Pre-sale home renovation services company Revive Real Estate has hired real estate venture capitalist Kia Nejatian to its executive team as the company anticipates growth in a buyer’s market.
Nejatian will be Revive’s new head of corporate development. He starts on Sept. 6.
Irvine, California-based Revive tells sellers what a home may be worth after a renovation or room refresh before selling and connects them to local contractors to do the work. The company promises that “Revive homes sell for more” and sell faster, and that the company helps sellers maximize their sales value.
Kia Nejatian
“The real estate market today is shifting rapidly, and there will be winners and losers,” Nejatian said in a statement. “Revive shows it does incredibly well in a seller’s market, but wait until you see how extraordinary it becomes for agents and sellers in a buyer’s market. I’m excited to share the massive value Revive can deliver to sellers and their agents.”
According to Revive, its research shows that when homeowners sell as-is, they leave 15 to 20 percent of potential profits on the table. The company says that sellers gain an average $186,000 in additional profit — “and substantially more in higher-cost markets” — when selling their homes after a Revive renovation.
The company predicts “tremendous growth ahead for the entire listings concierge category” as the market shifts from heavily favoring sellers to a more balanced market.
“As the demand of our product grows, Kia’s involvement will be essential to integrate with the right strategic partners to deliver our mission to help homeowners maximize their biggest asset – their home,” Revive cofounder Dalip Jaggi said in a statement.
Previously, Nejatian had been executive director for the National Association of Realtors’ tech incubator, REACH, and a venture capitalist at NAR’s investment arm Second Century Ventures since April 2020, according to his LinkedIn profile. Earlier this year, SCV chose Revive as one of eight residential real estate tech startups making up REACH’s 2022 class.
“Kia joining Revive Real Estate rockets our visibility in the proptech space and puts us on a trajectory that will drive higher revenue and smarter market expansion,” said Michael Alladawi, Revive Real Estate CEO and founder, in a statement.
“Leading our business expansion efforts while helping us go deeper with current partners, Kia has the unique skillset to make an immediate impact for Revive. We are excited to have his energy and drive to help take us to an even higher level of success.”
Before SCV, Nejatian was a senior associate at early stage venture capital fund Plug and Play Ventures, where he co-founded and lead real estate and construction investments for nearly two and a half years. Prior to that, he spent three years as director of partnerships at mobile payment startup Kash, which sold to publicly-traded financial services company Intellabridge.
Revive released an app to help sellers and agents manage pre-sale renovations in March. In February, Revive announced a partnership with Zavvie, a software company helping homeowners organize and consider multiple selling options with its Offer Optimizer, among other features. Inman reviewed Revive’s software earlier this year.
Revive competitors include Curbio, Plunk, and Eano, as well as a slew of programs from large national brokerages such as Keller Williams and Compass and alternative mortgage companies such as Knock that offer pre-sale concierge services and bridge loan programs to help sellers better prepare a home before listing it.
