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Proptech Job Opportunity: Analyst, Strategic Investments

We have a job opportunity to share from a member of the GEM, Second Century Ventures, a subsidiary of the National Association of Realtors: Analyst, Strategic Investments

The opportunity:

Reporting to the Senior Associate, the Analyst will be responsible for supporting the Senior Associate in managing deal pipeline, conducting due diligence, producing financial performance and metrics reports, managing LP reporting, and assisting in developing efficient operating procedures as SCV grows into a global juggernaut. This candidate is a “go-getter”- well spoken, proactive and leads with a collaborative, team-oriented approach.

Location: Chicago or Washington DC

Duties and Responsibilities:

Support the Senior Associate in all their responsibilities (deal pipeline, financial modeling and reporting, due diligence, negotiations, liaise with legal counsel etc.)

Conduct due diligence and provide financial analysis to support investment decisions

Support in negotiations and legal review related to new investments

Monitor competitive landscape to identify new investment opportunities

Perform industry and company research on an ad-hoc basis

Develop and maintain complex financial models

Track and report on financial health of portfolio companies and recommend appropriate action as needed

Attend events, conferences, and other meetings as needed

Qualifications:

2+ years’ experience at a Venture Capital, Private Equity, Investment Banking, a startup, or similar

Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of technology in general and specific experience in RE and Proptech

Results oriented with high attention to detail, ability to multi-task, and meet deadlines in a dynamic, fast-paced team environment

Ability to think in innovative ways to find solutions to problem

Highly organized and possessing effective project management capabilities

High level of proficiency with Microsoft Office—Outlook, Excel, Word and PowerPoint, Google Docs, WordPress, and HubSpot (or equivalent CRM)

Exceptional communication skills—verbal, written, and presentation

Ability to travel up to 10%

Interested?

Learn more and Apply

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Top Tech for Landlords and Property Managers in 2021

In the past, property management hasn’t been a particularly tech-savvy industry, but modern technology is helping virtually every sector increase speed and efficiency. Even if you still prefer to manage your properties through paper receipts and spreadsheets, today’s Millennial and Gen Z renters are demanding technology as a part of their entire rental experience. Landlords who don’t incorporate at least the bare minimum tech features into their rental businesses are likely to fall behind in a highly competitive marketplace.

Here are some of the most popular technology methods I see utilized by my landlord and property management clients to streamline day-to-day operations:

Property management software: There are countless software options available to landlords and property managers today with a range of features to efficiently handle daily tasks. Transferring your business to the cloud or a central software server will not only ensure all of your information is securely stored in one place, but it also allows for easy access for anyone who needs it (employees, renters, accountants, etc.). Industry-specific tools can help with tasks like screening tenants, collecting rent payments, managing maintenance requests and tracking property expenses.

Virtual property showings: A trend that emerged during the pandemic, virtual property tours have been gaining popularity as a helpful tool for both tenants and landlords. Whether you’re taking advantage of 360-degree virtual property tours or completing tours via video like Zoom or FaceTime, the convenience of virtual showings is hard to deny and is a trend that’s likely to stick around long post-pandemic. These tools can be especially helpful for tenants who are moving from out of town or landlords who live far away from their rental properties.

QR codes: Quick response (QR) codes have gained a lot of attention in recent years, especially during the contact-free times of the pandemic. A small, customized barcode that gives anyone with a smartphone direct access to information, QR codes are a great way to drive traffic to your rental listing and give tenants all of the information they need before they even contact you. Consider adding QR codes to your “for rent” sign, newspaper ad, flyers or any other marketing materials you use.

Artificial intelligence: Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly penetrating almost every aspect of the real estate industry, and the rental market is no exception. AI is responsible for many of the rental search tools tenants use to find properties based on set criteria and preferences. In addition, an increasing number of property management companies are using chatbots or virtual assistants on their websites to increase communication with tenants and streamline simple day-to-day tasks.

Smart home technology: Smart home technology can benefit both landlords and tenants by providing the opportunity to actively manage maintenance, improve security and prevent property damage. There are plenty of tenants in today’s technologically advanced world who are willing to pay a higher rental rate for tech-savvy features. Smart technology like security systems, appliances, utilities and sensors can all increase comfort, energy management and convenience.

It might seem like a burden to incorporate modern technology into your property management business, but the pros most often outweigh the cons when it comes to streamlining efficiencies. Taking advantage of technology specifically designed for property management will help your marketing efforts, increase your reach to help you find qualified tenants, and ultimately make your business more successful in a competitive market – I know it’s been a blessing for managing my own investment properties!

