San Diego apartment investor buys Everett property for $62M

Even in a cooling market, real-estate-tech firms are essential as home-buying and building management move online. Here's how founders raised money. Cove.tool cofounders (from left) Daniel Chopson, Sandeep Ahuja, and Patrick Chopson built a platform that drastically cuts down the amount of time it takes to analyze a building's energy efficiency. They raised $5.7 million.Cove.tool Proptech was never hotter than 2021, where it raised a record of $30 billion. VC investment fell by 38% in 2022, but the technological transformation of real estate continues. These pitch decks reveal how 32 different startups pitched their visions and products to investors. Real estate's technological transformation was well underway before the pandemic drove it into hyperspeed. Early innovators like Zillow showed that there was a place for real estate on the internet, while investments from firms like SoftBank showed that big money was paying attention.But when COVID reshuffled the deck, and interest rates were at record lows, the sector exploded with interest, and record investment. Now, interest rates are rising, and some of proptech's stars have sunk, layoffs have abounded, and investment was down 38% in 2022. But startups and venture capital continue to drive real estate tech's ambitions forward, backing companies that 3D-print carbon-neutral homes, bring home-buying transactions entirely online, and that make it easier than ever to become a landlord of all — or part — of a property.Insider has collected 32 pitch decks that successful firms have used to raise funding from VCs and private-equity firms.Check out the full collection below. Residential real estateAndrew Luong (left) and Justin Kasad, who raised a $39 million Series A for their single-family rental startup Doorvest.DoorvestThe residential real-estate market surged into the beginning of 2022, with low interest rates driving record-high home price appreciation. Renting got a lot more expensive, too, with and everyone started flocking to invest in apartment buildings. Then, as the Fed began to pump the brakes, housing has cooled, cutting valuations for any company focused on the residential space.However, this sector has been a major focus for proptech companies such as those that help investors purchase and manage homes from afar, tools for residential brokers and leasing agents, and digital closing companies that digitize paper-heavy real estate transactions.Individual real-estate investors now have a way to compete with the big guys. Here's the 12-page deck one startup used to raise $39 million to make that happen.See the pitch deck a real-estate startup used to raise $27 million from SoftBank to build the world's largest housing company — without owning any homesHere's the investor deck that helped the real-estate startup Divvy raise a $30 million series A led by Andreessen HorowitzThe online mortgage broker Morty used this pitch deck to raise a $25 million Series B and enable more homebuyers to skip the traditional mortgage processHere's the presentation digital closing startup Endpoint used to nab $40 million from its parent company, title giant First AmericanA real-estate listings startup trying to rival Zillow used this pitch deck to raise $25 million for its super-powered home search websiteFlyhomes turns home buyers into cash buyers in a wild housing market. Check out the pitch deck it used to raise $150 million in fresh funding.Real-estate startup Immo scoops up single-family homes from sellers then turns them into rental investments. Check out the 26-slide pitch deck it used to raise $75 million.Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck that property-tech startup Ownwell used to raise a $5.75 million seed round from investors like First Round CapitalHere's the pitch deck that Playhouse used to raise $2.8 million to become a 'TikTok for real estate'This property startup buys homes directly from sellers in as little as a week. Check out the 19-page pitch deck it used to raise $65 million.Commercial real estate Nick Gayeski, cofounder and CEO of Clockwork Analytics, which raised $8 million for its platform that monitors building ventilation.Clockwork AnalyticsThe pandemic laid bare the necessity of a technological transformation of commercial real estate. Remote work has changed professional workers' relationship to the office forever. E-commerce adoption has skyrocketed, but consumers also were starved for in-person interactions and increased their time at restaurants. Data of all sorts became increasingly more important in order to keep a competitive advantage over other struggling commercial landlords, and processes that used to take place on email or even in pen and paper are now taking place on dedicated pieces of software.As building costs rise, this startup says real-estate developers can save millions by ditching spreadsheets. Here's the 12-slide pitch deck it used to raise $25 million.See the pitch deck the air-purification startup Wynd used to raise $10 million to help Marriott guests breathe easierVergeSense, an office-sensor startup that tracks employees' movements, just nabbed $9 million. From social distancing scores to real-time occupancy alerts, here's its pitch deck.See the pitch deck a startup that monitors building ventilation used to raise $8 million during the pandemicAn exclusive look at the 19-slide pitch deck a real-estate-investing startup aimed at millennials and Gen Zers used to raise a total of $9 millionHere's the 10-page Series A pitch deck used by Honeycomb, a startup that wants to revolutionize the $26 billion market for multifamily property insuranceCheck out the 9-slide pitch deck this ex-Googler used to raise $15 million for SME property tech startup KeywayThis entrepreneur is giving landlords and homeowners a chance to buy their own personal power plants. See the pitch deck he used to raise millions.Construction techMosaic cofounder and CEO Salman Ahmad works on ways to build homes faster and cheaper. He raised $14 million last year.MosaicThe pandemic boosted traditional construction companies' interest in the high-tech corner of the sector. Startups that make digital tools to manage worksites from afar suddenly became indispensable, while the current housing shortage brought even more attention to companies that are developing ways to build homes faster and more cheaply.A construction-tech startup that's developed a faster way to model a building's energy efficiency used this 13-page pitch deck to nab $5.7 millionOpenSpace, a startup that wants to be the telemedicine of construction, used this 24-page pitch deck to nab $15 million from investors including Menlo VenturesRead the 19-page pitch deck an online construction-parts marketplace trying to compete with Amazon used to raise millionsSee the pitch deck that lured investing powerhouse Tiger Global to lead a $30 million round for a startup trying to revolutionize construction spendingHere's the 21-slide pitch deck construction-tech startup Mosaic used to lay out its vision for the future of homebuilding and nab $14 million from backers including Andreessen HorowitzAs building costs rise, this startup says real-estate developers can save millions by ditching spreadsheets. Here's the 12-slide pitch deck it used to raise $25 million.Plentific helps big landlords source contractors for repairs. We got an exclusive look at the pitch deck it used to raise $100 million for expansion and acquisitions.Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck the proptech platform Wreno used to raise a $5 million seed roundShort-term rentals and hospitalityFounder and CEO Roman Pedan raised $30 million for his short-term rental startup Kasa.KasaThe short-term rental market saw an explosion in the early days of the pandemic, as those looking for a place to wait out quarantine in comfort competed with those looking for a safer family vacation, driving up occupancy. Suddenly, investing in vacation-rental properties that could be listed on Airbnb or Vrbo became extremely attractive, and regular people could take advantage of the cheap capital to do so.Things have since swung in the other direction, with supply outpacing demand, making some say the gold rush is over. However, short-term rental is here to stay, with companies that help people buy, manage, and invest properties finding plenty of customers — and investors. A Latin American short-term rental startup just raised $48 million in a Series A led by a16z. Here's the deck it uses to pitch institutional landlords it looks to partner with.See the 26-page pitch deck Kasa Living used to raise $30 million while other short-term rental startups were foldingHere's the pitch deck that Koala, a startup bringing an Airbnb-style marketplace to the wonky timeshare industry, used to raise $3.4 millionSee the pitch deck a startup used to raise $5 million to help people invest in shares of vacation homes for as little as $100Regular people can pay for a day pass to swim in pools at Ritz-Carlton hotels. Here's the pitch deck ResortPass used to raise $26 million from investors like The Points Guy, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jessica Alba.See the pitch deck a startup used to raise $4 million to buy, sell, and manage short-term-rental propertiesRead the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Buying properties right now is tough for reasons from higher rates to steeper asking prices. Companies offering "fractional ownership" allow almost anyone to become a real-estate investor. The three founders of Ember, from left to right Jeff Lyman, Kurt Avarell, and James Sukhan.Ember A trend of "fractional ownership" allows almost anyone to purchase or invest in real estate. Via these 11 startups, buyers can invest in shares of an income-producing property or a second home. Don't call it a timeshare. Owners keep the gains in the property's value when they sell. A trend in real estate is making second-home and investment-property ownership more affordable: fractional or co-ownership.In short, homebuyers can purchase a share of a property instead of the entire thing.The main audience for fractional ownership is anyone interested in a property that's not their primary residence — whether it's a vacation home or an investment property. Buyers have the ability to purchase a share of a vacation home and enjoy the property as much as their respective percentage allows or buy a portion of a property and earn passive income when it's rented out to tenants."For a lot of people in this country, it's kind of tied into the American dream of owning property and owning a piece of the city you're in," said Ryan Frazier, the CEO of the real-estate-investing platform Arrived Homes.Arrived is one of several companies working to lower the barrier to entry for second-home purchasing and investing.Real estate is frequently seen by finance experts as a safe and profitable investment, but as it has become increasingly difficult to buy a home, co-ownership lets buyers reap the benefits at a fraction of the cost.Two types of ownership — vacation and single-family rentals — have doubters. Vacation rentals, especially those listed on Airbnb, have received pushback for reasons from noise to an increase in home prices. And some locals have butted heads with co-ownership companies, like Pacaso, citing displeasure with what they believe are timeshares with a fancy new name.Fractional ownership for second homes differs from a timeshare because while both allow buyers to use a property for a given amount of time each year, buyers of shares under fractional-ownership companies are able to keep the gains in the property's value.Here is a list of 11 fractional-ownership companies that offer the ability to own small portions of properties, presented in alphabetical order.AncanaThis Mexico City-based company sells shares of luxury homes and apartments throughout the country, with destinations including Los Cabos, San Miguel De Allende, Acapulco, and more."What we are doing is giving people access to a much more affordable vacation home," Andres Barrios, a cofounder of Ancana, told Forbes Mexico in February.Shares of the 22 residences listed on Ancana's site begin at $83,998 for one-twelfth ownership and four weeks of use annually of a five-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bathroom house overlooking Lake Chapala in Chapala.The offerings top out at $470,246 for a one-eighth ownership stake and six weeks of annual use of a six-bedroom, six-bathroom house with a thatched roof and infinity pool overlooking the ocean in Puerto Escondido, also on Mexico's Pacific coast.Residences come fully furnished, and Ancana handles the maintenance and cleaning between owners' stays. Ancana's booking app allows users to book from two days to two years in advance. When owners sell their fractions, they keep the gains in the property's value.Arrived HomesRyan Frazier is the CEO and a cofounder of Arrived Homes.Arrived HomesThis Seattle real-estate investment company offers shares of rental homes with a very low barrier to entry. A trend in the American housing market that's surfaced since the 2008 financial crisis is that corporations have taken to buying up single-family homes to rent them out. Arrived gives investors the ability to become a landlord — or, perhaps more accurately, a colandlord — without having to buy an entire house.Arrived offers the ability to buy shares with as little as $100, according to the company's website. The average investment is closer to $2,300, Frazier told Insider in November. Founded in 2019, Arrived sets itself apart from its co-ownership foes by working with the Securities and Exchange Commission to become qualified, meaning nonaccredited customers can invest in individual shares.The company has over 200 homes set up in more than 17 cities all over the US, including Nashville, Tennessee; Denver; and Charlotte, North Carolina, but it has plans to expand to 40 cities over the next year, Frazier said.According to Arrived's website, its investors have funded 203 properties with more than $75 million and it has raised $162 million in total as a company, according to Crunchbase.Investors can invest as little as $100 into a property all the way up to the cost of 9.8% of the shares available that particular property. Returns vary depending on the property, but Frazier said it's structured to mimic returns of a more traditional real-estate investment. Investors receive their returns via quarterly dividends.But getting into a fractional piece of a property on the platform may be difficult because homes are sold out."As soon as we got qualified, we pretty quickly sold out our initial homes," Frazier said. "They were selling out in less than 24 hours."In September, Arrived ventured into the vacation rental market and now offers vacation rentals on its platform.EmberThe three founders of Ember, from left to right Jeff Lyman, Kurt Avarell, and James SukhanEmberFounded last year in Salt Lake City, Ember gives buyers the ability to purchase a share of a vacation home and split time there with other shareholders. One-eighth of a share guarantees you 45 nights and one holiday weekend, while one-half of a share will grant you 180 nights.Floor prices to buy a share of an available home start at $103,782 and go as high as $679,045, but the website also shows "potential buys." Homes in that category range from under $300,000 to over $1.3 million a share.Ember is West Coast-focused, with vacation homes in Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, New Mexico, and Texas.As of February, Ember operated 12 homes in 10 vacation destinations, from Palm Springs, California, to Galveston, Texas. Ember declined to disclose how many properties it had control over for this list.Earlier this year, the company announced a $17.4 million Series A funding round led by the billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel.FintorFarshad Yousefi and Masoud Jalali, Fintor's cofounders.Courtesy of FintorLos Angeles-based Fintor's mission is to democratize access to real estate by providing buyers, particularly millennials and Gen Zers, with property-investment opportunities in up-and-coming American cities.The app is the brainchild of Farshad Yousefi and Masoud Jalali, who wanted to confront the challenge of investing in real estate when saddled with other financial obligations, like student debt."Fintor can give the same return as the stock market, but at half the risk," Yousefi told TechCrunch in April 2021. "As two [Iranian] immigrants, we've seen how much this country has to offer and how real estate sits at the top of everything, yet is so inaccessible."Investors in Fintor properties get a monthly dividend from properties, whose rents generally range from $1,500 to $3,000, and receive payouts through share-price appreciation and net proceeds when a property is sold.The buy-in with Fintor can be small — as low as $5 — because the company splits homes into 10,000 shares or more. The idea is to allow users to invest across markets, some which may perform better than others, rather than forcing them to invest a large sum in a single asset (à la traditional real-estate investments).The brand focuses on homes in places like Atlanta, Georgia; Charlotte and Greensboro, North Carolina; and Huntsville, Alabama, priced between $100,000 and $380,000. The company is projecting $400 million in revenue in the next five years, according to a pitch deck provided by the company.FractionalStella Han and Carlos Treviño, Fractional's cofounders.Courtesy of FractionalFractional lowers the financial threshold for real-estate investing by facilitating the purchase of investment properties throughout the country.The minimum buy-in is $5,000.The San Francisco company and Y Combinator alumni (Fractional was part of the startup accelerator's winter 2021 class) hope to open up real estate as an asset class to a broader swath of the public.It raised $5.5 million for a total valuation of $30 million in November 2021, according to TechCrunch, wooing investors including Will Smith and Kevin Durant.TechCrunch also reported that over 400 users had tried Fractional's beta version with investments spread across 95 properties. That number has since ballooned to 305 properties totaling over $48 million in assets managed by the brand.Here's how it works: Users create investment-property proposals that are either private, allowing friends or family members to go in on a property, or public, allowing the broader Fractional customer base to buy in. Once proposals get enough investment from users, Fractional handles offering, purchasing, and closing on the home via an LLC. The platform empowers users to purchase properties of their own choosing, which means return on investment varies.After closing, Fractional offers the service of finding tenants for the property through its property-management partners.HereCorey Ashton Walters, founder and CEO of Here.HereWhile Here is a relative newcomer to the world of fractional vacation ownership, it's been in development for years, according to the founder and CEO Corey Ashton Walters.The Miami-based company that launched in February 2022 offers shares of vacation homes starting at $1 a share — with a minimum stake of 100 shares per home. The average investment is $584, according to the company.Users can buy shares up to 19.9% of a property, which is held under an LLC, and generate passive income while Here handles responsibilities related to the upkeep of a vacation home.The company has so far stuck to just a few locations — like Big Bear, California; Clearwater, Florida; and Gatlinburg, Tennessee — where smaller investors would have a hard time accessing properties on their own, according to Walters."The average person really struggles to get access to the top-performing properties in this asset class," Walters told Insider. "Here democratizes access to the coolest places and the coolest locations on planet Earth."Walters is banking on a booming travel market and a $5 million of fresh funding to boost Here's fortunes.KocomoFeaturing destinations both stateside and abroad, Kocomo bills itself as a hassle-free way to own a slice of your own vacation home. Available properties start at $98,701 for a share of a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in Mexico City's La Condesa neighborhood and go up to $732,191 for a share of a four-bedroom bayfront home on Miami's Davis Harbor.All shares grant purchasers six weeks of use, and owning more shares grants more use. Kocomo has shares available in destinations including Southern California; Vail, Colorado; South Florida; and Mexico. Kocomo courts a more luxury-focused clientele. The platform expanded into South Florida in March and features homes in Miami and Fort Lauderdale."More and more tech founders and executives are visiting the state for both work and pleasure — and we cater perfectly to this demographic," Kocomo CEO Martin Schrimpff said in a March statement.Kocomo emphasizes user choice at its properties, noting that share owners are free to do as they wish with their weeks, including allowing friends and family to take the stay, swapping weeks for time at a different Kocomo property, or renting the property out.Lifestyle Asset GroupKarla Jones, a senior partner and cofounder at Lifestyle Asset Group.Karla JonesBased in Fort Collins, Colorado, Lifestyle Asset Group has coordinated co-ownership of luxury vacation properties since 2013. Destinations it covers range from downtown Manhattan to the Florida Keys, as well as international