Six years ago, a group that would go on to co-found Invitation Homes were developing a plan of scaling a national single-family rental company and they sought investors. Ultimately, the group of professionals who are industry leaders in buying, renovating, renting and selling homes paired Blackstone, one of the largest and most successful private equity groups and Invitation Homes officially launched in March 2012.
One of the co-founders is Jerry Coleman, who is now a co-founder and CEO of OfferPad, a direct home buyer, in a mission to make selling a home convenient and hassle-free, by allowing sellers to get a fair and competitive offer at the click of a button. He was able to raise $30 million in equity and $230 million in debt from LL Funds in order to expand its home-buying model. The company currently operates in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tampa, Orlando, and Salt Lake City, with other markets opening soon. Coleman told Forbes he founded OfferPad with Brian Bair two years ago because they believed buyers were evolving and looking for better ways to sell their homes.
“We have seen the market shift over the last decade and it was clear that the market wanted a different option. We bring years of experience in the real estate industry, while leveraging technology to make the experience better. OfferPad is reinventing how people sell their homes by eliminating the hassle and uncertainty of the home selling process.”
Coleman also explains that OfferPad differs from OpenDoor because it has a team that has bought, renovated and either rented or sold more than 100,000 homes.
“So, in addition to our technology, we have assembled a team of single family real estate operators with unprecedented experience. And while we started OfferPad in 2015, we’ve been operating in this space for the decade. We are also currently in more markets than anyone else – which shows our ability to understand the industry as a whole – regardless of the area. We also have a scalable model that will work in any market.”
Coleman also believes OfferPad will be able to apply its model in prime markets like New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
“Because we use technology and local market knowledge, we believe we will be able to eventually scale to all markets and our teams have extensive experience in 35 markets across 25 states. We have already soft launched in Los Angeles with great success and will continue to grow in that market.”
Any real estate agent who has been in the industry for more than a decade and survived the 2007 housing crisis knows another downturn will come eventually. The industry is cyclical and information and preparation are key. Coleman said OfferPad has an outlook for a downturn in the markets.
“We have been through market cycles and know that there are more coming. We have successfully operated this model in the worst housing markets on record and know how to adjust quickly to changing market conditions. Our strategy is to stay disciplined and vigilant as markets change.”