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Market Map: 240 Real Estate Technology Companies Transforming Today’s Housing Market

[Note from the editor: Originally published on Thomvest’s Blog]

I’m excited to release Thomvest’s real estate technology market map, which includes more than 240 companies operating within the residential real estate segment. This is the third update to the market map and includes over 100 additional companies — a testament to the pace of entrepreneurship in this segment. A high-resolution version of the map can be accessed here, the full list of companies is available here, and my commerical real estate market map is here.

So much has happened in the housing market over the last year — home pricing across the U.S. are up 16% year-over-year, interest rates remain near historic lows and housing construction starts are up meaningfully for the first time in more than a decade (for more detail on this, see my recent housing market update). Times have also been good for technology companies in real estate — several companies in the sector went public over the last year, including Opendoor, Compass, Better and Blend (a Thomvest portfolio company). Venture capital activity in real estate has also remained quite strong — investment in the category reached $8 billion through the first 9 months of 2021, a record.

This market map real estate technology companies operating across every phase of the home purchase value chain. These companies have collectively raised more than $30B in venture capital, and range from seed stage businesses to public companies. If you’d like to suggest a company to be added to this market map, please submit them using this form.

You’ll notice that several companies are included in more than one section — this is due to the fact that many of these businesses have expanded their product areas to capture multiple phases of the transaction process. For instance, while Blend’s original product focused specifically on the mortgage point-of-sale, the company has since expanded to offer title services, home insurance and closings. As such, we’ve included the Blend logo in those areas.

What’s getting us excited in residential real estate technology?

At Thomvest, we’ve long been excited about the opportunity to bring technology into the real estate segment, and have been fortunate to partner with many great companies. Personally, I’ve been impressed by the quality of entrepreneurs building technology companies in residential real estate. Many have experienced their own frustrations when buying or selling a property, and aspire to rebuild the experience from the ground up. Others are seasoned operators within real estate and see technology as a competitive advantage in an otherwise analog asset class.

In last year’s market map, I touched on the impact of COVID-19 and related lockdowns on the housing sector. In particular, the pandemic forced many constituencies within the real estate sector — including agents, lenders, title companies, attorneys and GSEs — to embrace digital tools. We expect adoption of digital tools to persist in a post-COVID housing market. For example, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently announced its intention to continue accepting desktop appraisals for purchase loans beginning in early 2022.

In addition to tailwinds around technology adoption in real estate, we’re particularly excited about a few areas within the housing value chain:

1. Expanding access to home financing options

While record home price appreciation has been a boon to existing homeowners, it increases barriers to homeownership for prospective buyers. This is particularly true for first time buyers or those without strong credit scores (the vast majority of mortgage originations in 2021 have gone to borrowers with credit scores of 760 or more). Companies like Landis and Divvy have become popular options for prospective buyers who need time to build up their credit and downpayment. Both companies operate a “rent-to-own” model, which allows buyers to gradually build up ownership of a home.

We are also fans of companies at the intersection of fintech and real estate that seek to streamline and accelerate the traditionally fragmented process of purchasing a home. This can include mortgage technology providers (like Blend and Maxwell) that minimize the need for multiple intermediaries and lower mortgage production costs for lenders. We expect this to be particularly important as mortgage rates rise over the next year, putting stress on lenders to become more operationally efficient.

2. Novel real estate agent and brokerage models

Agents continue to play an important in the home purchase process — 88% of buyers purchase their home through a real estate agent, according to NAR. But COVID has caused many agents to reassess the value provided by their brokerages, who typically capture between 15 and 30 percent of agent commissions. Several new brokerage models are emerging, which promise better commission splits to agents, as well as a more robust technology platform and other value-add services, such as renovation or financing. Companies like Side, PLACE, Enkasa and Radius are all developing interesting brokerage platforms for agents.

3. More tools for homeowners to manage their largest asset

As home prices continue to rise, homeowners’ equity in their properties represent an outsized portion of their total wealth. In the second quarter of 2021, homeowner equity grew by nearly $3 trillion, according to CoreLogic. As a result, we expect to see increased demand for financial products that allow homeowners to tap into this equity, which has historically been illiquid. Companies like Hometap and Unlock allow owners to access up to $500K of their home equity. And Point recently completed the first securitization of these home equity investment agreements, which should lead to better pricing for owners over time. We are also fans of companies that simplify the home renovation process (like Eano and Realm) and property management (like Baselane and Mynd), both important components of home ownership.

In the next few weeks I will also publish an updated commercial real estate market map.