locations like the Caribbean and Mexico.Not surprisingly, shares in these homes often come with a hefty price tag, along with annual fees. For example, a fifth of a share of a five-bedroom home on Seabrook Island in South Carolina will cost you $342,000 with an annual fee of $17,000.The annual fees cover costs like property taxes, insurance, and utilities, but also include reciprocity access to sister LLCs managed by Lifestyle Asset Group — meaning you can exchange the allotted weeks at your home for another home.Lifestyle Asset Group requires an exit strategy for co-owners — usually around eight years after their initial purchase. The LLC the company established to purchase the property sells it and returns your initial investment along with any appreciation gained."We created a whole new approach that involves an exclusive group of owners who collectively acquire a vacation residence of immense quality and originality, all with a credible way to get a positive return on your investment," co-founder Karla Jones told Forbes in March 2019.LoftyLofty cofounders Jerry Chu, left, and Max Ball, right.LoftyLofty, a blockchain-based fractional ownership company with a minimum buy-in of $50, is targeted to tech-savvy Gen Zers and millennials. The platform, which launched in 2021, has raised $5 million from investors including Y Combinator, Y Combinator alumni group Rebel Fund, and venture capital firm TRAC.Founded by Jerry Chu and Max Ball, the company divides every rental property into tokens on the Algorand blockchain that investors can then purchase. The company's website lays out the data underlying each deal, such as how many tokens a property was broken into and how many tokens are unpurchased, the projected rate of return each year, and the lease terms and rates of tenants in the property.The company's 131 tokenized properties are predominantly in the Midwest, with a heavy presence in locales like Akron, Ohio, and Chicago, Illinois. They're modest, with the median purchase price of homes on the site at $150,000 and the median purchase amount for first-time users hovering around $500. Current users have a median value of about $6,000 in their Lofty portfolios, the company said.Lofty has lured over 5,000 investors spread across nearly 100 countries and has cleared $27 million in transactions, according to the company. Purchasing the tokens is easier than it sounds: Investors don't need to have an Algo crypto wallet (which is tied to the Algorand blockchain). Lofty launched a "custodial" wallet that allows users unfamiliar with cryptocurrencies to invest on their platform. Lofty properties are maintained by property managers brought on by the brand.PacasoSpencer Rascoff and Austin Allison, Pacaso's cofounders.PacasoPacaso, a vacation-home-co-ownership startup founded by two Zillow alumni, says it's the fastest ever to achieve unicorn status.After launching in October 2020, it reached unicorn status, or a $1 billion valuation, in March 2021. The San Francisco company said it had raised $125 million and was worth $1.5 billion.It works like this: The company purchases a home through an LLC in one of many cities, like Charleston, South Carolina; Cape Cod, Massachusetts; and Miami. It then lets customers buy one-eighth to half of a share of the property.Last year, Pacaso sold nearly 400 "units," or shares, according to a February press release.After closing, Pacaso acts as a management company that furnishes the homes, handles repairs and utilities, and facilitates scheduling for owner stays.Prices range from the mid-$200,000s to over $3 million a share for properties in over 35 destinations spanning the US, as well as Mexico, Spain, and the UK.Pacaso also made Insider's list of hottest proptech startups in 2022.Pacaso differs from a traditional timeshare because instead of purchasing the right to use a home, you own it."Pacaso is institutionalizing, or commercializing, that process to eliminate the stress, hassle, and problems," its CEO and founder, Austin Allison, told Insider in 2021, when the company hit its $1 billion valuation. "We believe we will surpass the old category of second-home ownership."RhoveRhove founder Calvin Cooper.RhoveThis app-based platform opens up real-estate investing opportunities from $1.Rhove currently only has two properties that users can invest in: a four-unit rental building in Columbus, Ohio, and a 27-residence senior living community in Silvis, Illinois. But it is in the midst of expanding its offerings nationally and internationally with what it claims is about $1 billion in properties in the pipeline.Investors in Rhove properties can earn a return on their investment that is paid directly into their Rhove accounts. If the value of the building grows, so does the value of the shares. Rhove users can buy or sell shares at any time.Rhove was founded in 2020 by Calvin Cooper, a former venture capital investor in fintech and proptech. In a seed round, Rhove has raised an undisclosed sum from Drive Capital, real estate developers Brett Kaufman of Kaufman Development and Dave Marcinowski of Madera Residential, among others.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Buying properties right now is tough for reasons from higher rates to steeper asking prices. Companies offering "fractional ownership" allow almost anyone to become a real-estate investor. The three founders of Ember, from left to right Jeff Lyman, Kurt Avarell, and James Sukhan.Ember A trend of "fractional ownership" allows almost anyone to purchase or invest in real estate. Via these 11 startups, buyers can invest in shares of an income-producing property or a second home. Don't call it a timeshare. Owners keep the gains in the property's value when they sell. A trend in real estate is making second-home and investment-property ownership more affordable: fractional or co-ownership.In short, homebuyers can purchase a share of a property instead of the entire thing.The main audience for fractional ownership is anyone interested in a property that's not their primary residence — whether it's a vacation home or an investment property. Buyers have the ability to purchase a share of a vacation home and enjoy the property as much as their respective percentage allows or buy a portion of a property and earn passive income when it's rented out to tenants."For a lot of people in this country, it's kind of tied into the American dream of owning property and owning a piece of the city you're in," said Ryan Frazier, the CEO of the real-estate-investing platform Arrived Homes.Arrived is one of several companies working to lower the barrier to entry for second-home purchasing and investing.Real estate is frequently seen by finance experts as a safe and profitable investment, but as it has become increasingly difficult to buy a home, co-ownership lets buyers reap the benefits at a fraction of the cost.Two types of ownership — vacation and single-family rentals — have doubters. Vacation rentals, especially those listed on Airbnb, have received pushback for reasons from noise to an increase in home prices. And some locals have butted heads with co-ownership companies, like Pacaso, citing displeasure with what they believe are timeshares with a fancy new name.Fractional ownership for second homes differs from a timeshare because while both allow buyers to use a property for a given amount of time each year, buyers of shares under fractional-ownership companies are able to keep the gains in the property's value.Here is a list of 11 fractional-ownership companies that offer the ability to own small portions of properties, presented in alphabetical order.AncanaThis Mexico City-based company sells shares of luxury homes and apartments throughout the country, with destinations including Los Cabos, San Miguel De Allende, Acapulco, and more."What we are doing is giving people access to a much more affordable vacation home," Andres Barrios, a cofounder of Ancana, told Forbes Mexico in February.Shares of the 22 residences listed on Ancana's site begin at $83,998 for one-twelfth ownership and four weeks of use annually of a five-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bathroom house overlooking Lake Chapala in Chapala.The offerings top out at $470,246 for a one-eighth ownership stake and six weeks of annual use of a six-bedroom, six-bathroom house with a thatched roof and infinity pool overlooking the ocean in Puerto Escondido, also on Mexico's Pacific coast.Residences come fully furnished, and Ancana handles the maintenance and cleaning between owners' stays. Ancana's booking app allows users to book from two days to two years in advance. When owners sell their fractions, they keep the gains in the property's value.Arrived HomesRyan Frazier is the CEO and a cofounder of Arrived Homes.Arrived HomesThis Seattle real-estate investment company offers shares of rental homes with a very low barrier to entry. A trend in the American housing market that's surfaced since the 2008 financial crisis is that corporations have taken to buying up single-family homes to rent them out. Arrived gives investors the ability to become a landlord — or, perhaps more accurately, a colandlord — without having to buy an entire house.Arrived offers the ability to buy shares with as little as $100, according to the company's website. The average investment is closer to $2,300, Frazier told Insider in November. Founded in 2019, Arrived sets itself apart from its co-ownership foes by working with the Securities and Exchange Commission to become qualified, meaning nonaccredited customers can invest in individual shares.The company has over 200 homes set up in more than 17 cities all over the US, including Nashville, Tennessee; Denver; and Charlotte, North Carolina, but it has plans to expand to 40 cities over the next year, Frazier said.According to Arrived's website, its investors have funded 203 properties with more than $75 million and it has raised $162 million in total as a company, according to Crunchbase.Investors can invest as little as $100 into a property all the way up to the cost of 9.8% of the shares available that particular property. Returns vary depending on the property, but Frazier said it's structured to mimic returns of a more traditional real-estate investment. Investors receive their returns via quarterly dividends.But getting into a fractional piece of a property on the platform may be difficult because homes are sold out."As soon as we got qualified, we pretty quickly sold out our initial homes," Frazier said. "They were selling out in less than 24 hours."In September, Arrived ventured into the vacation rental market and now offers vacation rentals on its platform.EmberThe three founders of Ember, from left to right Jeff Lyman, Kurt Avarell, and James SukhanEmberFounded last year in Salt Lake City, Ember gives buyers the ability to purchase a share of a vacation home and split time there with other shareholders. One-eighth of a share guarantees you 45 nights and one holiday weekend, while one-half of a share will grant you 180 nights.Floor prices to buy a share of an available home start at $103,782 and go as high as $679,045, but the website also shows "potential buys." Homes in that category range from under $300,000 to over $1.3 million a share.Ember is West Coast-focused, with vacation homes in Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, New Mexico, and Texas.As of February, Ember operated 12 homes in 10 vacation destinations, from Palm Springs, California, to Galveston, Texas. Ember declined to disclose how many properties it had control over for this list.Earlier this year, the company announced a $17.4 million Series A funding round led by the billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel.FintorFarshad Yousefi and Masoud Jalali, Fintor's cofounders.Courtesy of FintorLos Angeles-based Fintor's mission is to democratize access to real estate by providing buyers, particularly millennials and Gen Zers, with property-investment opportunities in up-and-coming American cities.The app is the brainchild of Farshad Yousefi and Masoud Jalali, who wanted to confront the challenge of investing in real estate when saddled with other financial obligations, like student debt."Fintor can give the same return as the stock market, but at half the risk," Yousefi told TechCrunch in April 2021. "As two [Iranian] immigrants, we've seen how much this country has to offer and how real estate sits at the top of everything, yet is so inaccessible."Investors in Fintor properties get a monthly dividend from properties, whose rents generally range from $1,500 to $3,000, and receive payouts through share-price appreciation and net proceeds when a property is sold.The buy-in with Fintor can be small — as low as $5 — because the company splits homes into 10,000 shares or more. The idea is to allow users to invest across markets, some which may perform better than others, rather than forcing them to invest a large sum in a single asset (à la traditional real-estate investments).The brand focuses on homes in places like Atlanta, Georgia; Charlotte and Greensboro, North Carolina; and Huntsville, Alabama, priced between $100,000 and $380,000. The company is projecting $400 million in revenue in the next five years, according to a pitch deck provided by the company.FractionalStella Han and Carlos Treviño, Fractional's cofounders.Courtesy of FractionalFractional lowers the financial threshold for real-estate investing by facilitating the purchase of investment properties throughout the country.The minimum buy-in is $5,000.The San Francisco company and Y Combinator alumni (Fractional was part of the startup accelerator's winter 2021 class) hope to open up real estate as an asset class to a broader swath of the public.It raised $5.5 million for a total valuation of $30 million in November 2021, according to TechCrunch, wooing investors including Will Smith and Kevin Durant.TechCrunch also reported that over 400 users had tried Fractional's beta version with investments spread across 95 properties. That number has since ballooned to 305 properties totaling over $48 million in assets managed by the brand.Here's how it works: Users create investment-property proposals that are either private, allowing friends or family members to go in on a property, or public, allowing the broader Fractional customer base to buy in. Once proposals get enough investment from users, Fractional handles offering, purchasing, and closing on the home via an LLC. The platform empowers users to purchase properties of their own choosing, which means return on investment varies.After closing, Fractional offers the service of finding tenants for the property through its property-management partners.HereCorey Ashton Walters, founder and CEO of Here.HereWhile Here is a relative newcomer to the world of fractional vacation ownership, it's been in development for years, according to the founder and CEO Corey Ashton Walters.The Miami-based company that launched in February 2022 offers shares of vacation homes starting at $1 a share — with a minimum stake of 100 shares per home. The average investment is $584, according to the company.Users can buy shares up to 19.9% of a property, which is held under an LLC, and generate passive income while Here handles responsibilities related to the upkeep of a vacation home.The company has so far stuck to just a few locations — like Big Bear, California; Clearwater, Florida; and Gatlinburg, Tennessee — where smaller investors would have a hard time accessing properties on their own, according to Walters."The average person really struggles to get access to the top-performing properties in this asset class," Walters told Insider. "Here democratizes access to the coolest places and the coolest locations on planet Earth."Walters is banking on a booming travel market and a $5 million of fresh funding to boost Here's fortunes.KocomoFeaturing destinations both stateside and abroad, Kocomo bills itself as a hassle-free way to own a slice of your own vacation home. Available properties start at $98,701 for a share of a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in Mexico City's La Condesa neighborhood and go up to $732,191 for a share of a four-bedroom bayfront home on Miami's Davis Harbor.All shares grant purchasers six weeks of use, and owning more shares grants more use. Kocomo has shares available in destinations including Southern California; Vail, Colorado; South Florida; and Mexico. Kocomo courts a more luxury-focused clientele. The platform expanded into South Florida in March and features homes in Miami and Fort Lauderdale."More and more tech founders and executives are visiting the state for both work and pleasure — and we cater perfectly to this demographic," Kocomo CEO Martin Schrimpff said in a March statement.Kocomo emphasizes user choice at its properties, noting that share owners are free to do as they wish with their weeks, including allowing friends and family to take the stay, swapping weeks for time at a different Kocomo property, or renting the property out.Lifestyle Asset GroupKarla Jones, a senior partner and cofounder at Lifestyle Asset Group.Karla JonesBased in Fort Collins, Colorado, Lifestyle Asset Group has coordinated co-ownership of luxury vacation properties since 2013. Destinations it covers range from downtown Manhattan to the Florida Keys, as well as international locations like the Caribbean and Mexico.Not surprisingly, shares in these homes often come with a hefty price tag, along with annual fees. For example, a fifth of a share of a five-bedroom home on Seabrook Island in South Carolina will cost you $342,000 with an annual fee of $17,000.The annual fees cover costs like property taxes, insurance, and utilities, but also include reciprocity access to sister LLCs managed by Lifestyle Asset Group — meaning you can exchange the allotted weeks at your home for another home.Lifestyle Asset Group requires an exit strategy for co-owners — usually around eight years after their initial purchase. The LLC the company established to purchase the property sells it and returns your initial investment along with any appreciation gained."We created a whole new approach that involves an exclusive group of owners who collectively acquire a vacation residence of immense quality and originality, all with a credible way to get a positive return on your investment," co-founder Karla Jones told Forbes in March 2019.LoftyLofty cofounders Jerry Chu, left, and Max Ball, right.LoftyLofty, a blockchain-based fractional ownership company with a minimum buy-in of $50, is targeted to tech-savvy Gen Zers and millennials. The platform, which launched in 2021, has raised $5 million from investors including Y Combinator, Y Combinator alumni group Rebel Fund, and venture capital firm TRAC.Founded by Jerry Chu and Max Ball, the company divides every rental property into tokens on the Algorand blockchain that investors can then purchase. The company's website lays out the data underlying each deal, such as how many tokens a property was broken into and how many tokens are unpurchased, the projected rate of return each year, and the lease terms and rates of tenants in the property.The company's 131 tokenized properties are predominantly in the Midwest, with a heavy presence in locales like Akron, Ohio, and Chicago, Illinois. They're modest, with the median purchase price of homes on the site at $150,000 and the median purchase amount for first-time users hovering around $500. Current users have a median value of about $6,000 in their Lofty portfolios, the company said.Lofty has lured over 5,000 investors spread across nearly 100 countries and has cleared $27 million in transactions, according to the company. Purchasing the tokens is easier than it sounds: Investors don't need to have an Algo crypto wallet (which is tied to the Algorand blockchain). Lofty launched a "custodial" wallet that allows users unfamiliar with cryptocurrencies to invest on their platform. Lofty properties are maintained by property managers brought on by the brand.PacasoSpencer Rascoff and Austin Allison, Pacaso's cofounders.PacasoPacaso, a vacation-home-co-ownership startup founded by two Zillow alumni, says it's the fastest ever to achieve unicorn status.After launching in October 2020, it reached unicorn status, or a $1 billion valuation, in March 2021. The San Francisco company said it had raised $125 million and was worth $1.5 billion.It works like this: The company purchases a home through an LLC in one of many cities, like Charleston, South Carolina; Cape Cod, Massachusetts; and Miami. It then lets customers buy one-eighth to half of a share of the property.Last year, Pacaso sold nearly 400 "units," or shares, according to a February press release.After closing, Pacaso acts as a management company that furnishes the homes, handles repairs and utilities, and facilitates scheduling for owner stays.Prices range from the mid-$200,000s to over $3 million a share for properties in over 35 destinations spanning the US, as well as Mexico, Spain, and the UK.Pacaso also made Insider's list of hottest proptech startups in 2022.Pacaso differs from a traditional timeshare because instead of purchasing the right to use a home, you own it."Pacaso is institutionalizing, or commercializing, that process to eliminate the stress, hassle, and problems," its CEO and founder, Austin Allison, told Insider in 2021, when the company hit its $1 billion valuation. "We believe we will surpass the old category of second-home ownership."RhoveRhove founder Calvin Cooper.RhoveThis app-based platform opens up real-estate investing opportunities from $1.Rhove currently only has two properties that users can invest in: a four-unit rental building in Columbus, Ohio, and a 27-residence senior living community in Silvis, Illinois. But it is in the midst of expanding its offerings nationally and internationally with what it claims is about $1 billion in properties in the pipeline.Investors in Rhove properties can earn a return on their investment that is paid directly into their Rhove accounts. If the value of the building grows, so does the value of the shares. Rhove users can buy or sell shares at any time.Rhove was founded in 2020 by Calvin Cooper, a former venture capital investor in fintech and proptech. In a seed round, Rhove has raised an undisclosed sum from Drive Capital, real estate developers Brett Kaufman of Kaufman Development and Dave Marcinowski of Madera Residential, among others.