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, MORTGAGE AND LENDING
MeridianLink | March 03, 2023
On March 02, 2023, MeridianLink®, Inc., one the leading provider of modern software platforms for consumer reporting agencies and financial institutions, announced that it received two HousingWire 2023 Tech100 Mortgage Awards. MeridianLink’s selection as a winner was based on its innovative approach to bring flexibility and improve browser experience, speed and insight to mortgage origination. In addition, a MeridianLink® company, OpenClose™, was identified because its 100% browser-based, omnichannel solutions empower lenders to enhance efficiencies, improve margins, reduce costs, and advance experience quality. These award-winning capabilities provide financial institutions with the robust technology they need to improve the experiences for loan officers and borrowers and close more loans.
The Tech100 program, now in its eleventh year, offers housing professionals a comprehensive list of the most innovative and influential organizations that can be used to identify partners and provide solutions to the daily challenges mortgage lenders face. Every year, the Tech100 program improves progressively more competitively, and the quality of applicants improves as the industry’s demand for technology increases. In its fourth year, the Tech100 program was presented in two groups, including HW Tech100 Real Estate and HW Tech100 Mortgage, to highlight the achievements and innovation of organizations within both sectors.
Chris Maloof, President of Go To Market, MeridianLink®, said, “It is a privilege to be selected once again as a winner of HousingWire’s renowned Tech100 award, and we are thrilled that our industry-leading offerings represent such a large percentage of the true mortgage loan origination systems on this year’s list.” He also said, “As lending progresses toward an increasingly digital future, MeridianLink® and OpenClose™ will continue offering world-class digital experiences built on innovative solutions. We are proud to give our customers choices that connect them with the same technology they need to outshine the competition.”
(Source – Business Wire)
About MeridianLink®
Founded in 1998, MeridianLink® enables digital lending and account opening for financial institutions and provides consumer reporting agencies with data verification solutions. Its cloud-based, scalable platforms support customers to build deeper relationships with consumers via data-driven, personalized experiences throughout the lending life cycle. Its established industry leaders continue to set the industry standard for web-based credit reporting and all sizes of financial institutions. Based in Costa Mesa (California), MeridianLink® has prioritized the democratization of lending for customers, businesses, and communities specializing in loan origination, mortgage systems, loan software and banking software.
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REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY, MORTGAGE AND LENDING
8Twelve Mortgage and Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty | January 31, 2023
On January 30, 2023, 8Twelve Financial Technologies Inc. informed that it has agreed to supply mortgage solutions to Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty (YHSGR), as well as to the company's agents and clients.
The patented INFIN8 platform developed by 8Twelve uses real-time analytics, artificial intelligence, and workflow automation to select the optimal mortgage from the largest marketplace in Canada for bank, alternative, and private mortgage products.
Todd Walters, CEO and Co-Founder, said, "At Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty, we invest in our agents more than any brokerage you will find." He added, "Partnering with 8Twelve fits our model perfectly because we consistently equip our agents with differentiating tools that help them to build their business and dominate in the industry. This partnership ensures that YHSRG realtors have the best tool to secure financing for their deals."
(Source – GlobeNewswire)
When it comes to real estate, YHSGR is the only company in the United States and Canada licensed by the top real estate coach in the two countries, Craig Proctor. That's because only YHSGR agents have access to Craig Proctor's secret business strategies, which have helped more of them become millionaires than any other real estate trainer or coach.
Akber Abbas, President and Chief Information Officer of 8Twelve, remarked, "With rising interest rates and tighter lending requirements, Canadians now more than ever need to know all their home financing options." "This agreement highlights the strength of our service offering in enabling large-scale enterprises to deliver the best financing solutions to their clients," he concluded.
(Source – GlobeNewswire)
About 8Twelve
8Twelve Mortgage Corp., based in Toronto, helps people all over Canada get the money they need for various financial projects, such as refinancing, renewal, debt consolidation, and more. The mission of 8Twelve is to make house ownership a reality for happy Canadians. The organization also provides clients with clear and extensive explanations, regular updates on their loan progress, and the chance to submit feedback throughout the mortgage loan process.
About YHSGR
Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty (YHSGR) was established to become the best place in the real estate industry to work, buy, and sell a property. The company takes great pride in being one of the real estate companies in the country experiencing the most rapid growth. YHSGR assists with every aspect of the real estate transaction, whether one wants to buy or sell a home.
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