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Proptech Job Opportunity: Sr. Integration & Automation Engineer

We have a job opportunity to share from a member of the GEM, New Western: a Senior Integration and Automation Engineer. Founded in 2008, New Western Acquisitions is a marketplace for investing in “off- market” homes.

The opportunity:

Our vision is to provide industry-leading, modern, and transformational tools enabling our business to scale and easily extend into new market/product offerings while offering convenience and optionality to our marketplace. We are looking for a talented Integration and Automation Engineer to join our established but quickly growing company, working on a wide range of automation and integration projects in close collaboration with business leaders, data scientists, product managers, and software developers. This position will be highly visible to Executive Leadership, and you will have the opportunity to be a key player as we transform and develop a modern full-cloud stack including Salesforce, Snowflake, Workato, Tableau, and AWS. The Integration and Automation Engineer is responsible for building and maintaining systems integrations, business process automations, and ETL/ELT data pipelines on the Workato cloud platform. In this role, you will work with various business leaders to identify, map, design, and implement a variety of business process automations. Additionally, you will work closely with other engineers and developers to implement a REST API-based integration layer that simplifies and streamlines cloud-based systems and microservice integrations. And lastly, you will work with data engineers and data scientists to develop and manage ETL/ELT data ingestion integrations with our Snowflake data environment.

What You Will Do:

This is a brand-new platform build-out. As such, you will be the primary leader guiding the way as we stand up the full Workato platform to help us meet the needs of our aggressive technology and business strategy.

Work with multiple business stakeholders to identify a variety of business process automation opportunities. Process mapping and optimization skills are mandatory. Communication and facilitation skills are necessary to navigate the waters of “this is how we currently do it” vs. “this is how it could be done”.

Work with product management and various developers to optimize system and microservice integrations via a REST API strategy.

Work with data engineers and scientists to develop, manage, and tune data integrations to/from our Snowflake data environment.

Oversee, secure, manage and administer the Workato integration platform.

Requirements:

BS or MS in a technical field: Computer Science, Engineering or similar

5+ years professional experience working with Process Automation and Integration tools (Workato experience is preferred; experience with Zapier, Flow, Boomi, Tray. io, UiPath, Automate, Alteryx, Talend, Fivetran are acceptable)

Architect level experience in API-led microservice design and implementation

Experience with business systems including Salesforce Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Snowflake, HubSpot, Jira, and GitHub are a plus

A strong architectural mindset, self-starter initiative, and a drive for completion

Strong communication, writing, presentation, process mapping, and interpersonal skills

Interested?

Learn more and Apply

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Meet The Real Estate Tech Entrepreneur: Bobby Varghese from Jervis Systems

This week, we interviewed Bobby Varghese from Jervis Systems.

Let’s go!

Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Bobby Varghese and I’m the Founder and CEO of Jervis Systems. We’re a Virginia-based software company that allows property managers to securely automate property access through both a browser-based and mobile app option. Jervis Systems uniquely allows individuals to remotely manage their property access through multiple options, including via a phone call, text message, secure voice command, unique per-use PIN, or mobile app.

We’re the first platform to offer a call and text-to-open access technology. We’re proud to offer this solution to our customers and our team is passionate about simplifying the art of access management for property managers and their guests.

What problem does your product/service solve?

Managing access to multiple properties and doors is complex and time-consuming for property managers. From years of experience in managing a 5-star corporate rental property, I know giving access to cleaning companies and handyman services at the right time is inconvenient and providing physical keys or the same self-check-in codes for each guest is an outdated, unsecure option. The average property manager spends at least 4 hours per month to maintain each of their properties. When it comes to managing access to multiple properties in today’s rental management landscape, I found there was a need for a solution to make automated property access management smarter and easier at scale.

We launched Jervis Systems to help property managers avoid the time-suck of property management, without paying the premium pricing of management platforms that lack an easy and comprehensive approach to automating property access. For a monthly subscription fee, Jervis Systems allows our users to remotely schedule and automate access options for their team, cleaning company, maintenance service, and guests with the click of a button.

Also, our platform is secured with government-grade encryption. As someone who has spent 20+ years in the cybersecurity field, I believe in offering a solution that gives our customers peace of mind, especially in today’s world.

  What are you most excited about right now?

I’m excited about the massive potential to grow.

The property management market is projected to grow from $15.10 billion in 2021 to $28.21 billion in 2028. According to a report done by Buildium, we know that 75% of property managers plan to grow in the next two years and note that a major part of their strategy is focused on adding more doors to their portfolio and utilizing technology that allows them to improve their work processes to save time and money. I’m excited for Jervis Systems to be in a position to help so many people refine their management workflows. We are passionate about removing the hassle of traditional ways of access management, the outcome being that our customers are free to focus on the big picture of their businesses.