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Tough economic conditions are taking a toll on big public companies and tiny startups alike. See how these firms, from Compass to Zillow, have coped. A Redfin sign in front of a house for sale.Sundry Photography/Shutterstock CBRE, JLL, and Ribbon are the latest real-estate firms to lay off employees. The layoffs have impacted more than 13,000 workers and come as demand for mortgages has reached its lowest level since 1997. Insider rounded up 55 of the firms who have cut staff amid a cooling housing market. 2022 was a tough year for the real estate industry as many companies were forced to lay off staff because high mortgage rates depressed homebuying demand.Deals that were once profitable for the industry and home purchases that had been affordable for everyday people have been getting slammed by or because of the higher borrowing costs.The aggressive interest-rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and a looming recession have resulted in layoffs galore across the real-estate world, whose stormy seas have triggered worry elsewhere in the economy. The cutbacks are sobering for an industry that just a year ago was flying high with home-price appreciation, increasing rents and plentiful funding for proptechs. The downsizing began in the mortgage industry with Better's Zoom layoffs at the end of last year. That abrupt move came amid expectations for a big slowdown in 2022, and residential brokerages like Compass, Redfin, and Side followed suit as transaction volumes skid.With signs of distress spreading through the office market and among homebuilders, and rate hikes anticipated into 2023, layoffs are mounting. The Mortgage Bankers Association — the industry's largest trade group — anticipates an attrition rate as high as 30%, according to a spokesperson.Indeed, more industry jobs are likely on the line with demand for mortgages now its lowest level since 1997, per the MBA. Some of the latest and notable casualties came from real estate marketplace giant Zillow, consumer lender Finance of America, and international vacation rental company Vacasa.Insider is keeping track of where job cuts are taking place in the residential and proptech sectors, including at companies that have wielded an axe more than once. The companies with layoffs are listed below in alphabetical order.Do you know of other real estate tech or mortgage-related layoffs? Were you affected by them? email anicoll@insider.com or rdavis@insider.com.Amerifirst Home MortgageA couple signing mortgage documents.Getty ImagesPortage, Michigan-based Amerifirst Home Mortgage plans to layoff 59 employees in early 2023 as rising mortgage rates continue to depress homebuying demand, MiBiz reported. "Rising interest rates have impacted the nation's home mortgage industry including Amerifirst," Mark Jones, the company's CEO, told MiBiz in a statement. "Unfortunately, the resulting slowdown forced our company to scale back operations and reduce our workforce."Just days after the layoff announcement, Amerifirst revealed that it is being acquired by Union Home Mortgage, Crain's Detroit reported.AnywellA coworking space.Dowell/Getty ImagesIsraeli proptech startup Anywell, a company that creates hybrid workspaces, announced in August that it will lay off 50% of its workforce in a restructuring. The move impacted 11 employees, primarily from Anywell's operational staff. Anywell's latest round of layoffs came just five months after it raised $10 million in a Series B round. A total of 14 employees have left the company since March. The company added that it plans to focus on software-based solutions.Apartment ListA New York City apartment complex.Getty ImagesApartment listing services are facing mounting economic pressure.Mathew Woods, CEO of ApartmentList.com, announced on LinkedIn on August 31 that the company was laying off 29 people, or approximately 10% of its workforce. Woods said the company was "reacting to market conditions."BetterBetter employees at the company headquarters in New York City.BetterThe online mortgage lender Better started laying people off earlier than most of the companies on this list.In December, CEO Vishal Garg cut 900 employees via Zoom meeting, a move that made headlines around the world. Before the layoffs, Better employed about 9,000 people, 7,000 of whom were hired since the start of the pandemic.The company has since announced another wave of layoffs, cutting 3,000 more employees in March. Insider reported some employees found out they were being laid off when their bank statements received direct deposits for severance payments or when they abruptly lost access to their work computers.The company, which has said it still plans to go public this year, announced voluntary buyouts for employees in some positions and departments in April. Garg, Better, and the blank-check company trying to take the mortgage company public have received formal inquiries from the Securities and Exchange Commission about their business operations and the company's former chief operating officer's claims about corporate malfeasance.BlendNima Ghamsari, the founder and CEO of Blend.BlendBlend, the publicly traded mortgage-tech company that builds software for major mortgage lenders, laid off 200 people, or 10% of the company, in April, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission first reported by HousingWire.The company had been signaling it had hard times ahead since the end of last year, as declining loans were forecast to hit the company just as hard as its clients, who are the ones actually lending.BungalowThe Biden administration unveiled a plan to tackle the affordable housing crisis in May.E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty ImagesBungalow, a company that turns traditional single-family homes and apartments into coliving spaces for roommates, laid off 75 people, or 35% of its workforce, in June, according to Layoffs Tracker and posts by former employees on LinkedIn.The company raised $75 million last year from a mix of investors, led by Deer Park Road Management, with Coatue, Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, and Atomic also investing. The round valued the company at $600 million.CBREiStockCommercial real estate behemoth CBRE conducted a round of layoffs in mid-December, although it is unclear how many workers have been impacted, according to LinkedIn posts from former employees.The move comes just months after the company announced it would cut more than $400 million in costs during its Q3 earnings call in October, real estate publication The Real Deal reported.Clear CapitalThe Good Brigade/GettyClear Capital, a real estate appraisal technology company, laid off 27% of its workforce on October 14, according to Layoffs Tracker and LinkedIn posts from former employees. The layoffs will impact 378 employees – about 27% of the company's workforce as rising interest rates result in a significant decrease in volume from its customers."Clear Capital is restructuring all company divisions to reduce expenses and support our future business strategy amidst today's housing market reality," CEO Duane Andrews told Insider.CompassA Compass sign in front of a home.Smith Collection/Gado/Getty ImagesThe residential brokerage Compass announced it laid off 10% of its workforce — about 450 employees — in June as residential transactions slowed down. The layoffs did not include real-estate agents, who are independent contractors and not directly employed by the company.Compass, which went public in April 2021 at roughly $20 a share, is down almost 80% over the past two years and trading below $5 a share. The company also plans to combine some offices and pause its plans to expand and acquire other companies.A laid-off employee talked to Insider's Zoe Rosenberg about their experience."My lingering thought is that whatever the impacts of the IPO and the impacts of our rapid expansion across the country, the impacts of the market on our futures — is just that those impacts didn't seem to be handled appropriately, or in the best manner for the associates' longevity with the company," they said.ConveneConveneConvene, a hospitality and co-working company based in Manhattan, laid off 54  employees on December 10, according to commercial real estate publication Bisnow. "Like many companies, we've had to reassess the organizational structure of Convene to best position the business for future growth in an increasingly challenging and dynamic macro environment," the company's CEO Ryan Simonetti wrote in a LinkedIn post about the layoffs. "Unfortunately, this meant making the incredibly tough decision to say goodbye to a number of Convene team members this week."Divvy HomesDivvy Homes is a rent-to-own company headquartered in San Francisco.xeni4ka/Getty ImagesDivvy Homes, a rent-to-own real estate company, in September laid off 40 employees, representing more than 12% of its workforce, according to Layoff Tracker.The San Francisco-based company has raised more than $1.5 billion since it was founded in 2017 and is backed by large investment firms such as Andreessen Horowitz and Tiger Global Management."Although we recognized these macroeconomic challenges in late summer 2022 and took steps to substantially reduce our cost structure in response, it unfortunately was not enough," Kyle Zink, Divvy's VP of Marketing, told Insider."Realistically, the macro environment is likely to remain volatile and challenging for the foreseeable future. As a result, we needed to adjust headcount to reflect the new reality today," Zink continued.Finance of America MortgageA couple signing mortgage documents.Getty ImagesFinance of America Mortgage, a multichannel mortgage lender headquartered in Plano, Texas, laid off hundreds of employees between the second and third quarters of 2022, HousingWire reported in August. The layoffs impacted employees in the US and in the Philippines where workers performed back office tasks such as appraisal checklists, according to HousingWire. "The discontinuation of the forward mortgage originations segment will allow FOA to optimize its resources and prioritize businesses that have a distinct market opportunity and greater growth potential," FOA Interim CEO Graham Fleming said in a press release.First Guaranty Mortgage Corp.A couple signing a mortgage document.Getty ImagesFirst Guaranty Mortgage Corp., a Plano, Texas, lender, laid off 80% of its employees, The Dallas Morning News, and paused making new loans in late June, fueling speculation that the company was going to go bankrupt. The company was backed by the major asset manager Pimco.Just a few days after cutting 471 employees, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, with more than $473 million in debt. The company, which originated $11 billion in mortgages last year, had projected it could originate only $5 billion to $6 billion in mortgages this year.Flagstar BankFlagstar Bank's logo.Flagstar BankFlagstar Bank, a Michigan bank, cut its mortgage staff by 20% in April. In a statement to HousingWire explaining the 420-employee layoffs, CEO Alessandro DiNello cited interest rates rising "at the fastest rate this century." In the first quarter of 2022, the company's mortgage originations were down 40% from the first quarter of 2021.FlyHomesFlyhomes cofounder and CEO Tushar Garg.FlyhomesFlyHomes, an online brokerage service, cut 40% of its staff, or about 300 people, in November as the company seeks to "preserve capital through uncertain economic conditions," according to a LinkedIn post from the company. The move comes just five months after FlyHomes let go of 20% of its staff, or about 200 people, in July. The company blamed economic headwinds and rising interest rates, according to a report by GeekWire. The Seattle-based company has raised more than $310 million since it opened in 2016. Some of its investors include Andressen Horowitz, Camber Creek, and Spencer Rascoff, who co-founded Zillow. HomepointHome for sale. Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesPhoenix, Arizona-based mortgage lending company Homepoint laid off 117 employees on November 17 as rising interest rates took a toll on homebuyer demand, according to the Phoenix Business Journal. Overall, the company has let go of nearly 500 employees across four states such as Texas, Florida, Michigan, and Arizona in 2022, according to the Mortgage Professionals of America Magazine. The layoffs are part of a broader cost-cutting plan that is estimated to save the company over $100 million after it posted a more than $44 million loss on its Q2 earnings report, MPA Magazine said.HomewardPhoto courtesy of HomewardAustin, Texas-based startup Homeward, which is pioneering the "move now, sell later" transaction, laid off another 25% of its workforce in November, according to a post on the company's LinkedIn page. The move comes just months after the company let go of 20% of its workforce in August as housing transactions dropped. "We don't know how long real estate will continue to soften, so we must plan for a less active market," Tim Heyl, Homeward's CEO, wrote in an email to employees in August, according to a report by The Austin-American Statesman.Since it started in 2018, the company has raised more than $500 million from investors such as LiveOak, Javelin Ventures, and KeyStone Bank. Homeward raised $136 million in its Series B round, which closed in May 2021, according to Crunchbase.HomieSalt Lake City.Darwin Fan/Getty ImagesHomie, an online discount brokerage in Utah, laid off another 40 employees from its Salt Lake City location in October. The round of layoffs account for approximately 13% of its workforce, and brings the company's total cuts for the year up to 159, according to Layoff Tracker.CEO Johnny Hanna said the changing real-estate market and record-low inventory contributed to the decision to trim staff.InspectifyJosh Jensen, the CEO of Inspectify.InspectifySeattle-based home inspection startup Inspectify laid off 16 people on November 28 as rising interest rates and low homebuyer demand cooled-off the red-hot housing market, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal.Inspectify CEO Josh Jensen told the paper that the company still employs about 51 people following the layoffs. Interfirst MortgagePreforeclosure typically begins after three months of missed mortgage payments.AsiaVision/GettyInterfirst Mortgage, a lender based in Chicago, Illinois, plans to let go of 75 employees next month due to rising interest rates, reports Housing Wire. The layoffs will be effective as of January 21, 2023. The move comes just one month after the company let go of 371 employees from its Chicago and North Carolina offices. In all, Interfirst Mortgage has laid off nearly 500 employees over the last 12 months, according to a report by Crain's Chicago Business.JLLChristian Ulbrich, global CEO of JLL.JLLCommercial real estate brokerage JLL laid off employees from its New York and Chicago offices in November, but it remains unclear how many employees were impacted, Bisnow reported, citing multiple sources. "JLL is continuing with measures which were already underway to align our operational structure with our global transformation and reinforce our focus on managing costs," a company spokesperson told Bisnow.JPMorgan ChaseThe JPMorgan Chase corporate headquarters in New York City.Mike Segar/ReutersThe layoff wave hasn't affected only smaller lenders and proptech startups.America's largest bank, JPMorgan Chase, laid off more than 1,000 mortgage employees in June, Bloomberg first reported.The layoffs were a result of "cyclical changes in the mortgage market," a bank spokesperson told Bloomberg.Juniper SquareJuniper Square is a commercial real estate software startup.Ty ColeCommercial real estate software startup Juniper Square laid off 14% of its staff in August, said Chief Marketing Officer Matt Lawson. Lawson said the move primarily impacted Juniper's sales division. Despite the round of layoffs, the company's staffing total will still likely be 20% above last year's, he added. Since opening its doors in 2014, the proptech startup has raised more than $108 million from investors that include Ribbit Capital, Zigg Capital, and Ovo Fund. The company raised more than $75 million in its Series C funding round in September 2021.KeepeKeepe provides home-repair services.Peathegee Inc/Getty ImagesKeepe, a Seattle home-repair company, cut an unspecified number of workers from its small workforce in June, GeekWire reported. (GeekWire counted a total of 36 Keepe employees on LinkedIn.)The company provides home-repair services for other businesses, such as property managers and large corporate landlords.Keller MortgageKeller Mortgage is a division of the brokerage Keller Williams.Maskot/GettyThe mortgage arm of the major brokerage Keller Williams, Keller Mortgage, laid off 150 new hires in October, then laid off many more employees in May, a round that former employees described as "big," "massive," and "huge," according to The Real Deal.The division is largely focused on purchase mortgages because of its relationship with the brokerage.KiaviKiavi offered loans to real estate investors.Daniel Grizelj/Getty ImagesSan Francisco-based startup Kiavi, which offers loans to real estate investors, has felt the impact of rising interest rates on its customers. The company laid off 14 employees in July, representing about 7% of its workforce, HousingWire reported. Kiavi grew quickly in recent years, and in May announced that it had surpassed $10 billion in loans to real estate investors since it opened in 2013.  