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Flyhomes, a vertically integrated real estate brokerage and mortgage lender, is hoping to rebound from two rounds of layoffs by launching a partner channel to make its new buy-before-you-sell service available to mortgage lenders and brokers nationwide.
A phased rollout of the partner channel launched Wednesday, with Flyhomes offering mortgage bankers and brokers access to the Flyhomes Guaranteed Backup Contract, a buy-before-you-sell solution acquired by Flyhomes last month. Flyhomes also plans to offer its cash offer and other services to lenders in the future.
Eric Meadow
“The long-term vision for the partner channel is to have our full suite of products available through third-party origination or distributed sales channels,” Flyhomes VP of Partnerships Eric Meadow said in a statement. “Today’s announcement is just the beginning. We have the talent, experience, infrastructure and capabilities to provide solutions to problems that a traditional financer can’t.”
Meadow joined the company last month when Flyhomes acquired assets of his previous company, Home Sale Assured. Those assets included the company’s main offering, the Guaranteed Backup Contract, and the Home Sale Assured brand.
The Guaranteed Backup Contract lets sellers make a non-contingent purchase offer on their next home, with Flyhomes guaranteeing to buy their existing home if they can’t find a better deal. Sellers have 90 days after closing on their next home to sell their old home to a higher bidder or close with Flyhomes. If they sell to Flyhomes, they’re guaranteed to get 90 percent of the sale proceeds after costs and expenses.
Tushar Garg
“This deal strengthens our offerings and gives us more tools to serve more customers looking for a better way to buy and sell a home,” Flyhomes co-founder and CEO Tushar Garg said in announcing the deal in September.
Launched in 2016 by Garg and Stephen Lane, Flyhomes Inc. provides end-to-end homebuying services through affiliated businesses including Flyhomes Brokerage, Flyhomes Mortgage (which also does business as Sailbridge) and Flyhomes Closing.
Flyhomes provides leasing, property management and short-term rental listing services through Loftium, a “doing business as” name. It also owns Muir Residential Investments LLC, which purchases Guaranteed, Buy Before You Sell, and Seller Certainty properties when those deals fail to close.
Like other companies that provide mortgage and power buyer services, Flyhomes faced challenges as soaring mortgage rates started taking a toll on home sales last year.
After landing $150 million in Series C funding in 2021, the company went on a hiring spree. After entering new markets including Texas, Colorado and Idaho, Flyhomes expanded its presence in California and hired its first chief revenue officer, Kayti Sullivan, formerly of Yelp and The RealReal.
But as mortgage rates surged in the summer of 2022, the Seattle-based firm laid off 20 percent of its workforce — about 200 employees, according to one affected worker. Flyhomes announced a second round of layoffs in November, and Sullivan left the company at that time, according to her LinkedIn profile. Flyhomes co-founder Lane left the company in August and is head of ventures at Insurify.
Flyhomes Brokerage does business in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon, Texas and Washington. Flyhomes Mortgage is licensed in those states and Maryland, Minnesota, Idaho and Washington, D.C.
Going forward, the direct-to-consumer channel “will remain the core function of our business,” Flyomes EVP of mortgage and closing Dan Richards said in a statement. But the new partner channel “will significantly increase the number of people we can serve by instantly unlocking millions of new customers across the country.”
Dan Richards
“Through their local lenders and brokers more people will soon be able to win in any situation thanks to our modular product designs and cost-effective solutions,” Richards said. “We provide the operations infrastructure and funding of services, and our partners get to unlock new purchase transactions and long-term customer relationships.”
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