What’s next for you?

We are continually refining our platform and expanding our customer base across the US and Canada. This is in addition to continually working to add to our list of supported devices and creating collaborative partnerships with other property management platforms and proptech solutions.

Overall, we have an incredible team that I am proud to work with to make the ambitious goals of the next few years come to fruition. Our vision is to make access management secure, accessible, and simplified for property managers everywhere.

What’s a cause you’re passionate about and why?

One passion of mine is to help people in their professional lives if I have the opportunity to do so. Regardless of the setting, whether it’s professional or a local restaurant, if I come across someone who cares about their job and responsibilities and gives it their most to do their job well, I will find a way to connect them to people and companies I know that could give them an opportunity to grow professionally.

I have been fortunate to be able to point dozens of people over the past decade towards their first jobs in the IT field or changing careers into the network security field. Many of these people have remained in touch. I have been able to see them work their way up the corporate ladder and even branch out to start businesses of their own. Those chance encounters and first impressions have always been proven right about the individuals I have met, and their successes have been rewarding to witness.

Thanks to Bobby for sharing his story. If you’d like to connect, find him on LinkedIn here.

We’re constantly looking for great real estate tech entrepreneurs to feature. If that’s you, please read this post — then drop us a line (Community @ geekestate dot com).

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Real Estate Data Services and Image Analysis

[Note from editor: The “Mastermind Showcase” highlights companies and news from members of the GEM. Today’s showcase: RealStaq.]

  RealStaq provides the systems and data building blocks required to develop and sustain scalable home shopping, renovating, and mortgage financing experiences. It licenses APIs that enable standardized compliant display of MLS data nationwide with 100% cross-referencing to all tax recorder, assessor and dozens of other relevant data sets. With decades of experience and having analyzed more than 1 billion intelligent image tags, 80 terabytes of optimized property photos, and 135 million unique residential properties, RealStaq’s expertise and technology powers national MLS home search, mortgage, insurance, valuations and renovation cost analytics for settlement service providers and portals.

What we like: With deep compliance experience at the intersection of mortgage and MLS, there are few better suited to help startups and corporates navigate the complex world of MLS data requirements.

Learn More

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Location Intelligence for an All-Encompassing Range of Users

[Note from editor: The “Mastermind Showcase” highlights companies and news from members of the GEM. Today’s showcase: Local Logic.]

Enables consumers, investors, developers, and governments to better understand cities through location intelligence in the form of webtools, APIs, data, and analytics, Local Logic produces seventeen location scores in categories such as Transportation, Services, and Character, heatmap layers that can be loaded onto many major map technology providers. Providing access to location quality, demographics, parcel zoning, nearby comps, and other insights, its product offers customers thorough insight into neighborhoods and cities far and wide.

  They interpret the $217 trillion real estate market by analyzing over 85 billion data points a month using AI, and its suite of tools are available across the US and Canada.

  What we like: With a deeper understanding of Canada than we’ve seen anywhere else, and with offerings ranging from neighborhood scoring and heatmaps to webtools, APIs, one-click reports, and data analytics–Local Logic is a robust location intelligence platform with a bright future.

Learn More

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Technology and Industry Expertise Combined for a Modern Closing Experience

[Note from editor: The “Mastermind Showcase” highlights companies and news from members of the GEM. Today’s showcase: Endpoint.]

A mobile-first title and escrow company company, Endpoint is working to deliver a hassle-free closing process. It provides agents, buyers, and sellers with real-time progress tracking and notifications, in-app messaging, e-signatures and document management, and access to a dedicated closing team. Buyers can also securely transfer funds within the app, and when it’s time to sign physical documents, Endpoint sends free mobile notaries.

Endpoint currently operates in Washington, California, Arizona, and Texas, and offers a flat escrow rate of $1,000 or less depending on state.

What we like: Spun out of First American in 2019 with $30 million in funding, the company added another $40 million to its coffers late last year. Endpoint has the flexibility to iterate as a standalone entity with support from a corporate titan with tentacles into every facet of the real estate industry.

Learn More

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Giving Realtors Extra Arms to Help Manage Listings

[Note from editor: The “Mastermind Showcase” highlights companies and news from members of the GEM. Today’s showcase: OktoHub.]

OktoHub allows agents to hire other agents to assist with showings, attending inspections, staffing open houses, and other customizable tasks. The on-demand platform enables agents to pay only for needed tasks, without committing to a long-term hire. OktoHub also enforces a non-competitive and no-poaching policy to guarantee user trust; agent-assistants are not allowed to prepare or negotiate contracts on the realtor or client’s behalf, and are instructed to direct any questions regarding preparing an offer back to the hiring agent.

