BROKERAGE, REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
Businesswire | April 17, 2023
Built Technologies, one of the fastest growing construction and real estate software providers in the U.S., has announced a strategic investment from Citi through its SPRINT program.
Citi SPRINT (“Spread Products Investment Technologies”), the strategic investing arm of Citi’s Global Spread Products division (“GSP”), is part of Citi Institutional Strategic Investments (“ISI”). Citi SPRINT focuses on incubating innovative fintech companies that provide strategic relevance and next-generation solutions to the financial markets.
Built plans to use the investment to accelerate its growth in commercial real estate (“CRE”) asset management and enable further operational and technological enhancements. Through the utilization of Built’s platform, Citi will have the opportunity to introduce digitization solutions to other lenders, developers, and borrowers in the ecosystem.
“The investment from Citi SPRINT opens a new market opportunity for Built to gain traction with one of the largest U.S. financial institutions in the real estate industry,” said Chase Gilbert, CEO and Co-founder of Built. “Citi SPRINT's investment is a testament to Built's vision and the value Built delivers to its customers. The investment presents a unique opportunity, and one that will further accelerate our market reach.”
“GSP consistently seeks to drive value and enhance our client experience through innovative digitalization efforts with industry-leading software providers,” said Mickey Bhatia, Head of Global Spread Products at Citi. “Our investment in Built Technologies extends this commitment by helping to further modernize our Financing and Securitization franchise. With this partnership, we seek to cultivate higher standards of service for our clients and the broader market.”
Citi Community Capital, another business in GSP, provides a suite of financial products to help affordable housing developers construct, rehabilitate, refinance, and acquire multifamily affordable housing across the country. It has been recognized as the number one affordable housing lender in the United States, according to Affordable Housing Finance magazine's annual ranking, for twelve consecutive years.
“Citi Community Capital is pleased to work with Built on enhancing Citi’s existing technology to better manage commercial real estate draws, expedite loan management reporting, and improve borrower experience,” said Jeremy Johnson, Co-Head of Citi Community Capital.
“Built has achieved strong growth due to its ability to help lenders achieve efficiencies, expedite revenue generation, and serve their customers more effectively,” said Katya Chupryna, Director, SPRINT. “By investing in Built and bringing their innovative solutions to Citi, we empower Citi Community Capital and other CRE lending businesses to grow faster and serve clients better,” she added.
Built Technologies’ innovative software platform streamlines the construction loan administration process by simplifying the management of funds and documentation, allowing lenders to administer their construction loans more efficiently. The company’s technology enables faster funding decisions and draws, while providing real-time transparency and visibility into the status of construction projects through Built’s CRE data model. More than 250 banks and private capital providers use Built’s cloud-based solution to create a centralized system of record and accelerate the flow of capital from lenders to borrowers, contractors, and vendors.
About Built Technologies
Built is the leading provider of construction and real estate finance technology. By providing a centralized platform for all stakeholders, Built enables increased efficiency, collaboration, transparency, and business agility—with decreased risk—allowing customers to improve the way that the communities around them are built and managed. The Built platform is used by more than 250 leading North American lenders and asset managers, and thousands of developers, home builders and contractors. To learn more, visit https://getbuilt.com/demo-request/.
About Citi
Citi is a preeminent banking partner for institutions with cross-border needs, a global leader in wealth management and a valued personal bank in its home market of the United States. Citi does business in nearly 160 countries and jurisdictions, providing corporations, governments, investors, institutions and individuals with a broad range of financial products and services.
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REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT, MORTGAGE AND LENDING
PRnewswire | May 23, 2023
Rocket Mortgage, the nation's largest retail home lender and part of Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT), today introduced ONE+, a new 1% down home loan program that will dramatically increase access to homeownership for millions of low-to-moderate-income earning Americans.
With ONE+, a homebuyer is only required to make a down payment of 1% of the purchase price and Rocket Mortgage will cover the remaining 2% needed to reach the required threshold for conventional loans. In addition to reducing upfront costs, ONE+ completely eliminates the expensive monthly mortgage insurance fee for the client – which is traditionally required if the buyer places less than 20% down on their purchase.
"Rocket Mortgage prides itself on finding innovative solutions and lending programs that help clients achieve their goals in any market cycle. No other lender has a mortgage option that makes affordable homeownership possible for as many Americans as ONE+," said Bob Walters, CEO of Rocket Mortgage. "We talk with people from all walks of life every single day – many of whom are ready to own a home, and could easily make the monthly mortgage payments, but are having trouble saving for a down payment. ONE+ is a response to that feedback and the latest example of Rocket's commitment to creating programs that help make homeownership more attainable."
Designed to help everyday Americans achieve homeownership, ONE+ is available to homebuyers purchasing single-family homes – including manufactured homes – whose income is equal to or less than 80% of their area median income (AMI). With this expansive AMI eligibility, Rocket Mortgage estimates that more than 90 million people can meet the income requirements for this program – based on publicly available income data.
As an example of the savings possible through ONE+, a homebuyer purchasing a $250,000 home typically needs a minimum of 3% down, or $7,500. Now, they will only need a $2,500 down payment. In addition, ONE+ offers mortgage insurance at no cost to the client, which on a $242,500 loan, can be as much as $245 per month. That improves a homeowner's monthly cash flow and can save as much as $20,500 over the first seven years after closing – the average amount of time mortgage insurance needs to be paid.
This is the third initiative Rocket Mortgage has launched in the last six months with affordability in mind. Other programs such as BorrowSmart Access and Purchase Plus focus on addressing challenges for homebuyers in underserved communities. By offering a $3,000 credit with BorrowSmart Access and a $7,500 credit with Purchase Plus, hurdles such as closing costs and down payments are lessened and accessibility is increased.
Homebuyers can apply for ONE+ using Rocket Mortgage's industry-leading digital mortgage experience at RocketOnePlus.com and on the Rocket Mortgage mobile app. They can also apply through one of the thousands of mortgage brokers across the country who partner with the lender through Rocket Pro TPO.
About Rocket Mortgage
Detroit-based Rocket Mortgage is one of the nation's largest home lenders, closing more mortgage volume than any other lender in 2022, and is a part of Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT). The lender enables the American Dream of homeownership and financial freedom through its obsession with an industry-leading, digital-driven client experience. In late 2015, it introduced the first fully digital, completely online mortgage experience. Since its founding in 1985, Rocket Mortgage has closed more than $1.6 trillion of mortgage volume across all 50 states.
Rocket Mortgage is ranked highest in the country for client satisfaction in mortgage origination by J.D. Power. Combining the mortgage origination and servicing studies, Rocket Mortgage has earned 20 total accolades from J.D. Power – the most of any mortgage lender. Rocket Companies, Rocket Mortgage's parent company, ranked #11 on Fortune's list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" in 2022 and has placed in the top third of the list for 20 consecutive years.
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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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