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The people who provide money for emerging real estate service providers and proptech companies don’t seem very concerned about what’s happening in the market those companies aim to serve.
BidMyListing is the latest company to wrap its mits around a sizeable brick of cash, securing $15 million from Deer Park Road Management Company’s primary fund, STS Master Fund Ltd., according to a press release. The company has raised $20 million in total.
BidMyListing provides a conduit for real estate agents to bid money upfront for the opportunity to list properties. Homesellers are paid at the outset of the agreement upon acceptance of a dollar amount from a properly matched agent.
From a marketing perspective, BidMyListing is similar to buying a lead, but this model provides an actual face to the name. The company equates it to “virtual door knocking,” but with precise control over what happens when they open it.
“BidMyListing has generated more than 2,000 listings from motivated homeowners looking to connect with real estate agents representing just over half a billion dollars in property value,” said Matt Proman, creator and founder of BidMyListing, in a statement. “It’s a clear indicator that BidMyListing represents the future of selling real estate.”
An automated listing system helps homeowners quickly get their properties in front of potential bidders. They need merely to enter an address, confirm its details, provide a description and set a target sales price. The agent matching algorithm does the rest, according to an Inman report.
Once the relationship is finalized, the listing and sale processes are carried out in a traditional fashion.
As is becoming somewhat common today, the company has garnered the support of a couple of reality-era real estate agents. In this case, the Altman Brothers. Josh Altman is a co-founder.
Co-ownership marketplace Pacaso (Ryan Serhant, the Altmans) and real estate-specific social media solution Real (Fredrik Eklund) have also linked up with famous agents.
“As we continue to see BidMyListing’s early adoption in the marketplace, we are proving what we knew all along, that this marketplace model truly helps both the homeowner and agent,” Altman said in the release.
Deer Park Road is an alternative investment manager in structured credit and mortgage-related investments, according to a statement. Funds provided will go to general growth initiatives.
Even though the real estate market itself is slowing, there is plenty of money available to back new business efforts within it. At Inman Connect Las Vegas, a group of venture capitalists told the audience they were aware of what’s happening, but that the money has already been raised.
“We went through this boom period of raising venture capital funds. And we have more venture capital funds and those funds are better capitalized than they have ever been, and that capital is going to need to be deployed,” said panel member and Inman contributor Clelia Peters, managing partner of Era Ventures. “I actually think it’s a much more positive thing to have venture capital coming in to stimulate growth via innovation.”
