REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY, REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
Businesswire | May 09, 2023
EasyKnock, the first technology-enabled residential sale-leaseback platform, today announced its acquisition of Ribbon, a pioneer of powerbuying and cash offer solutions. The transaction is a major milestone for the real estate industry, bringing together homebuying, homeselling, and agent solutions into one unified and simplified experience.
“We are thrilled to bring Ribbon and EasyKnock’s cutting edge financial products together under one roof to provide more options and a competitive advantage to consumers and industry partners nation-wide,” said Jarred Kessler, CEO and co-founder of EasyKnock. “This marks the beginning of a new wave of innovation in the real estate sector, the advent of PropTech 3.0. By combining these product suites and offering solutions for every stop along the homeownership journey, we are better positioned to responsibly empower more families with the financial flexibility and control they need to achieve their goals.”
In bringing the teams together, EasyKnock is accelerating the development of its marketplace planned to launch later this year; a new, more fulsome suite of products and services that will offer consumers alternative ways to buy and sell, finance new homes, and utilize their equity in one place. Recognizing that a new way is needed, the marketplace will benefit everyday Americans with convenience, cost savings, and the competitive edge afforded by the combination of multiple services, positively impacting not only existing and prospective homeowners, but the industry altogether.
“Making homeownership achievable has been Ribbon’s mission and guiding light since its inception. EasyKnock and Ribbon share a vision of enhancing consumer choice in the industry, facilitating its success and enabling a more simplified buying and selling experience.” said Shaival Shah, CEO and co-founder of Ribbon. “We are thrilled to come together with EasyKnock and their pioneering sale-leaseback offering to provide solutions to more and more people. Combined with Ribbon’s award-winning homebuying solutions and network of 90,000 agents and lenders, we are motivated to empower consumers across the country.”
Both EasyKnock and Ribbon have forged strong partnerships in residential real estate by using best-in–class technology that connects consumers with loan officers, real estate agents, and other participants in the homebuying and home selling experience. Following the acquisition, the EasyKnock and Ribbon teams will work with strategic partners to bring their expanded product suite to key markets with an eye towards national expansion.
Goodwin Proctor, a global law firm, acted as legal advisor and Temple View Capital, a Bethesda, Maryland-based business purpose lender, provided financing on the transaction. Terms were not disclosed.
About EasyKnock
EasyKnock is the first-to-market, technology-enabled residential sale-leaseback company in the U.S. Through innovative and accessible solutions, American homeowners who sell their property to EasyKnock can remain in their homes as renters while still getting the cash they need to pursue their financial goals. Headquartered in New York City and founded in 2016, EasyKnock has team members nationwide working to help homeowners unlock their financial freedom through non-loan programs so they can pay off debts, buy their dream home, fund a venture, and more - all while maintaining the ability to stay in their homes and communities. For more information, please visit www.easyknock.com.
About Ribbon
Founded in 2017 in New York and Charlotte, Ribbon is on a mission to make homeownership achievable. Ribbon allows everyday families to compete on a level playing field with high-net-worth individuals and institutional buyers by upgrading their offers to winning RibbonCash Offers. As the leading real estate technology platform, Ribbon empowers agents, brokerages, and lenders to create a world-class experience for homebuyers and sellers through powerful financial products and digital workflow software.
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MARKET OUTLOOK, REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY
PRnewswire | April 26, 2023
Plunk, the first real-time analytics platform for residential real estate, announces its new partnership with SentriLock, a leading provider of electronic lockbox solutions for the real estate industry. The partnership provides REALTORS® with AI-powered home valuation and market insights at a critical time when both REALTORS® and their clients work to navigate rapid and unpredictable market shifts.
By incorporating Plunk's market data and analytics, REALTORS® will have access to real-time information on real estate trends, property values, and other key market indicators—saving hours of preparation prior to each showing while always having the ability to provide clients with the most accurate and timely information about buying and selling property.
"With SentriLock, we reach the nearly half million REALTORS® they serve across North America," said David Bluhm, President and Co-Founder of Plunk. "Plunk empowers REALTORS® to better serve their clients with real-time insights that allow their clients to make more fully informed, confident decisions. By making Plunk's market insights available through SentriLock's mobile app, we're delivering a powerful combination of two fundamental agent tools."