Currently operating solely in the state of Washington.

What we like: The platform saves agents time by allowing them to contract agent-assistance. Meanwhile, OktoHub provides a way for newer agents without their own book of business to generate revenue and gain experience.

Learn More

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Fight Fraud, Don’t Fear it

Real estate fraud is terrifying. Even some of the best in the business get duped, like Barbara Corcoran and her staff. Consumers are trusting professionals in the industry to take care of them and the buying and selling of their largest assets, so we have to be prepared for deceit.

We receive phishing emails all of the time and alert our staff to not respond as soon as we can. We even invited several cyber security experts to speak at our company and ensure our team is aware and equipped to detect scams immediately on their own. Even still, fraud in real estate is something we all have to continue to be vigilant about and continue to advance the industry to make it more difficult for cyber criminals to win. 

Quick Tips to Avoid Wire Fraud

Don’t open any links you don’t recognize

Don’t reply to phishing emails

Always call and confirm with parties involved before sending funds

Avoid downloading suspicious files that could contain malware

Protect your computer and other devices with anti-malware software

Be careful about where you access sensitive information

Past phishing emails, fraudsters are posing as buyers, sellers, or even other real estate professionals and go through the process until they acquire the funds they desire and run off with thousands of dollars! Not only are these scams affecting clients, but everyday real estate professionals as well, like in the case of an escrow officer in Tacoma, Washington. Thankfully the team noticed irregularities with the $101,380.00 check and were able to stop the process in its tracks. This is only one story of many that has inspired us to make a change in the money transfer process in the real estate industry.

Physical paper checks can be easily altered or forged while also requiring consumers to go to a bank to retrieve them. Yes, check fraud is a thing! Unfortunately, wires are just as tedious with high fraud risk involved as well as associated bank fees. Since fraud tends to occur at times where money is being transferred, whether it’s an earnest money deposit or other closing costs, it’s time we look outside of old school methods and embrace technology to keep our personal information and money safe.

Revolutionary Technology in Real Estate

Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions are becoming the new normal in regular transactions. How often do you find yourself paying a friend through Venmo or buying something online via Paypal? It’s easy, fast, secure, and right at your fingertips, so why aren’t we using this method for real estate transactions? Currently, platforms like these only allow for a certain dollar amount to be transferred at a time and real estate transactions usually surpass these but think about how many times a platform of these capabilities would’ve been beneficial in the past.

Fortunately, new ACH platforms, like paymints.io are arising that allow larger sums to be transferred making it ideal, safe, and convenient for earnest money deposits, cash-to-close for refinances, and more. We built Paymints.io to be as secure as a top-tiered bank and using the same high level of encryption, strong ID verification, and transaction tracking. This process ensures that all parties involved in a money transfer are exactly who they say they are and that the money gets to where it is supposed to go.

The paymints.io solution takes a comprehensive approach to solving wire and check fraud for both incoming transfers for earnest money deposits and cash to close as well as for disbursements to sellers, homeowners, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, real estate attorneys, and other vendors who are paid at closing traditionally with wires and checks. The disbursement engine allows recipients to receive their funds securely and digitally with real-time tracking capabilities.

Preventing real estate fraud, or any other fraud, starts with you, and those on your team. By following some simple, logical cyber security protocols, always being alert of links you open, as well as using advanced and secure technology to further minimize the risk of fraud, you can ensure safe transactions for your organization and your clients. Have you had any fraudulent experiences within your company?

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A Start-to-Finish Manufacturer of Factory-to-Site Infill Homes

[Note from editor: The “Mastermind Showcase” highlights companies and news from members of the GEM. Today’s showcase: Module.]

Module offers a range of factory-built modular houses that are optimized for infill development and offsite manufacturing. Factory-construction allows Module to offer more precise construction and a 25-40% quicker build time than traditional homes, and each home is built to the Zero Energy Ready Home standards set by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Module also coordinates all contractors, architects, and electricians for a smoother construction process, offers finish packages that allow for customization while ensuring durable and environmentally conscious material choices, has access to a network of landowners, neighborhood organizations, and realtors to help housing providers or homeowners find the best lot for their home, and offers access to financing partners who know how to work with modular construction. Post-construction, Module monitors the utility performance of the home, occupant comfort, secures any certifications, and coordinates any warranty-related items.

What we like: From site selection and financing options, to construction management and finally post-construction monitoring, Module delivers the whole package when it comes to new-build infill homes.