KnockA for-sale sign in front of a house.Getty ImagesIn March, Knock, a startup that helps homeowners make an offer on a new house before selling their old one, laid off 46% of its staff, roughly 120 employees, Bloomberg reported.At the same time, it halted its plan to go public via special-purpose acquisition company in March. The company had planned to go public at a $2 billion valuation but instead raised $70 million in equity and $150 million in debt in a private funding round that included the movie director M. Night Shyamalan as one of the investors.LandingBlake Callahan / Getty ImagesFully-furnished apartment provider, Landing, conducted a second round of layoffs on December 14, although it is unclear how many employees were let go, according to a report by AL.com. The move comes after the company let go of 110 employees on October 6 and reshuffled another 70 positions to different parts of the country.The company was founded in San Francisco but moved its headquarters to Birmingham, Alabama, in 2021 with the goal of creating more than 800 full-time jobs in the state. Today, the company has a workforce of nearly 900 in the Birmingham area.LevAlexander Spatari/Getty ImagesCommercial real estate finance platform Lev laid off 30 employees on December 7, which represents approximately 30% of the company's workforce, according to a report by The Real Deal.The move comes at a time when commercial real estate property values are falling because of low demand for office and other Class A space, according to CRE data firm Green Street.Mr. CooperMortgage applications have tumbled as interest rates have risen.SAUL LOEB/Getty ImagesThe mortgage lender Mr. Cooper, formerly known as Nationstar, has had two separate rounds of layoffs this year, one of 250 employees and another of 420 employees, or roughly 5% of the company's employees, according to The Real Deal.Like other mortgage lenders, it was hit hard by rising rates, with its direct-lending business declining by 32% year over year.NotarizeBuying a home often requires a notary.Dragana991/Getty ImagesNotarize, a Boston remote-notary service, laid off one-quarter of its staff — or about 110 people — in May, TechCrunch reported.While Notarize is not a traditional real-estate company, it was boosted greatly during the pandemic by the boom in remote real-estate transactions. Many states loosened their rules about in-person notaries and other traditional closing procedures to allow transactions to continue during the early waves of COVID-19.Notarize CEO Pat Kinsel said the layoffs were a result of "the state of the economy and world events" and that it may be harder than expected to raise further investment in the company. The company has raised $213 million since its founding in 2015, most recently a $130 million Series D last year.Offerpadsturti/Getty ImagesOfferpad, a Chandler, Arizona-based iBuying company, laid off approximately 7% of its workforce on November 11 after the company posted a more than $80 million net loss on its Q3 earnings report, according to a report by the Phoenix Business Journal.The company has raised more than $335 million from big-name investors such as homebuilder Taylor Morrison and private equity firm Blackrock, according to Crunchbase. Offerpad went public in September 2021 with a special purpose acquisition company called Supernova Partners. The company's stock has since lost more than 94% of its value, causing Offerpad to receive a delisting notice from the NYSE in November 2022.OpendoorAn Opendoor office.Opendoor Technologies/GlassdoorOpendoor laid off 550 employees on November 2, according to a blog post on the company's website. Founded in 2015, San Francisco-based Opendoor is America's biggest home-flipping company. It's also known as an instant buyer, or iBuyer, which means it buys up single-family homes across the country, lightly renovates them, then resells them for a profit.The move impacted about 18% of Opendoor's workforce across all departments, the blog post said. Opendoor also offered laid-off employees job transition services and a severance package that includes at least 10 weeks of pay."We did not make the decision to downsize the team today lightly but did so to ensure we can accomplish our mission for years to come," Opendoor CEO Eric Wu wrote in the blog post. "And while we may be navigating a once-in-40 year market transition, it doesn't take away the difficulty, frustration, and sadness downsizing brings."OrchardProspective homebuyers and a real-estate agent.Getty Images.Orchard, a startup that helps homeowners buy a home before selling their current home, laid off 180 people, or about 25% of its workforce, on November 17 at a time when homebuyers were increasingly leaving the real estate market, according to Layoffs Tracker. Orchard became a unicorn last year. It was valued at $1 billion after a $100 million funding round led by Accomplice. The company previously laid off about 10% of its staff in June because of "mounting economic uncertainty," according to a LinkedIn post. PacasoPacaso co-founders Spencer Rascoff and Austin Allison.PacasoPacaso, a real estate investment company founded by former Zillow executive Spencer Rascoff, laid off approximately 30% of its workforce on October 11, citing concerns about a global recession, according to The Real Deal. Since its founding in October 2020, Pacaso has raised more than $1.5 billion in seven funding rounds, with more than $1.3 billion coming from debt. In September 2021, the company picked up more than $125 million in a Series C round from 11 investors, including Alumni Ventures, SoftBank's Vision Fund, and Fifth Wall.PennymacKrisanapong Detraphiphat/Getty ImagesPennymac, a California nonbank lender, laid off another 80 employees in October primarily from its Roseville, Westlake, Agoura, Moorpark, and Pasadena locations in California, according to HousingWire. The move comes after the company laid off almost 450 employees across two rounds earlier this year. The first round was announced in March, while the second was announced in May, with the layoffs occurring up to July, according to HousingWire.RealiReali sought to simplify the real estate transaction process.The Good Brigade/Getty ImagesSan Francisco Bay area company Reali shuttered its operations in August, affecting 140 employees, TechCrunch reported. The company cited rising interest rates and a bad market for raising capital as the primary reasons for the shutdown. Reali, which was founded in 2016 in Israel, sought to simplify real estate transactions by allowing customers to buy and sell homes in a single, coordinated transaction. This would have eliminated the need for contingencies and paying two mortgages at once. The company raised a $100 million Series B round in August 2021.Realtor.comFirst-time buyers are up against a market where active listings have dropped nearly 67% since 2020, according to Realtor.com.Denis Novikov / Getty ImagesRealtor.com, one of the most recognizable real estate marketplaces in the world, said in September that it was downsizing its workforce. David Doctorow, the company's CEO, cited slow sales volume and economic headwinds as catalysts for the downsizing, according to Inman.com. A spokesperson declined Insider's request to comment on the move.RedfinRedfin CEO Glenn Kelman.Courtesy of ComparablySeattle-based real-estate brokerage Redfin laid off 862 employees, or 13% of its staff, on November 9, according to a memo posted on the company's website. The move comes after the company laid off 6% of its staff of almost 6,500 in June. Overall, employment at the company has declined by 27% since April 30, the memo said. "A layoff is awful but we can't avoid it," Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman wrote. "We plan to keep increasing our share of the market, but that market in 2023 is likely to be 30% smaller than it was in 2021." The company also said on November 9 that it was shutting down its home-flipping, or iBuying, business, called RedfinNow.RhinoA for-rent sign outside a house.ejs9/Getty ImagesThe New York insurance-tech startup Rhino laid off 57 employees, or more than 20% of its staff, in February, The Real Deal reported.Rhino is one company in a growing group of proptech startups that pays renters' security deposits in exchange for small but nonrefundable monthly payments.The company is part of the Kairos portfolio, a group of related startups led by the investor Ankur Jain. The layoffs came a year after Rhino raised $95 million in a round led by 2021's most active venture investor, Tiger Global Management.RibbonA New York City apartment complex.Getty ImagesNew York City-based startup Ribbon, a software-as-a-solution company for real estate agents, laid off 170 employees — or approximately 85% of its workforce — in November, Business Insider reported. The layoffs come months after Ribbon laid off 136 employees in July as the company seeks profitability, Inman reported. Over the last year, Ribbon has doubled its market footprint to eight states, including Ohio, Arkansas, and Florida, among others. Ribbon has raised more than $900 million since it was founded in 2017. Some of the company's big-name investors include Bain Capital Ventures, Greylock, and Goldman Sachs.Rocket MortgageThe Rocket Mortgage logo.Rocket MortgageRocket Mortgage, the largest mortgage lender in the country formerly known as Quicken Loans, has avoided layoffs by offering 8% of its workforce voluntary buyouts, providing months of compensation, medical benefits, and early stock vesting, National Mortgage Professional reported. It is unclear how many employees have taken the buyout offers.SideA family talking to a real-estate agent.Getty ImagesSide, a startup that provides white-label brokerage services like marketing tools to independent brokerages, laid off 10% of the company's workforce. It cut roughly 40 people in June, Inman reported.In June, a fundraising round brought the company to a unicorn valuation and within striking distance of going public.CEO Guy Gal said in a statement provided to Inman and other outlets that the company grew too quickly to adequately onboard new employees and that leadership decided it needed to slow down growth in the face of the condition of the global economy.SonderSonder CEO Francis Davidson.Cassidy AraizaSonder, one of the multiple proptech companies to go public during a rush of SPAC deals, laid off 21% of its corporate employees and 7% of its frontline hospitality staff in June, Business Travel News reported.Sonder operates short-term rental properties in apartment buildings, including some apartment buildings that it operates entirely as hotels.CEO Francis Davidson said in a meeting, according to Business Travel News, that the layoffs were part of a plan to prepare the company for shifting market dynamics that value profitability over growth. Earlier in the month, Satyen Pandya, Side's chief technology officer, left the company, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.Sprout MortgageMortgage rates have trended down recently.JenniferPhotographyImaging/Getty ImagesSprout Mortgage, which touted itself as the largest originator of nonqualified mortgages, laid off all of its more than 300 workers and shut down operations earlier this month, as HousingWire first reported.Sprout Mortgage is the latest nonqualified-mortgage lender to shutter after the closure of First Guaranty Mortgage Corp.The news prompted a class-action lawsuit from laid-off employees who said they hadn't received paychecks for their last few weeks of work.SundaeRows of suburban houses.David Jay ZimmermanSundae, a marketplace that allows homeowners to sell their homes to investors who then rent out the homes, laid off 15% of its staff, though the total number of people laid off is unclear, HousingWire reported.The layoffs were in June, when Bloomberg reported investors had begun to slow their purchases of homes across the country to rent out because of higher borrowing costs.TomoThe Tomo cofounders Greg Schwartz and Carey Armstrong.TomoTomo, a mortgage startup that focuses on lending to home purchasers, laid off 44 people, or almost one-third of its workforce, in May, Insider previously reported.Greg Schwartz, the company's CEO and cofounder, said the layoffs were a result of the "recent shift in the mortgage and venture-capital markets due to the rapid increase in interest rates."VacasaVacasa rents vacation homes like this one in Montana.Courtesy of Ryan VillinesVacation rental startup Vacasa announced it laid off 280 employees on October 21, in a move that impacted approximately 3% of its workforce, the company confirmed.The layoffs come just weeks after Rob Greyber took over as CEO. It was already trimming staff over the summer, when about 25 salespeople received pink slips.Vacasa has struggled to become profitable since going public in 2021. The company lost $2 million in adjusted earnings in the third quarter of 2022, though it was better than its projected loss of $15 million to $20 million, according to its quarterly report. "We do not take these decisions lightly, but we continuously assess our business, striving to optimize our resources and teams to be efficient and align with our priorities," a company spokesperson told Insider.VeevAmit Haller, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of VeevVeevVeev, a modular homebuilding company based in San Mateo, California, laid off 100 employees, or about 30% of its workforce, on November 11. The move primarily impacted workers who helped build high-rise housing units, according to a report by CalCalist. The move comes just eight months after the company raised more than $400 million in a Series D round from investors who included Fifth Wall and JLL Ventures. Veev said in a press release that it raised the capital to expand its operations in the US.Wells FargoA Wells Fargo office.Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesWells Fargo laid off workers across its home-lending operations in April but declined to describe the size or scope of the layoffs to Insider or other outlets.That same month, the company reported that revenues within its home-lending operation were down 33% year over year. The company's chief financial officer, Mike Santomassimo, appeared to forecast further layoffs during its first-quarter earnings call."We've started to reduce expenses in response to the decline in volume and expect expenses will continue to decline throughout the year as excess capacity is removed and aligned to lower business activity," Santomassimo said.The company did not provide further updates about the scope of the layoffs on an earnings call Friday.The WingInside one of The Wing's co-working spaces.Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post via Getty ImagesThe Wing, a New York-based coworking startup that made office spaces for women, shut down its operations in August, according to Layoff Tracker. The company that was founded by Audrey Gelman and Lauren Kassan in 2016 raised more than $117.5 million in funding from investors such as WeWork and Sequoia Capital.Zeus LivingZeus Living rents fully furnished homes.Courtesy of Christopher WillsonZeus Living, a furnished home rental company, laid off 64 employees on October 20 as the company continues to seek profitability and sustainable growth, according to the San Francisco Business Times. The layoffs come approximately 18 months after the startup cut more than 60% of its labor force due to business impacts resulting from COVID. "Like many companies in our industry, we are not immune to the effects of market volatility, inflation, war, and the possibility of a recession," Anni Jones, director of PR for Zeus, told Insider in an emailed statement. Zeus has raised more than $150 million from investors like Picus Capital and Y Combinator since it opened in 2015.ZillowZillow's website shows a series of price cuts on an Atlanta home.ZillowZillow laid off 300 employees as the company pivots to focus on hiring technology and engineering staff, TechCrunch reported on October 26. The layoffs primarily impacted employees in Zillow Offers, its sales team, and staff at Zillow Home Loans, the company's mortgage lending arm. The move comes nearly a year after Zillow laid off 25% of its workforce after shuttering its iBuying program known as Zillow Offers. "As part of our normal business process, we continuously evaluate and responsibly manage our resources as we create digital solutions to make it easier for people to move," a company spokesperson told Seeking Alpha. "This week, we have made the difficult — but necessary — decision to eliminate a small number of roles and will shift those resources to key growth areas around our housing super-app. We're still hiring in key technology-related roles across the company."ZumperAn apartment listed for rent in Manhattan.Bizzarro Agency LLCWhile most of the layoffs have struck the residential-purchase market, companies focused on rentals haven't escaped unscathed.In June, the rental marketplace Zumper cut 15% of its staff, mostly in the sales and customer-service departments, The Real Deal reported. It is unclear how many employees were cut.Axel Springer, Insider Inc.'s parent company, is an investor in Zumper. Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Tough economic conditions are taking a toll on big public companies and tiny startups alike. See how these firms, from Compass to Zillow, have coped. A Redfin sign in front of a house for sale.Sundry Photography/Shutterstock Redfin and Opendoor are the latest real-estate firms to lay off employees. The layoffs come as demand for mortgages has reached its lowest level since 1997. Insider rounded up 44 of the firms who have cut staff amid a cooling housing market. The layoffs at Redfin and Opendoor are the latest signs of trouble for the embattled real-estate industry.Deals that were once profitable for the industry and home purchases that had been affordable for everyday people have been getting slammed by or because of the higher borrowing costs.The aggressive interest-rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and a looming recession have resulted in layoffs galore across the real-estate world, whose stormy seas have triggered worry elsewhere in the economy. The cutbacks are sobering for an industry that just a year ago was flying high with home-price appreciation, increasing rents and plentiful funding for proptechs. The downsizing began in the mortgage industry with Better's Zoom layoffs at the end of last year. That abrupt move came amid expectations for a big slowdown in 2022, and residential brokerages like Compass, Redfin, and Side followed suit as transaction volumes skid.With signs of distress spreading through the office market and among homebuilders, and rate hikes anticipated into 2023, layoffs are mounting. The Mortgage Bankers Association — the industry's largest trade group — anticipates an attrition rate as high as 30%, according to a spokesperson.Indeed, more industry jobs are likely on the line with demand for mortgages now its lowest level since 1997, per the MBA. Some of the latest and notable casualties came from real estate marketplace giant Zillow, consumer lender Finance of America, and international vacation rental company Vacasa.Insider is keeping track of where job cuts are taking place in the residential and proptech sectors, including at companies that have wielded an axe more than once. The companies with layoffs are listed below in alphabetical order.Do you know of other real estate tech or mortgage-related layoffs? Were you affected by them? email anicoll@insider.com or rdavis@insider.com.AnywellA coworking space.Dowell/Getty ImagesIsraeli proptech startup Anywell, a company that creates hybrid workspaces, announced in August that it will lay off 50% of its workforce in a restructuring. The move impacted 11 employees, primarily from Anywell's operational staff. Anywell's latest round of layoffs came just five months after it raised $10 million in a Series B round. A total of 14 employees have left the company since March. The company added that it plans to focus on software-based solutions.Apartment ListA New York City apartment building.Getty ImagesApartment listing services are facing mounting economic pressure.Mathew Woods, CEO of ApartmentList.com, announced on LinkedIn on August 31 that the company was laying off 29 people, or approximately 10% of its workforce. Woods said the company was "reacting to market conditions."BetterBetter employees at the company headquarters in New York City.BetterThe online mortgage lender Better started laying people off earlier than most of the companies on this list.In December, CEO Vishal Garg cut 900 employees via Zoom meeting, a move that made headlines around the world. Before the layoffs, Better employed about 9,000 people, 7,000 of whom were hired since the start of the pandemic.The company has since announced another wave of layoffs, cutting 3,000 more employees in March. Insider reported some employees found out they were being laid off when their bank statements received direct deposits for severance payments or when they abruptly lost access to their work computers.The company, which has said it still plans to go public this year, announced voluntary buyouts for employees in some positions and departments in April. Garg, Better, and the blank-check company trying to take the mortgage company public have received formal inquiries from the Securities and Exchange Commission about their business operations and the company's former chief operating officer's claims about corporate malfeasance.BlendNima Ghamsari, the founder and CEO of Blend.BlendBlend, the publicly traded mortgage-tech company that builds software for major mortgage lenders, laid off 200 people, or 10% of the company, in April, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission first reported by HousingWire.The company had been signaling it had hard times ahead since the end of last year, as declining loans were forecast to hit the company just as hard as its clients, who are the ones actually lending.BungalowThe Biden administration unveiled a plan to tackle the affordable housing crisis in May.E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty ImagesBungalow, a company that turns traditional single-family homes and apartments into coliving spaces for roommates, laid off 75 people, or 35% of its workforce, in June, according to Layoffs Tracker and posts by former employees on LinkedIn.The company raised $75 million last year from a mix of investors, led by Deer Park Road Management, with Coatue, Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, and Atomic also investing. The round valued the company at $600 million.Clear CapitalThe Good Brigade/GettyClear Capital, a real estate appraisal technology company, laid off 27% of its workforce on October 14, according to Layoffs Tracker and LinkedIn posts from former employees. The layoffs will impact 378 employees – about 27% of the company's workforce as rising interest rates result in a significant decrease in volume from its customers."Clear Capital is restructuring all company divisions to reduce expenses and support our future business strategy amidst today's housing market reality," CEO Duane Andrews told Insider.CompassA Compass sign in front of a home.Smith Collection/Gado/Getty ImagesThe residential brokerage Compass announced it laid off 10% of its workforce — about 450 employees — in June as residential transactions slowed down. The layoffs did not include real-estate agents, who are independent contractors and not directly employed by the company.Compass, which went public in April 2021 at roughly $20 a share, is down almost 80% over the past two years and trading below $5 a share. The company also plans to combine some offices and pause its plans to expand and acquire other companies.A laid-off employee talked to Insider's Zoe Rosenberg about their experience."My lingering thought is that whatever the impacts of the IPO and the impacts of our rapid expansion across the country, the impacts of the market on our futures — is just that those impacts didn't seem to be handled appropriately, or in the best manner for the associates' longevity with the company," they said.Divvy HomesDivvy Homes is a rent-to-own company headquartered in San Francisco.xeni4ka/Getty ImagesDivvy Homes, a rent-to-own real estate company, in September laid off 40 employees, representing more than 12% of its workforce, according to Layoff Tracker.The San Francisco-based company has raised more than $1.5 billion since it was founded in 2017 and is backed by large investment firms such as Andreessen Horowitz