Celebrity real estate agent Ryan Serhant is bringing a specialty finance firm to the South Florida market after launching earlier this year in New York.
RLTY Capital announced the expansion Friday in a news release. Since its launch in May, the company says it has funded “millions” in deals for agents, brokerages and developers who have used the firm’s services to secure earned commissions and funding up front.
“RLTY took off faster than we ever imagined in the rapidly recovering New York market,” co-founder and CEO Briggs Elwell said in a statement. “We’re ecstatic to offer the South Florida real estate community a service that encourages forward-thinking in this surging real estate landscape.”
The company is betting that the cash flow from its services will be useful to agents in Florida’s extremely competitive markets. It does this through a commission-purchase process, not by issuing loans, Serhant media contact Victoria Shannon wrote in an email.
Agents who go through RLTY Capital apply after they’ve received an executed purchase agreement. The company’s underwriters take a look, and then RLTY Capital typically purchases up to 80 percent of the commission.
Once the transaction closes, RLTY Capital then receives a portion of the commission.
The company, co-founded by Elwell and General Counsel Daniel Kennedy, operates under Serhant’s umbrella of real estate companies. Serhant is a partner and holds equity in RLTY Capital, Shannon said.
“RLTY Capital is a service that enables agents to do what they do best without concern for funding gaps,” Serhant said in the statement. “As we continue to help the industry modernize with new tech solutions, we are excited that RLTY will now be available to the booming South Florida market.”