Learn More

Note: Module is the first startup profiled in Blueprinting Proptech, a new series in the GEM to analyze early-stage companies paving the future of property technology. Apply to the GEM if interested in accessing it.

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Bulling Real Estate NFTs over the Line

[Editor’s note: Adapted from an article previously published on Forbes by Natalia Karayaneva, the founder of Propy.]

Just months ago, the very first fully virtual house sold online—and for a rather significant $514,558. It won’t be the last to sell: A digital real estate twitter page actively sells virtual properties, and digital real estate is actively bought and sold on virtual role-playing games such as Superworld. The technologies enabling this (head-scratching) phenomenon—NFTs, or rather non-fungible tokens—are cryptographic “tokens” that represent something unique, such as a piece of art, music, or other collectible. Prior to NFTs, it was almost impossible to authenticate and “own” digital art or music, since it’s so easy to take a screenshot or simply download a file. Since NFTs provide a unique, unforgeable signature, owners can now prove provenance, making this type of purchase a more lucrative and realistic investment.

As fascinating as the foray into digital ownership is, more intriguing is the opportunity to utilize NFTs in the physical world. The blockchain technology ERC721 (NFT standard for unique tokens on Ethereum) and related standards enable frictionless, secure digital asset trading anywhere in the world. The buzzy headlines of multi-million dollar virtual asset sales are merely setting the stage for a faster and more transparent way to transfer both money and ownership online of valuables in the real world—of everything from physical art to diamonds and wine to yes, physical real estate.

THE HOW The process operates slightly differently than a traditional real estate sale: First, there is a legal preparation for the sale of a property as an NFT. Then an NFT is “minted,” which includes descriptive and legal data about the property, access to paperwork, disclosures, reports, image files, and even videos. The NFT is proof of ownership. Legally, whoever possesses the NFT owns the property.

That NFT, which resides on a public distributed ledger, can then be placed into an existing NFT marketplace for sale, such as seenhaus, OpenSea or Gemini’s Nifty Gateway, or into a future real estate NFT-focused marketplace. Potential buyers bid for the property. Once a winner is determined, the buyer pays for the property in fiat or cryptocurrency, via a smart contract designed to perform an escrow function. After funds are released to the seller and the NFT is transferred to a wallet controlled by the buyer, the buyer completes paperwork to finalize legal ownership transfer within minutes.

In the case of Propy’s recent NFT auction of Michael Arrington’s Kiev apartment, the ownership of the physical property was actually held and recorded in Ukraine as a US LLC–and the winner became the owner of the NFT, which gives the rights to the LLC. Arrington signed proprietary-developed legal papers for NFTs to transfer ownership to all future buyers. The collectible NFT included:

Access to ownership transferred paperwork.

The apartment picture.

A unique digital art NFT by a popular Kyiv graffiti artist, Chizz (a physical painting of the digital artwork is painted on a wall of the apartment).

For that particular auction, Propy also partnered with Helio Lending to secure financing to future real estate NFT owners.

CHALLENGES EXIST There are interesting challenges to solve before real estate NFTs can play a significant role in the industry:

Crypto tokens currently face issues such as gaps in smart contracts, and lost passwords/cryptographic keys (if you forget your private key to bitcoin when you don’t use custody wallets like Coinbase or Abra, then you lose bitcoin forever). Potential rules for NFT transfers in real estate would need to consider locking the money, but not the asset itself, to avoid unclaimed property rights, as it was developed for the first real estate NFT for the Arrington’s property.

The first NFT was done for the entire property, but it could be also done for fractional ownership, which is harder to accomplish due to the regulatory environment. Crowdfunding via NFTs is an exciting use case, but it triggers a need to file with the SEC, so either secondary trading of NFT securities will become more user friendly, or regulations will need to change before fractional ownership via crypto becomes commonplace.

Properties have been sold via blockchain for several years now—in fact, Propy conducted a transaction in which cyber-currency was used to buy an apartment in Ukraine and the title was registered on a cyber-ledger in 2017, and since the thousands of transactions with over $1bn in volume have been recorded on blockchain in the US. Propy, as well as other companies, are already developing new ways to support and manage the application of NFTs, such as homeownership transfer for entire homes, not fractions. It’s easier to transfer 100% property rights for a real estate asset via blockchain without triggering the securities law violation.

This is a no-brainer for Henry Elder, President of the International Blockchain Real Estate Association: “Imagine I could buy a house as an NFT, and instantly borrow against the NFT using DeFi or TradFi products with a 2-4% interest rate. Why would I ever go through the brain damage of using Wells Fargo or Chase, with their months of nightmare due diligence?”.