and Tiger Global Management."Although we recognized these macroeconomic challenges in late summer 2022 and took steps to substantially reduce our cost structure in response, it unfortunately was not enough," Kyle Zink, Divvy's VP of Marketing, told Insider."Realistically, the macro environment is likely to remain volatile and challenging for the foreseeable future. As a result, we needed to adjust headcount to reflect the new reality today," Zink continued.Finance of America MortgageA couple signing mortgage documents.Getty ImagesFinance of America Mortgage, a multichannel mortgage lender headquartered in Plano, Texas, laid off hundreds of employees between the second and third quarters of 2022, HousingWire reported in August. The layoffs impacted employees in the US and in the Philippines where workers performed back office tasks such as appraisal checklists, according to HousingWire. "The discontinuation of the forward mortgage originations segment will allow FOA to optimize its resources and prioritize businesses that have a distinct market opportunity and greater growth potential," FOA Interim CEO Graham Fleming said in a press release.First Guaranty Mortgage Corp.A couple signing a mortgage document.Getty ImagesFirst Guaranty Mortgage Corp., a Plano, Texas, lender, laid off 80% of its employees, The Dallas Morning News, and paused making new loans in late June, fueling speculation that the company was going to go bankrupt. The company was backed by the major asset manager Pimco.Just a few days after cutting 471 employees, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, with more than $473 million in debt. The company, which originated $11 billion in mortgages last year, had projected it could originate only $5 billion to $6 billion in mortgages this year.Flagstar BankFlagstar Bank's logo.Flagstar BankFlagstar Bank, a Michigan bank, cut its mortgage staff by 20% in April. In a statement to HousingWire explaining the 420-employee layoffs, CEO Alessandro DiNello cited interest rates rising "at the fastest rate this century." In the first quarter of 2022, the company's mortgage originations were down 40% from the first quarter of 2021.FlyHomesFlyhomes cofounder and CEO Tushar Garg.FlyhomesFlyHomes, an online brokerage service, cut 20% of its staff, or about 200 people, in July. The company blamed economic headwinds and rising interest rates, GeekWire reported. The Seattle-based company has raised more than $310 million since it opened in 2016. Some of its investors include Andressen Horowitz, Camber Creek, and Spencer Rascoff, who co-founded Zillow. HomewardHomeward CEO Tim Heyl.HomewardAustin, Texas-based startup Homeward, which is pioneering the "move now sell later" transaction, laid off 20% of its workforce in August as housing transactions dropped. "We don't know how long real estate will continue to soften, so we must plan for a less active market," Tim Heyl, Homeward's CEO, wrote in an email to employees, according to a report by The Austin-American Statesman.The company has raised more than $500 million since it opened in 2018 from investors such as LiveOak, Javelin Ventures, and KeyStone Bank. Homeward raised $136 million in its Series B round, which closed in May 2021, according to Crunchbase.HomieSalt Lake City.Darwin Fan/Getty ImagesHomie, an online discount brokerage in Utah, laid off another 40 employees from its Salt Lake City location in October. The round of layoffs account for approximately 13% of its workforce, and brings the company's total cuts for the year up to 159, according to Layoff Tracker.CEO Johnny Hanna said the changing real-estate market and record-low inventory contributed to the decision to trim staff.JPMorgan ChaseThe JPMorgan Chase corporate headquarters in New York City.Mike Segar/ReutersThe layoff wave hasn't affected only smaller lenders and proptech startups.America's largest bank, JPMorgan Chase, laid off more than 1,000 mortgage employees in June, Bloomberg first reported.The layoffs were a result of "cyclical changes in the mortgage market," a bank spokesperson told Bloomberg.Juniper SquareJuniper Square is a commercial real estate software startup.Ty ColeCommercial real estate software startup Juniper Square laid off 14% of its staff in August, said Chief Marketing Officer Matt Lawson. Lawson said the move primarily impacted Juniper's sales division. Despite the round of layoffs, the company's staffing total will still likely be 20% above last year's, he added. Since opening its doors in 2014, the proptech startup has raised more than $108 million from investors that include Ribbit Capital, Zigg Capital, and Ovo Fund. The company raised more than $75 million in its Series C funding round in September 2021.KeepeKeepe provides home-repair services.Peathegee Inc/Getty ImagesKeepe, a Seattle home-repair company, cut an unspecified number of workers from its small workforce in June, GeekWire reported. (GeekWire counted a total of 36 Keepe employees on LinkedIn.)The company provides home-repair services for other businesses, such as property managers and large corporate landlords.Keller MortgageKeller Mortgage is a division of the brokerage Keller Williams.Maskot/GettyThe mortgage arm of the major brokerage Keller Williams, Keller Mortgage, laid off 150 new hires in October, then laid off many more employees in May, a round that former employees described as "big," "massive," and "huge," according to The Real Deal.The division is largely focused on purchase mortgages because of its relationship with the brokerage.KiaviKiavi offered loans to real estate investors.Daniel Grizelj/Getty ImagesSan Francisco-based startup Kiavi, which offers loans to real estate investors, has felt the impact of rising interest rates on its customers. The company laid off 14 employees in July, representing about 7% of its workforce, HousingWire reported. Kiavi grew quickly in recent years, and in May announced that it had surpassed $10 billion in loans to real estate investors since it opened in 2013.  KnockA for-sale sign in front of a house.Getty ImagesIn March, Knock, a startup that helps homeowners make an offer on a new house before selling their old one, laid off 46% of its staff, roughly 120 employees, Bloomberg reported.At the same time, it halted its plan to go public via special-purpose acquisition company in March. The company had planned to go public at a $2 billion valuation but instead raised $70 million in equity and $150 million in debt in a private funding round that included the movie director M. Night Shyamalan as one of the investors.LandingLanding rents fully-furnished apartments.Mikhaila Friel/InsiderFully-furnished apartment provider Landing announced that it laid off 110 employees on October 6 and reshuffled another 70 positions to different parts of the country, according to AL.com. The company that was founded in San Francisco moved its headquarters to Birmingham, Alabama, in 2021 with the goal of creating more than 800 full-time jobs in the state. Today, the company has a workforce of nearly 900 in the Birmingham area.Mr. CooperMortgage applications have tumbled as interest rates have risen.SAUL LOEB/Getty ImagesThe mortgage lender Mr. Cooper, formerly known as Nationstar, has had two separate rounds of layoffs this year, one of 250 employees and another of 420 employees, or roughly 5% of the company's employees, according to The Real Deal.Like other mortgage lenders, it was hit hard by rising rates, with its direct-lending business declining by 32% year over year.NotarizeBuying a home often requires a notary.Dragana991/Getty ImagesNotarize, a Boston remote-notary service, laid off one-quarter of its staff — or about 110 people — in May, TechCrunch reported.While Notarize is not a traditional real-estate company, it was boosted greatly during the pandemic by the boom in remote real-estate transactions. Many states loosened their rules about in-person notaries and other traditional closing procedures to allow transactions to continue during the early waves of COVID-19.Notarize CEO Pat Kinsel said the layoffs were a result of "the state of the economy and world events" and that it may be harder than expected to raise further investment in the company. The company has raised $213 million since its founding in 2015, most recently a $130 million Series D last year.OpendoorAn Opendoor office.Opendoor Technologies/GlassdoorOpendoor laid off 550 employees on November 2, according to a blog post on the company's website. Founded in 2015, San Francisco-based Opendoor is America's biggest home-flipping company. It's also known as an instant buyer, or iBuyer, which means it buys up single-family homes across the country, lightly renovates them, then resells them for a profit.The move impacted about 18% of Opendoor's workforce across all departments, the blog post said. Opendoor also offered laid-off employees job transition services and a severance package that includes at least 10 weeks of pay."We did not make the decision to downsize the team today lightly but did so to ensure we can accomplish our mission for years to come," Opendoor CEO Eric Wu wrote in the blog post. "And while we may be navigating a once-in-40 year market transition, it doesn't take away the difficulty, frustration, and sadness downsizing brings."OrchardProspective homebuyers and a real-estate agent.Getty Images.Orchard, a startup that helps homeowners buy a home before selling their current home, announced on LinkedIn in June that it had laid off 10% of its staff because of "mounting economic uncertainty."The company subsequently released a spreadsheet of laid-off employees' names and contact information to recruiters to help them find new roles. The spreadsheet contained the names of 46 employees as of July 18. Orchard became a unicorn last year. It was valued at $1 billion after a $100 million funding round led by Accomplice.PacasoPacaso co-founders Spencer Rascoff and Austin Allison.PacasoPacaso, a real estate investment company founded by former Zillow executive Spencer Rascoff, laid off approximately 30% of its workforce on October 11, citing concerns about a global recession, according to The Real Deal. Since its founding in October 2020, Pacaso has raised more than $1.5 billion in seven funding rounds, with more than $1.3 billion coming from debt. In September 2021, the company picked up more than $125 million in a Series C round from 11 investors, including Alumni Ventures, SoftBank's Vision Fund, and Fifth Wall.PennymacKrisanapong Detraphiphat/Getty ImagesPennymac, a California nonbank lender, laid off another 80 employees in October primarily from its Roseville, Westlake, Agoura, Moorpark, and Pasadena locations in California, according to HousingWire. The move comes after the company laid off almost 450 employees across two rounds earlier this year. The first round was announced in March, while the second was announced in May, with the layoffs occurring up to July, according to HousingWire.RealiReali sought to simplify the real estate transaction process.The Good Brigade/Getty ImagesSan Francisco Bay area company Reali shuttered its operations in August, affecting 140 employees, TechCrunch reported. The company cited rising interest rates and a bad market for raising capital as the primary reasons for the shutdown. Reali, which was founded in 2016 in Israel, sought to simplify real estate transactions by allowing customers to buy and sell homes in a single, coordinated transaction. This would have eliminated the need for contingencies and paying two mortgages at once. The company raised a $100 million Series B round in August 2021.Realtor.comFirst-time buyers are up against a market where active listings have dropped nearly 67% since 2020, according to Realtor.com.Denis Novikov / Getty ImagesRealtor.com, one of the most recognizable real estate marketplaces in the world, said in September that it was downsizing its workforce. David Doctorow, the company's CEO, cited slow sales volume and economic headwinds as catalysts for the downsizing, according to Inman.com. A spokesperson declined Insider's request to comment on the move.RedfinRedfin CEO Glenn Kelman.Courtesy of ComparablySeattle-based real-estate brokerage Redfin laid off 862 employees, or 13% of its staff, on November 9, according to a memo posted on the company's website. The move comes after the company laid off 6% of its staff of almost 6,500 in June. Overall, employment at the company has declined by 27% since April 30, the memo said. "A layoff is awful but we can't avoid it," Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman wrote. "We plan to keep increasing our share of the market, but that market in 2023 is likely to be 30% smaller than it was in 2021." The company also said on November 9 that it was shutting down its home-flipping, or iBuying, business, called RedfinNow.RhinoA for-rent sign outside a house.ejs9/Getty ImagesThe New York insurance-tech startup Rhino laid off 57 employees, or more than 20% of its staff, in February, The Real Deal reported.Rhino is one company in a growing group of proptech startups that pays renters' security deposits in exchange for small but nonrefundable monthly payments.The company is part of the Kairos portfolio, a group of related startups led by the investor Ankur Jain. The layoffs came a year after Rhino raised $95 million in a round led by 2021's most active venture investor, Tiger Global Management.RibbonRibbon is a software-as-a-service startup from New York City.Alexander Spatari/Getty ImagesNew York City-based startup Ribbon, a software-as-a-solution company for real estate agents, laid off 136 employees in July as the company seeks profitability, Inman reported. The move came after the company doubled its market footprint last year up to eight states, including Ohio, Arkansas, and Florida. Ribbon has raised more than $900 million since it was founded in 2017. Some of the company's investors include Bain Capital Ventures, Greylock, and Goldman Sachs.Rocket MortgageThe Rocket Mortgage logo.Rocket MortgageRocket Mortgage, the largest mortgage lender in the country formerly known as Quicken Loans, has avoided layoffs by offering 8% of its workforce voluntary buyouts, providing months of compensation, medical benefits, and early stock vesting, National Mortgage Professional reported. It is unclear how many employees have taken the buyout offers.SideA family talking to a real-estate agent.Getty ImagesSide, a startup that provides white-label brokerage services like marketing tools to independent brokerages, laid off 10% of the company's workforce. It cut roughly 40 people in June, Inman reported.In June, a fundraising round brought the company to a unicorn valuation and within striking distance of going public.CEO Guy Gal said in a statement provided to Inman and other outlets that the company grew too quickly to adequately onboard new employees and that leadership decided it needed to slow down growth in the face of the condition of the global economy.SonderSonder CEO Francis Davidson.Cassidy AraizaSonder, one of the multiple proptech companies to go public during a rush of SPAC deals, laid off 21% of its corporate employees and 7% of its frontline hospitality staff in June, Business Travel News reported.Sonder operates short-term rental properties in apartment buildings, including some apartment buildings that it operates entirely as hotels.CEO Francis Davidson said in a meeting, according to Business Travel News, that the layoffs were part of a plan to prepare the company for shifting market dynamics that value profitability over growth. Earlier in the month, Satyen Pandya, Side's chief technology officer, left the company, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.Sprout MortgageMortgage rates have increased significantly so far this year.JenniferPhotographyImaging/Getty ImagesSprout Mortgage, which touted itself as the largest originator of nonqualified mortgages, laid off all of its more than 300 workers and shut down operations earlier this month, as HousingWire first reported.Sprout Mortgage is the latest nonqualified-mortgage lender to shutter after the closure of First Guaranty Mortgage Corp.The news prompted a class-action lawsuit from laid-off employees who said they hadn't received paychecks for their last few weeks of work.SundaeRows of suburban houses.David Jay ZimmermanSundae, a marketplace that allows homeowners to sell their homes to investors who then rent out the homes, laid off 15% of its staff, though the total number of people laid off is unclear, HousingWire reported.The layoffs were in June, when Bloomberg reported investors had begun to slow their purchases of homes across the country to rent out because of higher borrowing costs.TomoThe Tomo cofounders Greg Schwartz and Carey Armstrong.TomoTomo, a mortgage startup that focuses on lending to home purchasers, laid off 44 people, or almost one-third of its workforce, in May, Insider previously reported.Greg Schwartz, the company's CEO and cofounder, said the layoffs were a result of the "recent shift in the mortgage and venture-capital markets due to the rapid increase in interest rates."VacasaVacasa rents vacation homes like this one in Montana.Courtesy of Ryan VillinesVacation rental startup Vacasa announced it laid off 280 employees on October 21, in a move that impacted approximately 3% of its workforce, the company confirmed.The layoffs come just weeks after Rob Greyber took over as CEO. It was already trimming staff over the summer, when about 25 salespeople received pink slips.Vacasa has struggled to become profitable since going public in 2021. The company lost $2 million in adjusted earnings in the third quarter of 2022, though it was better than its projected loss of $15 million to $20 million, according to its quarterly report. "We do not take these decisions lightly, but we continuously assess our business, striving to optimize our resources and teams to be efficient and align with our priorities," a company spokesperson told Insider.Wells FargoA Wells Fargo office.Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesWells Fargo laid off workers across its home-lending operations in April but declined to describe the size or scope of the layoffs to Insider or other outlets.That same month, the company reported that revenues within its home-lending operation were down 33% year over year. The company's chief financial officer, Mike Santomassimo, appeared to forecast further layoffs during its first-quarter earnings call."We've started to reduce expenses in response to the decline in volume and expect expenses will continue to decline throughout the year as excess capacity is removed and aligned to lower business activity," Santomassimo said.The company did not provide further updates about the scope of the layoffs on an earnings call Friday.The WingInside one of The Wing's co-working spaces.Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post via Getty ImagesThe Wing, a New York-based coworking startup that made office spaces for women, shut down its operations in August, according to Layoff Tracker. The company that was founded by Audrey Gelman and Lauren Kassan in 2016 raised more than $117.5 million in funding from investors such as WeWork and Sequoia Capital.Zeus LivingZeus Living rents fully furnished homes.Courtesy of Christopher WillsonZeus Living, a furnished home rental company, laid off 64 employees on October 20 as the company continues to seek profitability and sustainable growth, according to the San Francisco Business Times. The layoffs come approximately 18 months after the startup cut more than 60% of its labor force due to business impacts resulting from COVID. "Like many companies in our industry, we are not immune to the effects of market volatility, inflation, war, and the possibility of a recession," Anni Jones, director of PR for Zeus, told Insider in an emailed statement. Zeus has raised more than $150 million from investors like Picus Capital and Y Combinator since it opened in 2015.ZillowZillow's website shows a series of price cuts on an Atlanta home.ZillowZillow laid off 300 employees as the company pivots to focus on hiring technology and engineering staff, TechCrunch reported on October 26. The layoffs primarily impacted employees in Zillow Offers, its sales team, and staff at Zillow Home Loans, the company's mortgage lending arm. The move comes nearly a year after Zillow laid off 25% of its workforce after shuttering its iBuying program known as Zillow Offers. "As part of our normal business process, we continuously evaluate and responsibly manage our resources as we create digital solutions to make it easier for people to move," a company spokesperson told Seeking Alpha. "This week, we have made the difficult — but necessary — decision to eliminate a small number of roles and will shift those resources to key growth areas around our housing super-app. We're still hiring in key technology-related roles across the company."ZumperAn apartment listed for rent in Manhattan.Bizzarro Agency LLCWhile most of the layoffs have struck the residential-purchase market, companies focused on rentals haven't escaped unscathed.In June, the rental marketplace Zumper cut 15% of its staff, mostly in the sales and customer-service departments, The Real Deal reported. It is unclear how many employees were cut.Axel Springer, Insider Inc.'s parent company, is an investor in Zumper. Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Multifamily investor Clear Capital LLC has picked up its second local property, paying $63.5 million last month for apartments in Arden-Arcade......»»

