Real Estate Technology
REcolorado | September 28, 2023
Today, in partnership with proptech leader SkySlope, Colorado’s largest real estate multiple listing service, REcolorado, announced they will co-develop an innovative product called Offer Insights. Scheduled to be released first to REcolorado subscribers in early 2024, Offer Insights harnesses the power of machine learning and market data to alert agents of opportunities and potential errors as they are completing real estate forms. This feature streamlines processes and boosts compliance by delivering market-aware suggestions to agents, using real-time data to signal when any information entered on a form falls above or below accepted industry standards.
“When co-developing Offer Insights, we wanted to improve compliance, but we also wanted to provide REcolorado subscribers with essential market visibility,” said SkySlope CEO Tyler Smith. “Offer Insights will provide key indicators of what’s happening in the local market. Agents who use it will have access to beneficial information that’s not available anywhere else.”
REcolorado is dedicated to engaging with their subscribers to gain a true understanding of their ever-evolving needs, which gives the company the ability to develop technological solutions that address those needs while also advancing the industry. By participating in co-development partnerships like this, REcolorado’s expertise can be leveraged to build meaningful solutions that give brokers and agents the ability to serve their clients as a trusted advisor.
“Our subscribers trust us to listen and understand their needs so we can deliver the data, services, and insights that can be used to serve their clients and advance their businesses,” explains REcolorado President and CEO Gene Millman. “With their ability to transform data into powerful solutions that help brokers and agents work efficiently by making transactions move more smoothly, SkySlope is an ideal partner for us.”
The REcolorado-SkySlope partnership underscores the ongoing movement among MLSs to evolve their services. By embracing collaboration with technology partners and brokerage leaders, MLSs are identifying agent pain points and actively participating in the development of tech-forward solutions that empower their subscribers to serve their clients efficiently and effectively.
“This strategic partnership will develop a service that keeps our subscribers’ needs squarely in focus,” said Millman. “These types of collaborations are essential to creating innovations that will give agents a competitive advantage as the industry shifts.”
Additionally, REcolorado will soon be launching two SkySlope signature solutions, SkySlope Offers and SkySlope Forms, to over 26,000 Colorado real estate professionals. Designed to bring time-saving automation to real estate transactions, these solutions significantly reduce administrative tasks for agents.
About REcolorado
REcolorado is the largest Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in Colorado with over 26,000 professional subscribers who operate throughout the state. Recipient of Inman’s 2023 Innovator Award in the MLS, Association, or Industry category, REcolorado's vision is to empower a trusted, cooperative, and comprehensive real estate marketplace to position customers for success by providing data, technology, and intelligence. The company is REALTOR® owned and serves real estate professionals including the members of Denver Metro Association of REALTORS®, South Metro Denver REALTOR® Association, Mountain Metro Association of REALTORS®, REALTORS® of Central Colorado, and Steamboat Springs Board of REALTORS.
About SkySlope
Established in 2011, SkySlope is the customer experience platform managing real estate transactions from contract to close. Serving over 650,000 real estate professionals across the U.S. and Canada, SkySlope manages nearly 3 million transactions annually. SkySlope is on a mission to build solutions that reshape the real estate industry by creating the most powerful autonomous transaction platform. For more information, visit SkySlope.
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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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Real Estate Technology
PR Newswire | October 10, 2023
Capital Square, one of the nation's leading sponsors of tax-advantaged real estate investments and an active developer and manager of housing communities, announced today the formation of a joint venture partnership with ITOCHU Corporation to acquire Creekside Terrace, a 100-unit build-for-rent (BFR) single-family community currently being developed by Pulte Homes, the third largest home builder in the country.
ITOCHU Corporation is one of the largest Japanese sogo shoshaa, or general trading and investment companies, founded in Japan in 1858. According to the 2023 Fortune Global 500 list, ITOCHU is the 96th largest company in the world, with annual revenue in excess of $103 billion.1
"Capital Square is thrilled to partner with one of the largest corporations in the world to acquire Creekside Terrace, a build-for-rent community near San Antonio, Texas," said Louis Rogers, founder and co-chief executive officer of Capital Square.
Creekside Terrace is a 100-unit purpose-built single-family BFR rental community, located just minutes from Interstate 35. Part of an exceptional master-planned development of new homes, the community features a pool, pavilion and park with convenient access to nearby shopping and dining. These three- and four-bedroom, open-concept homes offer upscale interiors and contemporary amenities for growing families in the burgeoning New Braunfels, San Antonio area. The community will provide a high-quality rental housing option to the almost 19,000 new residents who moved to San Antonio last year.
"Capital Square continues to invest in the acquisition and development of build-for-rent communities throughout Texas and the Sunbelt," said Dave Platter, managing director and co‑head of private equity at Capital Square. "As a firm, we continue to source opportunities in the I-35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio. We believe Creekside Terrace will present a welcoming community for young families looking for the benefits of single-family living without the high costs and headaches associated with homeownership today."
Build-for-rent communities, comprised of single-family homes purpose-built for renting, have become an increasingly popular asset class among institutions and individual investors. Demand for this rental option is growing exponentially among residents who seek a single-family lifestyle, the financial and leasing flexibility of a rental with the amenities and convenience of a professionally managed property.
The U.S. has chronically underbuilt housing since the Great Financial Crisis and requires an additional 4.3 million housing units by 2035 to meet the demand for rental housing, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council. Demand for build-for-rent homes continues to increase with professionally managed communities offering one of the best solutions for the shortage of quality, affordable housing. Institutionally owned and operated build-for-rent communities represent less than 5% of the overall U.S. housing stock, paving the way for long-term, sustainable growth for the asset class.
"We are pleased to partner with Capital Square on Creekside Terrace and look forward to working with Capital Square on future acquisitions," said Hideyuki Matsukawa, senior vice president and general manager of general product and realty division at ITOCHU International Inc.
Since its formation in 2012, Capital Square has raised more than $3 billion in equity from investors for its tax-advantaged real estate investment offerings. The company has consistently ranked as one of the leading sponsors of Delaware statutory trust (DST) investment programs for investors seeking the advantages of Internal Revenue Code Section 1031 exchanges and is also an active sponsor of qualified opportunity zone funds, development LLCs and Capital Square Apartment REIT, a real estate investment trust that invests in multifamily communities throughout the Southeast.
About Capital Square
Capital Square is a vertically integrated national real estate firm specializing in tax-advantaged real estate investments, including Delaware statutory trusts for Section 1031 exchanges, qualified opportunity zone funds for tax deferral and exclusion and a real estate investment trust (REIT). In recent years the company has become an active developer of mixed-use multifamily properties in the southeastern U.S., with eight current projects totaling approximately 2,000 apartment units with a total development cost in excess of $600 million. Since 2012, Capital Square has completed more than $7.5 billion in transaction volume. Capital Square's related entities provide a range of services, including due diligence, acquisition, loan sourcing, property/asset management and disposition, for a growing number of high-net-worth investors, private equity firms, family offices and institutional investors. Since 2017, Capital Square has been recognized by Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest growing companies in the nation for seven consecutive years. In 2017, 2018 and 2020, the company was also ranked on Richmond BizSense's list of fastest growing companies.
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