FUTURE OF NECESSITY The real estate industry is notoriously slow in adopting new technologies, even though it was the first industry to adopt e-signatures. However, the very nature of real estate makes it ideal for blockchain applications—it is immovable and easily findable by third parties with blockchain-based claims on it as collateral or otherwise.

It’s true. Many believe that blockchain technology isn’t necessary now and will become necessary as the world continues to digitize. Just like the Internet wasn’t necessary in real estate 20 years ago, and now neither consumers nor the industry cannot operate without the Internet. However, blockchain as a secure, lower cost, and more efficient technology should be added as a layer to the traditional closing flow, just like e-signatures were. This would eliminate wire and title fraud, and decrease transaction costs in favor of affordability issues.

The near-term future is automating transactions via smart contracts, that includes integrating escrow and title, and auctioning homes as NFTs with the help of forward-looking agents and cutting edge platforms.

NFTs are having a “moment,” and companies are already pushing this innovation forward. With Millennials, Gen Z’ers, and the connected generation much more comfortable with cryptocurrency and defi, real estate can once again be the industry adopting one of the most transformative technologies of our time.

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Transparency Leading to Affordable Housing

[Editor’s note: Originally published as a Radar entry for members of the GEM.]

Public is a new demonstration website by CityBldr to show cities “how many additional people could be housed on all available public land within the city limits,” according to GeekWire. The data, covering 100 U.S. cities and 255 different zoning standards, “can show everything from land valuation, parcel size, current zoning, what currently is on the land, and how many people could be housed on the land under existing regulations.” The goal of the campaign is “to get corporations to sponsor affordable housing nonprofits in order to get full access to the complete data that could reveal anything from low-hanging housing fruit to the underpinning of a long-term housing plan”–at a cost of $10,000 per year per city/corporation.

What’s not to love here? Transparency into cities that have the power to increase housing with their own land resources, and equipping nonprofits with the same powerful software that Fortune 500 clients pay bookoo bucks for. I agree with Bryan Copley‘s assertion that this “can really help change the amount of housing available.” And, let’s be honest, $10k is less than pocket change to the likes of Microsoft, Costco, Google, or Amazon. If they don’t sell out of at least the top 50 cities in a matter of months, I’ll be shocked.

*Disclosure: I’m an investor in CityBldr.

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Meet the Real Estate Tech Entrepreneur: Mogens Smed from Falkbuilt

After a temporary pause in the Founder Interview Series, we’re back with another interview!

This week, we interviewed Mogens Smed from Falkbuilt.

Let’s go!

Who are you and what do you do?

I am Mogens Smed, CEO and co-founder of Falkbuilt, a technology company that is digitizing the conventional construction industry. Our solution, Digital Component Construction, is supported by our revolutionary technology, Echo, and an amazing team of Falkers (our 300+ employees) and our 85+ Factory-direct Branches across North America and around the world.

What problem does your product/service solve?

Digital Component Construction shortens the construction schedule, is far more sustainable than conventional construction and our prefab process requires far less labor onsite, something that is enormously helpful in a labor crunch. We use 30 percent fewer materials which is good for the planet, we have a very efficient and much smaller factory than other prefab manufacturers and Digital Component Construction is designed for disassembly, so digital components can be re-used until the end of their lifecycle. Our powerful, proprietary technology, Echo, provides a new, productive way for stakeholders—from their homes or offices anywhere in the world—to meet in the cloud, inside a Revit model, to discuss and make real time design changes.

What are you most excited about right now?

I am so excited to see the growth of our vision. We started this company two years ago and we have more than 85 Factory-direct Branches around the world bringing Digital Component Construction to their local markets. The market response is incredible.

What’s next for you?

I hope to start getting on the road more and visiting our Branches and clients across North America. Since the pandemic started, we’ve met hundreds of clients over 600 or 700 very effective Zoom tours of our factory. We take them through our Falkville, a showcase of our solutions and show the range of what we can do in healthcare, retail, commercial, education and industrial. We will keep doing the Zoom tours but I am also looking forward to meeting people face-to-face again.

What’s a cause you’re passionate about and why?

I am very passionate about the environment and our precious waterways. I am happy to support the Kingfisher Interpretive Centre on the Shuswap River in western Canada. It raises 50,000 Chinook salmon every year and offers educational programming to thousands of school children and visitors. I support the Pacific Salmon Foundation, which is dedicated to the conservation and restoration of wild Pacific salmon and their natural habitats in British Columbia and the Yukon. And I am also a longtime supporter of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society dedicated to protecting and conserving all marine wildlife.

