Home61 is a real estate tech startup based in Miami with a mission to bring the joy back to home buying and renting. The end-to-end real estate platform recently announced it has raised an additional $4 million to take its service nationwide.
The US real estate market is enormous, with $2.17 trillion in residential real estate sales in 2016. While a large opportunity exists, tech companies have yet to make significant progress nationally – over 90% of the market is still owned by traditional real estate firms.
The stagnant real estate industry, which continues to rely on manual processes, could benefit greatly from innovation. Buying or renting a home today is a frustrating and complex experience. Agents are incentivized by commissions, meaning only clients with large budgets receive attentive service. For everyone else, or “the other 80%”, something as simple as setting up a viewing can take several days. Once a person finds the right home, it only becomes more complicated with mountains of paperwork and little guidance.
Technology so far has failed to modernize the real estate industry at mass scale said Olivier Grinda, co-founder and CEO of Home61.
It’s often said that being a real estate agent is like being a tech entrepreneur. The vast majority of agents fail within just a few years because they’re essentially launching their own business where they have to take care of everything from marketing/lead gen to legal documents.
Home61 uses automation to streamline the buying and renting process, making it profitable for agents to provide excellent service to clients with all budgets while simplifying the experience for buyers and renters. The system manages the end-to-end journey, from the client’s first click searching website listings to signing the final closing papers.
Home61 agents make $70K in their second year, which is nearly eight times the industry average of $8,930 for agents with less than two years of experience, according to the National Association of Realtors. While the industry average for agents with over 16 years of experience is $78,850, Home61 agents make $120K after just three years.
This is because the system provides agents with a steady stream of leads, intensive training for up to 120 days and tools that automate manual tasks. This allows agents to focus solely on the client rather than the commission, ultimately making them more productive.
Olivier Grinda is an internet entrepreneur and has successfully transposed and adapted European and American business models to Latin America. In June 2011, he co-founded Shoes4you.com.br, the first fashion brand in Brazil, to sell exclusive collections through monthly online subscriptions. I invited Oliver onto the show to learn more about their plans to disrupt the real estate industry.
Useful Links
Connect with Olivier Grinda on LinkedIn or follow on Twitter
Follow Home61 on Twitter or like on Facebook