"Our partnership with Plunk brings valuable and live market information to our customers," said SentriLock CEO, Scott Fisher. "The integration of Plunk's market data and analytics with our electronic lockbox solutions will provide REALTORS® with the tools they need to better serve their clients and stay competitive and essential in the transaction. As we continue to expand our business into new markets, we want to continually reward our REALTORS® who choose us as their provider by increasing their access to useful business tools within our system."
About SentriLock
SentriLock is the leading provider of electronic lockbox solutions for the real estate industry. The company's products and services are designed to help REALTORS® securely access and manage properties, while providing valuable data and analytics to help them make informed decisions.
About Plunk
Plunk is the first AI-powered and real-time home analytics platform leveraging next-generation applications of Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and image analysis to revolutionize the way homeowners, real estate professionals, and investors value and invest in residential real estate.
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REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY, REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
PRnewswire | May 29, 2023
Greystar Real Estate Partners, LLC ("Greystar"), a global leader in the investment, development, and management of real estate, including rental housing, logistics, and life sciences, today announced the launch of a new dedicated brand, Ltd. by Greystar ("Ltd."). Ltd. will exclusively focus on Greystar's impact housing product, delivering more attainable housing opportunities for key populations affected by the lack of rental options in the United States.
Working in tandem with Greystar's recently opened Modern Living Solutions ("MLS") factory – Greystar's modular construction business focused on building off-site, prefabricated modular apartments sustainably and at an attainable price point – Ltd. will allow for the building and operating of essential housing communities at scale. To achieve this goal, Ltd. guarantees not to increase rents by more than the greater of CPI or 3%, providing "certainty of housing" for existing residents.
"Over the course of my career, I have seen the incredible need for attainable housing options across the United States," said Bob Faith, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Greystar. "We are excited for the opportunity to apply our platform and our culture of innovation to build housing supply that offers an attainable, high-quality experience for renters while also serving as an attractive proposition for both Greystar and our partners."
"What we're doing with our newly created Ltd. brand is a game-changer for renters who want to live in a Greystar-managed community and for an industry that needs more housing supply," said Scott Berka, Senior Managing Director, Brand and Customer Experience. "When you consider how big the challenge at hand is, I'm proud to be part of a team that's willing to throw out the rulebook and challenge ourselves to make a true impact while delivering the Greystar-level experience people should have. Through this effort and our Ltd. brand, we're at the start of a great journey."
All Ltd. branded communities will have standard amenities appropriate for their location, including community pools and gyms, among other options. Additionally, cutting-edge technology packages in multi-family will be included in each Ltd. community and apartment, with property-wide high-speed internet, smart locks, and resident apps that streamline everything from maintenance requests to guest access. This package of amenities and innovative technology helps to set Ltd. communities apart from most of the existing attainable supply in the United States.
Greystar currently has 5 Ltd. branded projects underway across 4 cities, with approximately 1,600 units expected to come online in the next 18 months. The first Ltd. community, Ltd. Med Center, in Houston, Texas with 378 units is now in lease-up and more information can be found here.
About Ltd., by Greystar
Ltd. by Greystar is Greystar's dedicated brand focused on impact housing that offers cost certainty for residents. Ltd. branded communities will limit future rent increases, not raising rents by more than the greater of the CPI or 3%. An Ltd. community combines the opportunity to live in a high-quality, professionally managed Greystar apartment with the comfort of cost certainty, emphasizing value for our residents. To learn more, visit https://ltd.greystar.com/.
About Modern Living Solutions, by Greystar
Modern Living Solutions is a leading, fully integrated modular construction company offering expertise in the design, development, and delivery of modular construction residential real estate products. Headquartered in Baltimore, MD, with its state-of-the-art offsite manufacturing facility in Knox, PA, Modern Living Solutions develops thousands of modular products on behalf of dedicated partners and capital annually. Modern Living Solutions was founded in 2020 with the intent to become a provider of world-class services in the modular construction residential real estate business. To learn more, visit https://www.modsbymodern.com.
About Greystar
Greystar is a leading, fully integrated global real estate company offering expertise in property management, investment management, development, and construction services in institutional quality rental housing, logistics, and life sciences sectors. Headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, Greystar manages and operates more than $275 billion of real estate in 238 markets globally with offices throughout North America, Europe, South America, and the Asia-Pacific region. Greystar is the largest operator of apartments in the United States, manages more than 803,000 units/beds globally, and has a robust institutional investment management platform comprised of more than $74 billion of assets under management, including nearly $32 billion of development assets. Greystar was founded by Bob Faith in 1993 to become a provider of world-class service in the rental residential real estate business. To learn more, visit www.greystar.com.
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