After bringing its Power Buyer services to four new states in the first three months of the year, Ribbon says it plans to add another six states during the second quarter, which would give the company a presence in 17 states.
Ribbon recently expanded into the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions with the addition of Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Virginia. The company’s services were previously available in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
Ribbon’s cash offer program is designed to help first-time homebuyers win bidding wars by allowing them to waive financing and appraisal contingencies when making offers. Existing homeowners can also use Ribbon to buy and move into a new home while their old home is still on the market.
In addition to adding new markets, Ribbon announced an expanded “buy box” in March, increasing the upper limit for home purchases by 43 percent, to $1 million. Ribbon is also backing purchases of homes built or fully renovated as long ago as 1960, when it previously wouldn’t touch homes built before 1975. Together, those moves opened up 20 percent more inventory for Ribbon buyers, the company said.
The addition of new markets and the expanded buy box helped Ribbon provide nearly $2.5 billion in “buying power” to fully approved cash buyers during the first quarter of 2022, the company announced Monday.
It was the company’s strongest growth to date, with the pace of deals accelerating in March to an annual rate of $17 billion. In its core markets, Ribbon’s market share now exceeds 3 percent, the company said.
Ribbon, which announced a $150 million Series C raise in September, says that since the company’s founding in 2017, growth has been driven by “deep relationships with real estate agents and lenders to collectively support everyday buyers. Ribbon is the only innovation in the space where buyers are encouraged to work with their preferred real estate agent and loan officer of choice.”
Frances Bryant
By working with local real estate agents and lenders, “we can monitor and adjust our products in ways that meet market needs early,” said Frances Bryant, Ribbon’s director of financial products and programs, in a statement. “We see every close as ensuring wealth and equity stay with the local community of buyers, and small businesses.”
Ribbon co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Wei Gan will be speaking about alternative financing models Tuesday, April 19 at Inman Connect New York.
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