Thanks to Mogens for sharing his story. If you’d like to connect, find him on LinkedIn here.

We’re constantly looking for great real estate tech entrepreneurs to feature. If that’s you, please read this post — then drop us a line (Community @ geekestate dot com).

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A White-Label Selling Suite Connecting Brokerages to New Buyers

[Note from editor: The “Mastermind Showcase” highlights companies and news from members of the GEM. Today’s showcase: zavvie.]

Zavvie offers a software suite that connects agents and their clients with instant sale, bridge, and other selling solution providers. Its products help agents present estimates for all selling options (including iBuyers) in a white-label offering, and provides a side-by-side offer comparison.

Its Offer Optimizer suite combines market-specific data and consumer-facing proprietary technology distributed through brokerages to increase their listing conversion ratio and attract new sellers.

What we like: Increased convenience and certainty alongside a larger quantity of selling options compared to the traditional open-market listing process thanks to their partnership with verified buyers is a win for clients, making Zavvie a no-brainer for brokerages looking to modernize their procedures.

Learn More

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Switching Property Management Software? Tips for a Smooth Transition

One key way to future-proof your property management business is to use the right technology. Spreadsheets, paper ledgers and even existing software can quickly become outdated in such a fast-paced environment, so it is likely that – at some point – your business will benefit from a system upgrade. As the industry continues to evolve, new software features and landlord benefits are constantly emerging. Tenant and owner portals, automated data entry, electronic cash payment services and cloud technology are all examples of recent time and money saving utilities that could benefit your growing business. 

Is it time to explore new property management technologies? 

If growing your property management business is your ultimate goal, finding ways to save both money and time are critical. As your business grows, your needs are likely to change – systems like manual accounting or data entry might become unrealistic and take up valuable time (remember that manual processes are also more prone to human error). Reevaluate your business needs on an annual basis to identify the services that are the most important to your property management business. 

When you step back to look at the workflow and processes, closely examine the sticking points. If there is a technology that could make your life easier, and speed things along, then this can be a big factor in your decision. Think things like online payment processing, mobile apps, electronic signature integration, virtual inspection capabilities, and more. If your current software doesn’t provide these types of features, or doesn’t provide the customer service and support needed to take advantage of them, it might be time to move on. 

Where your data is stored is also an important consideration in today’s virtual world. To stay up-to-date, software really must be cloud-based. It is efficient, and facilitates access to your business information from any location at any time. As with any software, your cloud-based system must have stringent privacy and security measures to protect your sensitive data. 

Of course, cost-effectiveness is always a top consideration when choosing new software. Do some competitive research and ensure that the pricing is commensurate with the benefits received before making a decision about your new property management software. 

Considerations for making the change 

Don’t let fear of change keep you from making an upgrade that will benefit your business in the long run. Take advantage of demos, live tours, help articles and free trials to preview new software options and get a better sense of what might work best for you and your business. Pay close attention to support offerings for new clients to make sure you have the assistance you need to get things up and running. 

What is the best timeline for my business? Timing is an important consideration here. Create a timeline for your transition to a new property management system based on length of training, how long it will take to upload your information to the new system, and your state and tax reporting requirements. Have a firm deadline for when your information will be closed out of the old system. 

How will a transition affect my taxes and reporting? Unless you plan to input past data into your new system, understand that you will have two sets of reports to provide to your accountant at the end of the tax year.

Are there any items that need to be wrapped up? Take care of any loose ends like updating outstanding balances, expenses or income. It is best practice to export all data and reports from your old system for recordkeeping purposes. Once you are officially up and running in your new system and have confirmed that you have copies of any pertinent data related to taxes, tenant or client information, etc., you can close out your old account.

Old school paper and pencil or spreadsheet tracking will only last you so long. Most landlords are already using some kind of property management software, but it is important to periodically take inventory of your needs. Thoughtful planning and a little research will help you find the software that best fits your business, leaving you with the time to focus on growing your business and caring for your portfolio. 

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Bringing HOAs Into the Digital Era

[Note from editor: The “Mastermind Showcase” highlights companies and news from members of the GEM. Today’s showcase: Neighborhoody.]

Neighborhoody is bringing transparency to HOA and Condo communities by collecting, maintaining, and publishing basic information in a central database. HOA and Community leaders can claim their community for free to share updates, securely publish information and documents, streamline operations, send emergency alerts, and increase community involvement.

What we like: By collecting, maintaining, and publishing information in a directory format, Neighborhoody is bringing transparency to the currently secretive HOA sector. As more financial and structural innovations take hold, Neighborhoody is well-positioned to become the go-to data repository for local HOAs.

Learn More

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