An Austin-based property technology company called Rex — but not the REX Real Estate that is currently locked in a number of lawsuits with other firms — revealed this week that it has laid off about 4 percent of its staff members.
In an email to Inman, a company spokesperson told Inman the layoffs happened as part of a corporate restructuring. The email added that the layoffs mostly impacted people working “in the corporate operations side of the business.” The spokesperson also said that the company employs “over 400 people and are still at that number post-restructure.”
In the wake of the layoffs, a LinkedIn user identifying himself as Jack R. said that he was among those laid off. He explained that he joined the company earlier this year and “knew exactly the risks that went into joining such an early stage startup.”
“I can’t express how grateful I am for my time at Rex and the wonderful people that I got to work with,” he wrote.
Entrepreneur and investor Peter Rex founded his eponymous company in 2016 and continues to serve as its CEO. On its website, Rex describes itself as “disrupting real estate, empowering people.” The company operates a property management business that, according to the spokesperson, oversees more than 12,000 rental units.
Rex also runs a variety of property technology platforms. OwnProp, for example, offers fractional ownership options for investors. Another platform, called PayUp, provides “businesses with a larger pool of contractors” and empowers “contractors to scale their operations,” according to the website. Other platforms offer solutions related to insurance, data analytics, property maintenance and more.
Rex is a familiar name to many Inman readers, though most will immediately think of an entirely different company known as REX Real Estate. That company is a discount brokerage that has consistently made headlines for its legal battles against well established industry players such as Keller Williams and Zillow.
Somewhat confusingly, that REX was also historically based in Austin (though it has since been closing offices) and also had layoffs earlier this year. However, the two companies are not related.
News of the latest round of layoffs comes during a harrowing time for real estate. Thanks to rapidly rising and volatile mortgage rates, home values have stopped the rapid climb they experienced over the past two years and consumers have lost considerable buying power. This began translating into mass layoffs earlier this year in the mortgage sector. Layoffs have since spread to other companies, including brokerages and property technology firms. Just this week, for example, Utah-based discount brokerage Homie lost both its CEO and as much as 13 percent of its staff in its latest round of layoffs.
In the case of Rex and the layoffs revealed this week, however, the company spokesperson said operations should continue as normal.
“The real estate and technology side of our business was not impacted in any significant way,” the spokesperson said, “and continues to grow.”