With all of humanity’s collective knowledge available at our fingertips, you’d think investing myths would have disappeared by now. Q3 2021 hedge fund letters, conferences and more Yet they persist, largely because too many people consider money a “taboo” subject and avoid talking about it. Many of us also never question these assumptions, so we […] With all of humanity’s collective knowledge available at our fingertips, you’d think investing myths would have disappeared by now. if (typeof jQuery == 'undefined') { document.write(''); } .first{clear:both;margin-left:0}.one-third{width:31.034482758621%;float:left;margin-left:3.448275862069%}.two-thirds{width:65.51724137931%;float:left}form.ebook-styles .af-element input{border:0;border-radius:0;padding:8px}form.ebook-styles .af-element{width:220px;float:left}form.ebook-styles .af-element.buttonContainer{width:115px;float:left;margin-left: 6px;}form.ebook-styles .af-element.buttonContainer input.submit{width:115px;padding:10px 6px 8px;text-transform:uppercase;border-radius:0;border:0;font-size:15px}form.ebook-styles .af-body.af-standards input.submit{width:115px}form.ebook-styles .af-element.privacyPolicy{width:100%;font-size:12px;margin:10px auto 0}form.ebook-styles .af-element.privacyPolicy p{font-size:11px;margin-bottom:0}form.ebook-styles .af-body input.text{height:40px;padding:2px 10px !important} form.ebook-styles .error, form.ebook-styles #error { color:#d00; } form.ebook-styles .formfields h1, form.ebook-styles .formfields #mg-logo, form.ebook-styles .formfields #mg-footer { display: none; } form.ebook-styles .formfields { font-size: 12px; } form.ebook-styles .formfields p { margin: 4px 0; } Get The Full Walter Schloss Series in PDF Get the entire 10-part series on Walter Schloss in PDF. Save it to your desktop, read it on your tablet, or email to your colleagues. (function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true); Q3 2021 hedge fund letters, conferences and more Yet they persist, largely because too many people consider money a “taboo” subject and avoid talking about it. Many of us also never question these assumptions, so we don’t bother running a quick web search in the first place. These persistent investing myths cost you money though, in a very real sense. Once you move past these myths, a wider world of investing opportunities open up for you. Myth: You Can Time the Market to Earn Higher Returns When it comes to new investors learning how to invest their money one of the biggest myths is that you can time the market and earn better returns. To profitably time the market, you need to get it right twice. You need to buy at or near the bottom of the market, just as it turns upward. Then you need to sell at or near the top of the market, just as it prepares to plunge. The most experienced, best-informed professionals can’t do this predictably. If they can’t do it, you certainly can’t. Imagine you’re standing on the sidelines, telling yourself that you’ll invest “once the market drops.” But the market continues to rise for the next year or two before its next dip. When the dip does come, its low point might still cost more than today’s price. And that’s assuming you were able to buy at the low point, which you almost certainly won’t time properly. In the meantime, you’ve missed out on years of passive income from dividends or rents, or interest. Rather than trying to time the market, practice dollar-cost averaging. While it sounds complicated, it simply involves investing a set amount every month into the same diversified investments, based on what your budget allows for each month. You ignore timing and just mimic the broader upward trend, to earn better returns in the long run. Myth: You Need a Lot of Money to Start Investing A common myth that many people assume is investing a little bit of money doesn’t make sense. They think that investing $5 a month is pointless so they never even bother to start. That couldn’t be further from the truth. And it leads to wasted opportunities to save and invest over time. The truth is, investing a small amount of money can grow into large sums of money. Jon Dulin, owner of MoneySmartGuides, offers this example: “Let’s say you are 25 years old and invest $20 a month for 25 years. During this time you earn an average 8% return — nothing spectacular, just average returns. “At the end of 25 years, your $20 monthly investment has grown to nearly $19,000. If that doesn’t sound impressive, consider that your measly $20 each month could help your child or grandchild pay for college. Or it could pay for a family reunion vacation that you have on a tropical island. “If you instead keep the money invested for another 25 years, when you reach age 75, you’ll have close to $149,000. This can cover several years’ worth of living expenses during retirement.” Don’t make the mistake of assuming a small amount of money is a waste of time. Thanks to compounding, your money will grow into far larger sums over time. Literally anyone can get started even with little capital. Take the first step now and start investing any excess money you have, regardless of the amount. Read more: Invest in Art like the Ultra Wealthy Without Spending Millions Myth: I’m Too Young (or Too Old) to Start Investing The sooner you start and the longer you keep the money invested, the more it will grow. At an 8% return, you’d have to invest $5,467 each month to reach $1 million in 10 years. But it only takes $287 invested each month to reach $1 million in 40 years. That means that even people working for minimum wage can become millionaires if they invest consistently over time. On the other end of the spectrum, some older adults look at those numbers and despair, wondering why they should bother investing at all. But that’s the price of delaying: you need to save and invest more each month to reach the same goal. As the proverb goes, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. Start investing today with what you have, and let compounding work its magic for you. Read more: Don’t Miss These 12 Stocks Pay Monthly Dividends Myth: It Takes Decades to Save Enough to Retire In personal finance, the concept of “financial independence” means being able to cover your living expenses with passive income from investments. To make your day job optional, in other words, allowing you to retire if you like. It takes hard work and an enormous savings rate, of course. If you plod along with a 10-15% savings rate, then yes, it will take you decades to save enough to retire. My wife and I got serious about financial independence at 37, three years ago. We’re on track to reach financial independence within the next two or three years, in our early  40s. How? With a savings rate of 60-65% of our annual income and aggressive investing. Neither of us earns a huge salary either, but we still enjoy a comfortable lifestyle with plenty of international travel. We can save so much of our income because we house hack for free housing, avoid owning a car by living in a walkable area, and get full health insurance through my wife’s job. Nor are we alone. Read up on the FIRE movement (financial independence, retire early) to see how thousands of other people are achieving fast early retirement. Myth: Popular Companies Make Better Stock Picks The idea that popular companies make for good stocks sounds appealing on its surface. After all, if a company is popular, it’s probably growing its business. But the popularity and even the quality of a business only tell half the story. The other side is the price you pay for it. “Imagine someone approached you with two offers,” illustrates Ben Reynolds of Sure Dividend. “The first offer is to buy a $100 bill for $150. The second offer is to buy a $1 bill for $0.50. We all know the $100 bill is worth much more than the $1 bill… But any rational person would rather buy $1 for $0.50 than $100 for $150.” Two Warren Buffett quotes sum this up nicely: “For the investor, a too-high purchase price for the stock of an excellent company can undo the effects of a subsequent decade of favorable business developments.” “Most people get interested in stocks when everyone else is. The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can’t buy what is popular and do well.” The reason it is difficult to do well investing in popular stocks is because they tend to be overvalued. Everyone already “knows” the business is going to be wildly successful, and that’s baked into the price. If there’s any hiccup in results, the price is likely to decline significantly. Also, as evidenced by the GameStop fiasco, amateur traders can make a significant impact on popular investments. Just because something is popular doesn’t make it a good investment. Read more:  Discover these 19 Blue Chip Dividend Stocks Myth: You Need to Spend Time Researching Stocks or Frequently Trading Many people believe that it takes a lot of time to research stock and make frequent trades to make money, resulting in people leaving their investments with a professional or relying on expensive mutual funds. But individual investors don’t need expensive investment advisors or managed mutual funds (more on them shortly). “For most retail investors, utilizing low-cost passive index ETFs is the easiest and cheapest approach,” explains Bob Lai of Tawcan.com. “These index ETFs track a special index, like the S&P 500 or the NASDAQ Composite Index. Because of index-tracking nature, you get to own all the stocks listed in that index.” There’s no need to spend time determining the earning trend of companies like Apple, Facebook, Amazon, or Pfizer because you own them all. By owning all these stocks in the index ETFs, you are also not making frequent trades. Counterintuitively, frequent trades generally lead to lower returns. Think of your investment portfolio like a bar of soap: the more you touch it, the smaller it gets. Read more: Related read: Diversify Your Portfolio With These Top 10 International ETFs Myth: Expensive Managed Mutual Funds Outperform Passive Index Funds Experienced, professional investors with the best data available to them still can’t pick stocks or time the market better than passive index funds. Need proof? Over the last 15 years, nearly 90% of managed mutual funds underperformed compared to their respective benchmark index. “The best investment strategy would be to invest in index funds of stocks or bonds that track an entire segment of the market — so you don’t have to worry about which specific security will give you the best return over short investing periods,” offers Kelan Kline, cofounder of The Savvy Couple. “My personal favorite low cost broad market index fund is Vanguard’s VTSAX.” Myth: Only the Wealthy Can Hire Investment Advisors A survey from JPMorgan Chase found that 42% of people who aren’t investing are staying out because they don’t think they have enough to invest. On some level, this isn’t surprising. After all, historically people had to work with private wealth managers who require $100,000 or more. Even many popular index funds required a minimum of $10,000 to get started, just 20 years ago. “That is changing with algorithm-driven investment tools such as robo-advisors,” says Jeremy Biberdorf of ModestMoney.com. “In many cases, robo-advisors have no minimum investment and allow you to invest for a small fee. Even investing a small amount every year can make a big difference.” Robo-advisors also won’t run off with your money or engage in insider trading. Many investors let their guard down and trust human investment advisors without doing any due diligence on them, especially when referred to them by friends of family members. “This makes investors vulnerable to conflicting advice in even the best-case scenarios. In the worst-case scenarios, they are easy prey for scammers. That’s why I call this blind faith in financial professionals the worst investment advice I hear everywhere,” explains Chris Mamula of Can I Retire Yet?. Read more: Can I Retire at 62 With 400k In My 401(k)? Myth: Bonds Are Inherently Safer than Other Asset Classes Bonds offer one type of safety — but leave you exposed to other types of risk. When an investor buys a bond from the US Government or most municipalities, there’s little risk of the borrower defaulting. So investors can sleep at night knowing that as long as they hold that bond, they’ll probably receive their modest interest payments. But bond values gyrate on the secondary market just like stock prices. Investors who plan to sell their bonds rather than hold them can find themselves with paper that’s gone down in value, not up. Which says nothing of the corroding effect of inflation on bond interest payments. When inflation runs at 3% in a year, a bond paying 3% interest-only generates a 0% real return. That in turn means that bonds may not actually protect retirees against running out of money before they die. Sure, the stock market is volatile, but in the long term, it generates an average return of 10% per year. At a 4% withdrawal rate, investors will see their stock portfolio go up in value rather than down, in most years. Even conservative income stock investing, such as in dividend kings, can yield 3-4% in dividends alone, on top of share price growth. But bonds paying paltry 3-4% interest will cause a slow decay in your nest egg. None of that means that you should never invest in bonds. But every investor should understand all the risks — not just the risk of default. Myth: Options Trading is Risky For many, selling options is a risky business.  And strategies such as Iron Condors add to the complexity.   “However, when managed correctly, options trading can be a handy addition to an overall portfolio”, explains Gavin McMaster of IQ Financial Services, LLC. An iron condor is a delta-neutral option strategy that consists of both call options, and put options.  The strategy works if the underlying stock stays within a specific range during the course of the trade. The key with iron condors is trading an appropriate position size (never risk your whole account on an iron condor) and knowing how to manage them. Here are a few quick tips to reduce the risks with iron condors: Never risk more than 2-3% of your account size on any one trade Close the trade before the stock breaks through one of the short strikes Avoid earnings announcements Have one or two adjustment strategies ready in case the trade moves against you Focus on stocks and ETF’s with a high IV Rank “While iron condors can be risky if you don’t know what you are doing, using appropriate position sizing and risk management rules can reduce the risks”, adds McMaster.  Generating income from iron condors can be a superb way to increase the returns on your portfolio. Myth: Pay Off Your Student Loans Before Buying a Home Paying off student loans before buying a home is a common misconception. While there is no “one size fits all approach,” many people believe their student loan debt will prohibit them from purchasing a home, however, this isn’t always the case. “For example, doctors and dentists often carry large amounts of student debt, and typically have relatively high debt to income ratios. Therefore, exploring a Physician Mortgage, which allows individuals to carry more debt, may be a better fit than a traditional mortgage”, explains Kaitlin Walsh-Epstein with Laurel Road. For those nonhealthcare professionals looking to purchase a home while managing high outstanding student loan balances, refinancing their student loans can be a good option. By refinancing to a longer-term mortgage, the borrower may lower their monthly payments. However, this may also increase the total interest paid over the life of the loan. “Refinancing to a shorter-term mortgage may increase the borrower’s monthly payments, but may lower the total interest paid over the life of the loan.”, adds Walsh-Epstein. Questions to consider: What is your current student loan interest rate? (Calculate the true cost over the life of your loan) What are mortgage interest rates and are they projected to go up or down?  (Currently mortgage rates are low) Do you pay rent each month and if so, how will your rent payment compare to a mortgage payment?  (As well as carrying costs of owning a home) Is the home (or real estate) projected to appreciate in value? The first step is to review and understand your credit score, student loan terms, and financial goals. Working towards making payments to lower your overall debt will help to raise your credit score, yet again increasing your chances of getting into your dream home faster! Myth: The “Rule of 100” In the 20th Century, investment advisors droned out the same advice to most clients: “Subtract your age from 100, and that’s the percent of your portfolio that should be invested in stocks.” They pushed clients to move their money into bonds instead, as they grew older. A sound strategy — back when Treasury bonds paid 15% interest. This century has seen perpetual low-interest rates, and bonds have offered poor returns compared to stocks. This says nothing of the fact that people are living and working longer, so they both have more risk tolerance and need their nest eggs to last longer. Today, investment advisors tend to instead advise subtracting your age from 110 or 120 instead, if they bother issuing such generic advice at all. Everyone has their own unique risk tolerance and needs; as a real estate investor, I can earn safer, higher returns from real estate than bonds, so I avoid bonds altogether. A high earner nearing retirement might appreciate the tax benefits and security of municipal bonds and tailor their portfolio accordingly. Be careful of anyone peddling such a broad rule of thumb as the “Rule of 100.” Read more: Find Expert Tax Preparers Now! Myth: You Must Pay Off All Debt Before Investing There are plenty of great reasons to pay off consumer debt early. You earn an effective return equal to the interest rate, and it’s a guaranteed return on your money when you use it to pay off debt early. Mark Patrick of Financial Pilgrimage explains it like this: “Our family even went so far to pay down our mortgage debt despite record low-interest rates. With that said, throughout the entire process we invested in our retirement accounts, such as our 401(k) account. The benefits are just too good to pass up. “The company that I work for provides a 401k match of up to 6% plus an additional 1% that every employee receives regardless. Therefore, if I contributed 6% of my salary to my 401(k) I would receive an additional 7% in contributions from my employer. I was more than doubling my money right away! “If you decide to wait to pay down all of your consumer debt instead of starting to invest for your retirement you’ll miss out on years of compound interest. Compound interest is one of the most powerful forces in personal finance. The earlier you can get started, the better. For example, if someone invests $5,000 per year from age 25 to 35 and then never invests another dollar, they would likely have more money at age 65 than someone that invests the same amount every month from age 35 to 65. “While I am a huge proponent of paying down debt, it shouldn’t come at the expense of forgoing investing. Especially when you want that money to grow until retirement. Try to find the balance between paying down debt and investing. We certainly could have paid down our debt faster if we decided not to invest throughout the process, but after 15 years in the workforce I’m sure glad we didn’t. Those dollars invested early on have compounded into much larger amounts over the years. Read more: Should you Pay off Debt or Save for Retirement Myth: You Should Pay Off Your Student Loans Before Buying a Home It might make more sense to pay off student loans before buying a house. Or it might not. Ultimately it depends on your goals, your housing market, your loan interest rates, and your other finances. For example, you might live in a housing market where it’s cheaper to rent than own a home. In that case, it makes sense to pay off your student loans rather than rush into buying. Alternatively, if you plan on buying a duplex and house hacking, and thereby eliminating your housing payment, it probably makes more sense to buy. Just think about how much faster you could pay off your student loans, with no housing payment! Think holistically about how owning versus renting for another year or two would affect your finances. Don’t rush into buying a home — but don’t avoid it without deep analysis, either. Myth: Buying Is Always Better than Renting Despite having owned dozens of properties as a real estate investor, I live in a rental apartment. In some markets, renting makes more sense than buying. Look no further than San Francisco, where the median home price is $1,504,311, but the median rent for a three-bedroom home is $4,567. After adding in property taxes and homeowners insurance, it would cost roughly double the monthly payment to buy a median home as rent, despite all the perennial complaints by San Francisco tenants. And that says nothing of maintenance and repair costs, which average thousands of dollars each year for the typical homeowner. Renters don’t have to pay those costs or do that labor. They delegate them to the landlord. Nor do renters need the fiscal discipline to budget money each month for those irregular, but inevitable expenses. Not everyone has that discipline, and they’re better off with the steady, predictable housing cost of monthly rent. Finally, renting allows flexibility. Tenants can sign a month-to-month lease agreement and move out with a few weeks’ notice. Homeowners don’t have the flexibility; it takes months to sell a home, and typically tens of thousands