility. The sponsor, Deep South Studios LLC, is represented by Henri M. Kessler and Eric Michael Anton of Marcus & Millichap's Global Capital Division.
The facility's primary utilities are operational, and three buildings are functional and generating revenue. The site is wholly authorized and ready for development. Two production offices, six sound stages varying in size from 16,500 to 30,000 sq. ft., and vendor buildings totaling 99,000 sq. ft. will form the project. There will be a construction mill for creating world-class sets, a grip and lighting installation, and as many as one thousand parking spaces.
The facility is situated on a 20-acre site, the largest contiguous tract of undeveloped land in the heart of New Orleans. Located on elevated ground on the west side of the Mississippi River in the Algiers area, it is accessible from Interstate 10 and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. The French Quarter and the central commercial district of the city are nearby.
About Marcus & Millichap, Inc.
Marcus & Millichap was founded in 1971 to foster a culture of long-term relationships and collaboration. Headquartered in Calabasas, California, it is a leading brokerage firm focusing on commercial real estate investment sales, research, financing, and advisory services. The company combines expert market knowledge, an excellent brokerage platform, and exclusive access to inventory to realize exceptional results for clients. Today, it is one of the leading firms in the real estate investment sales and financing industry, with over 80 offices and almost 2,000 financing and investment sales professionals in Canada and the United States.
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AGENT, MORTGAGE AND LENDING
Knock | January 25, 2023
Knock, an innovative fintech company, announced on January 24, 2023, that agents and consumers would no longer have to choose between working with their local or national lenders.
The company informed that any lender or agent can now add a no-interest equity advance loan from Knock to almost any conventional or jumbo mortgage to increase the benefits of Knock Home SwapTM. In addition, homeowners can win their desired property and move on their timeline by matching Knock Home Swap Equity Advance with a purchase mortgage.
Knock Co-Founder and CEO Sean Black stated, "Since 2015, our mission has been to empower people to move freely, and we have continued to raise the bar when it comes to making the process of buying and selling homes simple, certain and cost-effective."
"Many companies offer home loans, but no one else offers the Home Swap. By partnering with lenders, we are making it easier for consumers to get the benefits of leveraging the equity in their current house to buy their dream home without any of the hassles that typically come with buying and selling, including the ability to avoid moving twice and living through repairs and showings," he added.
(Source – Cision PR Newswire)
Before putting their current house on the market, a homeowner can use Knock Home Swap Equity Advance to make a firm offer, negotiate, and close quickly on the home they want.
Knock Home Swap Equity Advance loan can also be used to make up to a 30% down payment, buy down the mortgage rate, cover closing expenses, cover up to $35,000 in home preparation costs to sell the old house for top cash, and pay up to six months of mortgage payments on the previous house. Besides, Knock's Home Prep & Marketability Allowance gives access to its approved contractor network and pays all bills out of homeowners' equity.
About Knock
Knock was started in 2015 by founding team members of Trulia.com. Since then, it has raised more than $600 million in debt and equity from top investors. National Association of Realtors® is a strategic investor in Knock through its investment arm, Second Century Ventures. This means that Knock's homeownership solutions can be sold to its clients by its 1.5 million members. The company currently operates 72 markets across the country but wishes to expand to 100 by 2023.
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