By KIMBERLEY HAAS
The CEO of a real estate technology company that helps homeowners buy a new house before they sell theirs says an equity crowdfunding campaign they launched last month has been well received.
Sean Black, who co-founded Knock with Jamie Glenn and Karan Sakhuja in 2015, said during a recent interview with The Mortgage Note that the timing seems to be right for this venture.
Black and Glenn were on the founding team at Trulia, which went public on the NYSE and was acquired by Zillow in 2014 as part of a $3.5 billion stock-for-stock transaction. Back then, individuals couldn’t invest in these companies until they went public.
“Crowdfunding regulation has matured quite a bit in the last…
Buy Before You Sell fintech Knock has allocated $5 million of a $15 million financing round to individuals alongside its investors.
The company announced an equity crowdfunding campaign on Wefunder, a public investment platform, to allow individuals to invest before it goes public or gets acquired.
The funding round is co-led by Second Century Ventures, the venture capital arm of NAR, and Foundry Venture Capital.
The goal, according to Knock co-founders Sean Black and Jamie Glenn, is to create investment opportunities they were unable to prioritize when their company Trulia went public and was acquired by Zillion.
People who used the product were unable to invest until it was already valued in the billions of dollars.
“We founded Knock to…
The Mortgage Note’s team has been tracking national trends and the ways companies are working to attract buyers and sellers to the market this spring.
Editor Kimberley Haas interviewed industry leaders to learn more about what they are seeing and what products are being offered for this podcast.
If you would like to participate in future episodes, please email us at [email protected].
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Most housing markets still favor sellers despite increasing buyer-friendliness, especially in more affordable markets in the South and Midwest. Knock’s Buyer-Seller Market Index found that 71 of America’s 100 largest housing markets still remain seller’s markets. “Although the general consensus is the housing market is undergoing a much-needed reset, which is welcome news to many home shoppers who will have more choices and less competition for the foreseeable future, not all markets are seeing the same trends,” said Knock Co-Founder and CEO Sean Black. “In reality, there’s a great housing divide taking place in the U.S., especially in the East and South, where despite a slowdown in sales and slower home price growth, many markets continue to favor sellers.” Fayetteville,…
By CHUCK GREEN An apparently not so uncommon sight these days in the mortgage industry: empty desks. Not that their occupants are taking five for a foam latte. Instead, they might well have either been steeped in the pink slip blues or were compelled to submit their resignation. Over the past three months in the industry, there have been more than 3,500 job cuts, according to globalsg.com. In February, Bloomberg reported U.S. home mortgage lenders might have no other choice during the coming months that to initiate layoffs. Similarly, earlier this month, wolfstreet.com reported that not only are layoffs among mortgage lenders taking place, but they will also continue. “Layoffs and forced resignations are certainly imminent in the mortgage banking…
Divvy Homes and zavvie have teamed up to bring Divvy’s rent-to-own program to zavvie’s expanded brokerage marketplace, the companies announced in a statement. Divvy Homes, a property-technology startup valued at $2 billion, provides a rent-to-own buying option to real estate brokers and agents. Through the program, buyers pay rent on a home to Divvy, part of which is put aside to save for a downpayment. When buyers have saved enough for a 10% downpayment, they can then buy the home from Divvy. The program is currently available in 16 major metros. “The path to homeownership is more challenging today than ever before,” said Divvy Homes Co-Founder and CEO Adena Hefets. “Divvy is leveling the playing field by accelerating one’s ability…
Mortgage applications for new home purchases fell 15.2% year-over-year (YOY) in October but increased 6% month-over-month (MOM), according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest Builder Application Survey. The increase from September puts MBA’s estimate of new home sales at its strongest pace since January 2021. “Purchase activity continues to be dominated by higher loan balance transactions, which pushed the average new home loan size up to over $412,000, another new record in the survey,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “Recent U.S. Census data show an increasing share of new sales are for homes yet to be built or still under construction, and a shrinking share of completed homes. Housing demand remains strong,…
As potential homebuyers struggle to find affordable houses, new construction may not be a reliable fix. Prices for newly-constructed homes outpaced median income, pricing out most Americans, according to a study from real estate tech firm Knock. Knock reported that prices for newly-constructed homes are unseasonably high, with August’s median new home price staying the same from July at $390,900. That price outpaces the national median household income, which has dropped 2.9% to $67,521 from 2019 to 2020. It is the first decline since 2011, and early forecasts show only small rebounds in 2021. “To put things in perspective, the minimum total household income for a mortgage on a $390,900, with a 6% down payment, typically falls just under $80,000,”…