in closing costs. Myth: Your Home Is an Investment Buyers love to delude themselves that they’re buying an “investment” rather than spending money on shelter. It helps them justify overspending on the biggest, fanciest house they can possibly afford. But make no mistake: housing falls under the “Expenses” category in your budget, not the “Investments” category. It costs you money every month, rather than generating it. House hacking marks a notable exception however, since your home helps you avoid a housing payment. Sure, real estate often goes up in value. So do baseball cards, but that doesn’t justify hobbyists spending as much as they possibly can on them, while patting themselves on the back for their wise “investments.” By all means, invest in real estate. But do it by buying true investment properties, or REITs, or real estate crowdfunding investments. The more you spend on housing, the less you can put toward true investments. Read more: House Hacking – 18 Ways to Never Pay Rent Again Myth: You Should Put the Bare Minimum Down When You Buy a Home Making the bare minimum down payment often enables buyers to overspend on housing. They end up overleveraging themselves, mortgaged to the hilt with an enormous monthly payment and little money left to actually furnish the place, or to enjoy any social life. It also leaves homeowners vulnerable to becoming upside-down on their home, owing more than the home is worth. At that point, they become prisoners in their own homes, unable to sell without the lender’s permission. They end up stuck there until the housing market either improves or they pay their loan balance down enough to be able to afford seller closing costs without coming out of pocket. While it sounds nice to put down next to nothing on a home, look at the bigger picture. If you spend far less on a home than you can afford, then a low down payment can serve you well. But if you’re straining against the limits of your budget, beware of putting every last penny into a tiny down payment with a huge monthly bill. Myth: You Should Put Down as Much as Possible on a Home The common wisdom was once to put down as much as possible when you buy a home, and 20% at the very least. However, this locks up a good portion of the money that could be growing at a faster rate with other investments. “Putting down less than 20% does increase the monthly mortgage payment due to the higher interest rate and PMI (private mortgage insurance),” explains Andy Kolodgie of The House Guys. “However, you should compare your expected returns on that extra down payment if you were to invest it elsewhere, to the annual savings on your mortgage. For example, investing in stocks and bonds could allow you to earn more money while providing the added benefit of easy liquidity. “A lesson learned from the 2008 mortgage crisis was you can’t eat equity in your home. During the recession, it was nearly impossible to refinance the equity out of any home, as home prices dropped below most people’s mortgage balance. Putting less than 20% down to stay more liquid and investing in alternative assets diversifies your portfolio, keeping buyers more risk-averse.” Again, look holistically at your personal finances. As you near retirement, it makes more sense to play conservatively with a larger down payment to avoid PMI and reduce your monthly mortgage bill. For younger borrowers looking to buy a first home, it often makes more sense to put down 3-10%, and invest their other cash more aggressively in the stock market or other assets with high return potential. Myth: You Need 6-12 Months’ Living Expenses in an Emergency Fund To hear the pundits crying from their soapboxes, we all need at least a year’s worth of living expenses parked in a savings account in cash to protect us from a financial apocalypse. And some people do. But not everyone. Those with either irregular incomes, irregular expenses, or both do need a deep cash cushion. For example, as an entrepreneur, there have been months where I didn’t earn enough to take a personal distribution for myself from the company, so I earned $0 in personal income those months. Someone like me does need 6-12 months’ worth of living expenses saved in an emergency fund. Salaried employees with safe jobs at stable employers don’t need as much cash in an emergency fund. That goes doubly if they live a predictable middle-class lifestyle with the same expenses month in and month out. They may only need 2-3 months’ expenses set aside in cash. I go a step further with my emergency fund and think of it as tiered levels of defenses, like a medieval castle. The first level comprises cash savings — you can tap it if you need it. I also keep several unused credit cards with low-interest rates, that I can also draw on in a pinch. Then I keep several low-volatility, short-term investments that I can also turn to if needed. All of which means I don’t actually need 6-12 months’ living expenses in cash after all. Myth: More Education Inherently Means a Higher Income From a statistical standpoint, education level correlates strongly with income. People with college degrees earn more than those with high school diplomas on average, and those with advanced degrees earn a higher average income still. On a personal level, it often doesn’t work out that way. I have plenty of friends and family members with advanced degrees, and most of them earn modest, middle-income salaries. Salaries with ceilings, and little room for advancement beyond their specialized niche. I can’t tell you how many teachers I know with several master’s degrees, who earn little or nothing more than their colleagues with bachelor’s degrees. In fact, my friends and family with the highest incomes all stopped at bachelor’s degrees and while some got high-paying jobs, others went into business in some capacity. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pursue an advanced degree if it’s required for your dream job. By all means, pursue your passion. But don’t assume that an advanced degree inherently means an advanced salary. Read more: How to Make $100k/yr As A Brand Ambassador Myth: Gold Offers the Best Hedge Against Inflation Many investors flock to gold when they fear inflation. But historically, gold often performs badly during times of high inflation. From 1980-1984, for instance, gold lost around 10% in value, even as inflation raged at a 6.5% annual rate. Historically repeated itself in the late 1980s as well. Gold actually works best as a hedge against a weakening currency — compared to other world currencies. When investors think the US dollar is about to crumble in value compared to the euro, pound, or yen, that marks a good moment to grab some gold. But investors more generally worried about inflation should consider better hedges against it. Real estate offers an excellent hedge against inflation, for example. It has inherent value: people will pay the going rate, regardless of the value of the currency. The same goes for commodities like food staples; no one stops eating just because inflation surges. Most professional investment advisors recommend holding no more than 5% of your portfolio in precious metals, if that. I personally own none, preferring to invest in stocks, real estate, and the occasional speculative gamble such as cryptocurrency. Article By G. Brian Davis, The Financially Independent Millennial Updated on Oct 5, 2021, 5:10 pm (function() { var sc = document.createElement("script"); sc.type = "text/javascript"; sc.async = true;sc.src = "//mixi.media/data/js/95481.js"; sc.charset = "utf-8";var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(sc, s); }()); window._F20 = window._F20 || []; _F20.push({container: 'F20WidgetContainer', placement: '', count: 3}); _F20.push({finish: true});.....»»

An 80-unit apartment complex in Huntsville has sold for $11.76 million. Birmingham-based Red Street Investment Co. acquired the property for $147,000 per unit from Morrison Avenue Capital Partners. The complex features condo-style living with gr.....»»

While the price was not disclosed, the 277-unit property was last assessed for $22 million, according to the Bexar County Appraisal District......»»

The property was last assessed by the Bexar County Appraisal District for $17.1 million......»»

Although the house has only been on the market for 13 days, listing agent Douglas Lee told Insider that he's already received over 10 offers. When viewed from the side, the house looks like it sits over the bridge because of the concrete archway underneath it.Compass Real Estate An LA apartment that sits over a bridge — or under, depending on where it's viewed from — is for sale for $245,950. The one-bedroom home, which was constructed in 1949, has been used as storage for the past 18 years. Douglas Lee, the listing agent, told Insider that he's already received offers for the rundown property. Los Angeles: The city of dreams, where $245,950 gets you an old one-bedroom apartment that sits over a bridge. Or tucked under, depending on where you're standing.When viewed from the side — along the banks of the stream that run underneath it — the 462-square-foot apartment looks like it sits over a bridge, since there's a concrete archway underneath it.At the same time, the building has a roof terrace that's level with a road that goes over the stream.When you're standing on the road, all you can see are the railings on the roof of the apartment — making it seem like the house is underneath the bridge.The house is located underneath the street. Only the railings on the roof, circled in red, can be seen from street level.Google Maps Street ViewWhile the Alhambra property, built in 1949, is in need of renovation, there has been no shortage of interested buyers showing up for the open house."The first weekend I did soft open houses for an hour on Saturday and Sunday each, we got 40 to 50 groups," listing agent Douglas Lee from Compass told Insider. "This past weekend we probably had the same, if not more viewers."Although the house has only been on the market for 13 days, Lee says that he's already received offers for the property."We've got over 10 offers — we're way above list price. There are a lot of cash offers on the table," Lee added. "And we still have continuous calls from buyers and agents."The entryway to the home.Compass Real EstateThere's only one way to enter the one-bedroom, one-bathroom property, and that's via a staircase from the street."So if you're on the street, on the sidewalk on the bridge, you'll see the rooftop terrace on your left. You take the stairs down on the right and then you'll access the unit," Lee said. A staircase leading down to the apartment from the street.Compass Real EstateThis is the first time in 18 years that the house is on the market, per listing history."My client bought it in 2005 for $72,000. They initially wanted to turn it into a man cave, but that didn't work out so they ended up just using it as storage," Lee said.One of the rooms in the house.Compass Real EstateLee added that the owners are choosing to sell the property now "for personal reasons."The house hasn't been in use for a long time, and the next owner will have to renovate it."It's mostly cosmetic," he said. "The light switches need to be fixed. There are a couple of leaks in the sinks in the kitchen and the bathrooms. There are a bunch of small punchless items that need to be addressed."The kitchen.Compass Real EstateThat said, whoever buys the home can also swap the railings for a higher fence in case of privacy concerns — as long as they have approval from the city, Lee added.Houses in the Alhambra, California, area have a median listing home price of $849,500, per data from real estate platform Realtor.com.There are currently 34 single-family homes for sale in the neighborhood, and the bridge house is the cheapest listing in the area.The bathroom.Compass Real EstateWhile there's no dedicated parking spot, the house is located near downtown LA and that's a huge advantage, Lee said: "You're close to everything and you're surrounded by good Asian food. It's a very safe community."Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CHPT) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript June 1, 2023 ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. beats earnings expectations. Reported EPS is $-0.15, expectations were $-0.17. Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon, my name is Lisa, and I’ll be your conference operator for today’s call. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the […] ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CHPT) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript June 1, 2023 ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. beats earnings expectations. Reported EPS is $-0.15, expectations were $-0.17. Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon, my name is Lisa, and I’ll be your conference operator for today’s call. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the ChargePoint First Quarter Fiscal 2024 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. All participant lines have been placed on a listen-only mode to prevent any background noise. After the speaker’s remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the call over to Patrick Hamer, ChargePoint’s Vice President of Capital Markets and Investor Relations. Patrick, please go ahead. Patrick Hamer: Good afternoon and thank you for joining us on today’s conference call to discuss ChargePoint’s first quarter fiscal 2024 earnings results. This call is being webcast and can be accessed on the Investors section of our website at investors.chargePoint.com. With me on today’s call are Pasquale Romano, our Chief Executive Officer and Rex Jackson, our Chief Financial Officer. This afternoon we issued our press release announcing results for the quarter ended April 30th, 2023, which can also be found on our website. We’d like to remind you that during the conference call, management will be making forward-looking statements, including our outlook for the second quarter of fiscal 2024. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties many of which are beyond our control and could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations. These forward-looking statements apply as of today and we undertake no obligation to update these statements after the call. For a more detailed description of certain factors that could cause actual results to differ, please refer to our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 3rd, 2023 and our earnings release posted today on our website and filed with the SEC on Form 8-K. Also, please note that we use certain non-GAAP financial measures on this call which reconcile to GAAP in our earnings release and for certain historical periods in the investor presentation posted on the Investors section of our website. And finally, we’ll be posting the transcript of this call to our Investor Relations website under the Quarterly Results section. And with that, I’ll turn it over to Pasquale. Pasquale Romano: Thank you, Patrick, and thank you all for joining us today. We delivered a strong first quarter. Revenue was at the high end of our guidance range at $130 million and non-GAAP gross margin sequentially improved two points to 25%. To put these results into perspective, we achieved a 59% year-over-year growth rate in the first quarter and the second largest quarter in ChargePoint’s history. We did that while the EV installed base in North America and Europe are still in single-digits, and the EV market is only at the beginning of a decade’s long growth cycle. We also achieved this growth in the midst of a challenging macroeconomic environment. Diversification across verticals and geographies continues to contribute resilience to our business. So while we saw less growth in North American Commercial and Residential than we would have liked due to what we believe is a delay in discretionary purchases we continued to see overall growth and margin improvement. Rex will address guidance for the second quarter. But just to give you a sense of the magnitude of the long-term opportunity ahead of us, the midpoint of that guidance would make Q2 the largest quarter in ChargePoint’s history. You’ll also hear Rex talk about non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA. To give some context, we use non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA as a key measure of the health of our business as we drive towards profitability and as we disclosed in our proxy statement filed last week. This metric is one of the two components of our annual management bonus programs. Beneath the top-line results, we’re continually improving our operations and investing for future scale. We have consistently improved gross margins while recovering from supply chain issues making meaningful changes to the cost of our products and optimizing our operations. Also as we scale, we are carefully managing our operating expenses while making the necessary investments in our support operations and internal business systems. We are committed to delivering dependable infrastructure to our customers. So drivers can find it, use it and depend on it everywhere. Turning back to Q1, we saw two areas of particularly strong growth, Europe and fleet. For the first time in our history, Europe delivered over 20% of ChargePoint’s quarterly revenue. Meanwhile, Q1’s fleet billings more than doubled year-over-year despite supply limitations on vehicles entering the segment relative to demand, and as a percentage of billings, fleet increased from Q4. We’re encouraged to see continued resilience in these growth areas. Beyond the financials, we continued to focus on our products. We offer industry-leading hardware and software for nearly every fueling vertical. Our solutions help our customers deliver the kind of EV driver experience that will continue to accelerate EV adoption across North America and Europe. In brief, better charging infrastructure delivers a better driver experience, which drives more value across the entire EV ecosystem. The positive feedback loop for growth that benefits ChargePoint, our partners and EV drivers in the environment. We are betting on the continued changeover from fossil fuels to electric drive regardless of OEM or vertical. And as a result, we believe we are an index for the electrification of mobility. Before handing off to Rex, let me update you on a few key statistics to give you a little more color on our continued growth. On the network side, we give drivers and ecosystem partners access to approximately 745,000 EV ports in North America and Europe. 243,000 of these are active ports under management on the ChargePoint network up from 225,000 ports last quarter and we recently passed a milestone of over 500,000 roaming ports. These roaming ports are critical to delivering a world-class ecosystem to ChargePoint’s drivers site host customers and strategic partners such as OEMs and fuel card providers. Approximately 21,000 of the 243,000 ports on the ChargePoint network are DC fast-charging up from approximately 19,000 at the end of Q4 and approximately one-third of our overall ports are located in Europe. We count 76% of the 2022 Fortune 50 and 56% of the 2022 Fortune 500 as our customers. This reflects excellent penetration given our land and expand strategy, the stickiness of our solutions, and our strong rebuy rates. From an environmental perspective as of the end of the quarter, we estimate that our network now has fueled approximately 6.3 billion electric miles avoiding approximately 252 million cumulative gallons of gasoline and over 1.25 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. So when you put all that together, it shows that despite the current economic environment, ChargePoint growth continues. We made significant progress against our long-term road map ensuring that ChargePoint scales ahead of this remarkable market opportunity. We’re running a highly differentiated business that is not CapEx intensive. And as you’ll hear from Rex, we’re heading into the black while we turn the world green in the early innings of the EV transition Rex, over to you for financials. Rex Jackson: Thanks, Pasquale. As a reminder, please see our earnings release where we reconcile our non-GAAP results to GAAP and recall that we continue to report revenue along three lines. Network charging systems, subscriptions, and other, network to charging systems is our connected hardware. Subscriptions include our cloud services connecting that hardware, assure warranties, and our ChargePoint-as-a-service offering where we bundle hardware, software and warranty coverage into recurring subscriptions, other consists of professional services and certain non-material revenue items. As Pasquale indicated, we had a solid Q1 with revenue of $130 million, up 59% year-on-year and above the midpoint of our previously announced guidance range of $122 million to $132 million, down seasonally as expected from Q4, Q1 was notably the company’s second largest quarter ever and a good start for the year when compared to Q1 contributions over the past two years. Network charging systems at $98 million was 76% of Q1 revenue, down from $122 million and 80% in Q4, due to typical seasonality. Q1 revenue from network charging systems grew 65% year-on-year. Subscription revenue at $26 million was 20% of total revenue, up 49% year-on-year, up sequentially, and again above the $100 million annual run rate we referenced in our last call. Our deferred revenue which is future recurring subscription revenue from existing customer commitments and payments continues to grow, finishing the quarter at $205 million up from $199 million at the end of Q4. We’re especially encouraged to see this continued growth in our recurring revenues in the very early days of what we believe is a decade’s long EV adoption curve. Other revenue at $5 million and 4% of total revenue increased 20% year-on-year. Turning to verticals, first quarter billings percentages were commercial 63%, fleet 24%, residential 11%, and other 2% reflecting a particularly strong performance in fleet. Commercial grew 44% year-on-year, while fleet was up 129%. Residential grew at 13% year-on-year, and maintained its generally consistent billings percentage. From a geographic perspective, Q1 revenue from North America was 79% and Europe was 21%. As Pasquale mentioned, Europe continues to outpace North America on a percentage basis of 70% year-on-year. Turning to gross margin, non-GAAP, for Q1 was 25% up sequentially from Q4 is 23% and up eight points from 17% in Q1 of last year. This improvement is primarily a combination of diminishing supply chain and logistics expense pressures, significant operational improvements and better scale. We continue our considerable investment in our driver and host support infrastructure because we believe support and reliability, our critical differentiators for both drivers and our customers. We expect continued improvement in non-GAAP gross margin this year. Non-GAAP operating expenses for Q1 were $85 million a year-on-year increase of 2% and a sequential increase of 6% primarily reflecting payroll taxes as well as annual compensation increases effective April 1st. As we look out to the rest of 2023, we will manage expenses carefully and expect to deliver improvements in operating leverage. As you may recall in calendar 2020 and 2021, our OpEx which reflects significant forward investments in our business, was at approximately 100% of our revenue. In 2022, we took that down to 53% in Q4 and 69% for the year. In Q1, we were at 66% given revenue seasonality, but again expect continued improvements this year, particularly in the second half. Given this trajectory, I’d also like to expand on Pasquale’s comments regarding non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA. We added this metric and the associated reconciliation today in our press release with the goal of better illustrating our path to profitability. To calculate adjusted EBITDA, we take our non-GAAP net income loss and add back interest, taxes and depreciation. The depreciation component is low. Thanks to our business model. Using this metric, Q1 non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $49 million a year-on-year improvement of 27%. We look to cut this loss further by approximately two-thirds by Q4 of this year. Looking at cash, we finished the quarter with $314 million, down from $400 million last quarter. As in prior quarters, the primary driver of our negative cash flow is operating loss. In Q1, we also managed to break free on a number of supply chain issues and move our inventory solidly from raw materials and WIP or work in progress, to finished goods meaningfully increasing our inventory level, which helped us avoid leaving business on the table as we have been forced to do in recent quarters. This build helped us in Q1 and sets us up well for Q2 and for Q3. Inventory will vary as we look forward, but we expect it will grow with the business. We used our ATM very likely in Q1, adding $18 million in cash through the program. We will evaluate use of the ATM on a quarter-by-quarter basis and also continued to assess non-dilutive liquidity options. To close on a couple of other key figures, stock-based compensation in Q1 was $24 million consistent with the past three quarters. Our annual compensation cycle includes equity. So we expect our annual step-up and stock-based compensation in Q2 to be approximately $8 million and to be fairly constant for the ensuing three quarters. We had approximately 353 million shares outstanding as of April 30, 2023. Turning to guidance for the second quarter of fiscal 2024, we expect revenue to be $148 million to $158 million, up 41% year-on-year at the midpoint. We are committed to being adjusted EBITDA positive in Q4 of calendar 2024 and remain committed to being cash flow positive by Venezuela. In summary, we’ve achieved the growth we expected to achieve despite significant headwinds. We continue our march to profitability even while we invest in operational excellence at scale. Our differentiated business model is not CapEx intensive and our adjusted EBITDA metric, which we consider to be a strong indicator of the overall health of our business gives us confidence in our trajectory. With that I’ll turn the call back to the operator for questions. Q&A Session Follow Chargepoint Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CHPT) Follow Chargepoint Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CHPT) We may use your email to send marketing emails about our services. Click here to read our privacy policy. Operator: Thank you. [Operator Instructions] We’ll take our first question from Gabe Daoud with Cowen. Gabe Daoud: Hey, thanks guys, I appreciate all the prepared remarks, maybe Pasquale. I just wanted to hit on the comment earlier in your prepared remarks just about some of the commercial and residential, we missed that you guys noted, just curious if you could give a bit more color on how that may be snaps back as we progressed through the rest of this year and maybe what’s kind of embedded in your own internal forecast. Pasquale Romano: So, hi, Gabe. It’s a very simple answer. Actually, the beauty of this market is the utilization pressure sits there because EVs keep — we keep converting the installed base from fossil fuel to electric vehicle. Businesses right now, all businesses, commercial businesses that have a discretionary need for charging for their employees or their customers can adjust timing to deal with the macroeconomic uncertainty. So the need doesn’t go away, but the optionality to delay addressing that need in some of our commercial customers exists. What I’ll point you to though is something that we’ve commented on in previous earnings calls as we went through the pandemic. The mix in our business by vertical shifted pretty meaningfully during the pandemic because we went into an abrupt work from home situation and other areas of the business because we’ve been broadly placed across verticals and geos, other places in the business picked up the slack. So we didn’t have to deal with the massive discontinuity financially. You’re seeing that I think play out here again. So we still I think turned in very aggressive growth on a quarter-to-quarter basis, Q1 this year to Q1 last year. It’s a healthy percentage step-up in the geo-diversity especially given that Europe is now 20% of the business and performing strong and fleet up 200% year-over-year similar Q1 to Q1. It’s just evidence that as the macroeconomic water balloon exerts its pressure on the different verticals that we’re diverse enough to take up the slack. So we’re not in a position where we think the demand has gone away and that it’s perished, we’ll get it back as the macroeconomic situation clears up, hope that answered it. Gabe Daoud: Yeah, that’s great color. Thanks, Pasquale. Maybe as a follow-up just and — maybe I’ll ask just about the mix shift or just the billings and the price momentum that you reported in fleet in particular. Could you maybe just give us a bit more color on where exactly are you seeing that strong growth and strong demand within fleet? Is it last mile logistics? Is it I guess on the light-duty vehicle side just given how we’re still vehicle constrained on medium and heavy duty? But just curious I guess is what can you say on fleet, what’s really driving the momentum there and then is it also more fleet momentum in Europe versus the US? Or is it fairly similar? Thanks guys. Pasquale Romano: It’s easier to go backwards with your follow-up question. It’s pretty balanced between Europe and North America fleets. As I said in my prepared remarks, it’s vehicle limited right now, if OEMs were producing vehicles in quantities to match demand, you’d see faster penetration and conversion from fossil fuel to electric. It’s actually well aligned with a softer macro in that everyone’s looking for cost savings obviously and these are meaningful — these vehicles are meaningful components of the cost structures of the businesses that they serve and what that’s done is it’s slanted as I’ve mentioned by the way consistently in previous calls, it’s slanted to land, but not much expand within a customer. And so that’s, I think, just a good indicator for things to come in the future. When that starts to uncoil, it’s complicated, given that there is a bit of a dependency there on vehicle OEMs producing things at scale. One of the bright spots that I mentioned before regarding fleet is transit because that’s the most mature segment. And so we continue to see that segment do quite well, but there has been no general shift in mix between the quarters, that’s worth — that’s materially worth reporting. Gabe Daoud: Okay. Okay, great. That’s helpful. Thanks, guys. I’ll take the rest offline. Operator: We’ll take our next question from Colin Rusch with Oppenheimer. Colin Rusch: Thanks so much guys. Can you talk a little bit about the dynamics in the US commercial market? Can you give us a bit more detail on what’s happening with commercial property owners as they work through cost of capital changes, rental rates and looking at upgrading amenities? With the sales cycle, it looks like conversations you’re having with folks around when and kind of volume of deployments? Pasquale Romano: Colin, the conversation is not any different now than it’s been in the past. The commercial conversations tend to be a mixed bag of are you dealing with the tenant? Are you dealing with the property manager? Are you dealing with the landlord? Are you dealing with all of the above in combination? So it really is situational. And that hasn’t changed. You are seeing property developers and property managers take a more keen interest right now in charging as an amenity more broadly in their portfolio versus in hotspots driven more by tenant — kind of tenant activities. But I think, in general, because the dominant situation there is return to office and as you’ve seen in many statistics that have been reported, we are not — we’re moving to — we’re moving back to a larger component of in-office. But we certainly haven’t snapped back all the way. So that’s probably the biggest component in commercial shift is if people aren’t driving to the office, so workplace charging component will continue to basically move down proportionately to effectively the utilization in the parking lot at office buildings. It doesn’t mean that there isn’t charging going in. It just goes in proportional to the number of days folks are in the office. We will also remind you is it’s not — if you go in three days or if you go in five, it generates the same amount of utilization pressure in the parking lot on these three days if they are synchronized. So there’s a lot of puts and takes there. And I think as this continues — and it gets confused by a lot of other things that are going on in the macro as well, it gets — the complexity goes up. So we’ve got good visibility into it and we’re managing it closely. Colin Rusch: Excellent. That’s super helpful. I’ve got two other things. Just looking for an update there and then maybe a little bit disparate, some of the permitting streamlining efforts that are going on at state level and even at a national level, if you could just give us a sense of anything that you’re tracking very closely there that could be meaningful for the business and then also the potential to consolidate some of these not — these non-fully networked chargers, whether it’s in the US or Europe and how that opportunity is changing for you guys near-term? Pasquale Romano: It is easier to take that one backwards. If you look at consolidation of non-network chargers, there’s a lot of programs, a lot of, I mean, not that our revenue is primarily subsidy dependent, but almost all I can think of anyway subsidy programs have a requirement for the charger to be managed connected to some port of network and meet some set of requirements either at the most basic level for reporting, but usually includes some energy management to give some benefits to the grid. So what you should think about there is a lot of the unmanaged chargers that are out there, will likely get replaced with managed chargers because if they don’t have the necessary communication and processing gear, it’s easier to just tear them out, most of the work by the way is in laying the electrical infrastructure leading up to the chargers. So that’s a very cost-effective swap out. That’s not something that we see as significant yet as a replacement cycle, only because the market is scaling so quickly, the growth sort of swamps it, but I would expect that those things would change out over time. With respect to permitting, I just want to point you to a couple of things in the prepared remarks. If you look at the total ports on our network in terms of activated and under management and that means they’ve not only gone through full installation, but they’ve also gone through software activation. That means the customers decided how they want to use it all that sort of stuff. And we went from 225,000 ports in Q4, to 243,000 ports and you can read the remarks, but that was spread pretty uniformly between DC and AC. What’s interesting in that is the pipeline is already built into our numbers because that is not representative of the ports we sold last quarter. That’s representative of the ports that we sold at some previous months or set of months that have gone through the construction and installation process and the activation process which is not an instantaneous thing in time. So this — you’re seeing in the port growth rate the shadow of the permitting delays print through. Now, for the big stuff, right, the big corridor fast-charging programs, a lot of the big fleet transit programs. Yeah, we see permitting delays continue to be a challenge for our customers. But again that has been a challenge for our customers, for a while, we absolutely would applaud to any change in permit streamlining or utility interconnect streamlining because it will certainly help accelerate, it will accelerate some of the customers’ ability to add the necessary infrastructure. So headline delays are built into our numbers, built into our guide, they’re built into our numbers. They’re built into everything that you’re hearing from us. If we can make it go faster, it’s upside. Operator: [Operator Instructions] We’ll take our next question from James West with Evercore ISI. James West: Hey, good afternoon guys. Hey, Pat. Thanks, Rex. Wanted to ask about the announcement out of Tesla and Ford, a couple days ago, their alignment, the opening of the sort of the supercharger network and what your thoughts were around that? I mean is it a nothingburger? Or is it something to be expected? Is it showing us that there’s two superchargers out there? What’s the — what’s your take on that? Rex Jackson: So I could have bet if one of you would have asked that question. So the shortest way I think to crystallize it in your mind is that, Tesla has been an outsized player, right now they are still sitting around 70%-ish market share in the United States in terms of vehicles in the installed base and that’s Supercharger network has been around since the beginning of the time that we’re in revenue and if it weren’t for Tesla’s on the road, our customers would have no reason to buy a ChargePoint charger because the dominant car there, up to now, and they’re generating effectively the utilization pressure in the parking lots that are causing across vertical, across all our verticals, customers who want to buy our products and services. So the net-net is the Supercharger network whatever effect it’s having is built into our numbers, okay? Now with that said, our fast chargers, in particular, because on the AC chargers side, Tesla ships with an AC adapter since the beginning of time, it’s easy, it doesn’t impair anything. So that’s a — there’s literally no impact there. On the AC side, I mean on the DC side, our chargers have modular cables and modular holsters. So the ability for us to address if the need arises, the ability in particular use cases to add a direct Tesla cable versus using an adapter like people use today, is possible we’re now spending time obviously thinking about innovative ways to not have to increase what is very expensive element and extra cable on a charger to be able to get around some of those problems. So stay tuned, we’ll be pretty innovative there but I wouldn’t — I don’t read it as a bad thing for us long-term at all. James West: Got it. Okay, thanks. Operator: We’ll take our next question from Morgan Reid with Bank of America. Morgan Reid: Hi, everyone. Thanks for taking my question and nicely done on the growth drivers in fleet in Europe. Just curious if you can maybe elaborate on how we should think about that strength through the rest of the year. Just wanting to understand how those two segments, in particular, are expected to scale through the year here after some nice growth here in the first quarter. Pasquale Romano: I would expect fleet to continue to be strong, these are customers that are electrifying for hard business reasons. There is no discretion in electrification. It’s competitive in the long-term for fleets, for most fleets and then in the long-term, drops our cost structure and there’s a long learning curve and optimization cycle. So they need to start today to not have it be an impediment to their business in the long-term. So we expect that segment regardless of the macroeconomic environment to be very strong on a go-forward basis. Europe is ahead of the US currently in EV adoption. We expect it to continue to be strong. There is a more consistent policy mandate across all of Europe supporting the transition from electric drive to — from fossil fuels to electric drive, now correspondingly in the long-term, we don’t see any major difference between the US and Europe. Remember OEMs have to operate internationally and supply chains and cost structures will shift favorably to EVs over the not-too-distant future. So I think it’s an inevitable conclusion that in both markets, you’ll see a conversion rate but currently, Europe is for all the reasons I mentioned going to continue to be I think very strong for the company. So we would expect that we would see strong growth from that sub-vertical or sub-geo I should say. Morgan Reid: Great. Thank you. And then also, can you just talk about how we should think about the OpEx discipline through the year? And you all talked about kind of scaling operating leverage towards a positive inflection later this year. Just curious if you can kind of help quantify the moving pieces there as you look to continue scaling the topline again still a very disciplined OpEx line. Pasquale Romano: Yeah. So the short answer is we have a number in Q1 and we’d like to stay close to that number for each of the rest of — the next three quarters of this year, obviously there’ll be some variations last year, we were very consistent going out of the gates and staying close to it. So I think we’re going to try to operate within a pretty tight range. Morgan Reid: Great. I’ll take the rest offline. Thanks. Pasquale Romano: Thank you. Rex Jackson: Thanks, Morgan. Operator: We’ll take our next question from Matt Summerville with D.A. Davidson. Matt Summerville: Thanks. First, just a question on gross margins up 200 bps sequentially, how should we expect that to kind of play out as we move through the year? Should we expect a similar kind of step function improvement quarter-on-quarter something a bit more conservative to that? And what are the main levers to gross margin improvement as we sit here for the balance of your fiscal ’24? Pasquale Romano: Yeah. So I think, as we said, we expect continued improvements. I don’t think anyone here would say that ’25 is a place that we should be parking our electric vehicle for these to go up, whether it goes up a point or two or whatever, quarter-on-quarter, we might be seeing, is very mix-dependent, but I’m confident that we’re going to head towards the numbers we’ve discussed before, towards the end of the year, I don’t want to peg it to a number, but it’s going to be better in Q4 than it is today. So expect it to continue to decline this year. Matt Summerville: And then with respect to the comment you made Rex towards any of your compared remarks. Are you thinking cut the EBITDA loss by roughly two-thirds between now and the fourth quarter, so say going from $49 million to say $16 million or thereabouts? Is the entirety of that bridge just scale from the revenue growth you’re expecting? Or are there actual cost and expense cuts that are contemplated in there? Thank you. Pasquale Romano: It’s actually all of the above. Clearly, grow the revenue line, which we would hope to do, consistent with what we’ve done in prior years because you start in Q1 and you end up in Q4, Q4 is a lot better than Q1. So clearly that helps. We expect gross margin to improve during the year that definitely helps a lot. And then if we are disciplined on OpEx and keep that in flattish territory, you can make the math work pretty quickly. Operator: We’ll take our next question from Mark Delaney with Goldman Sachs. Mark Delaney: Yes, good afternoon, and thanks very much for taking my question. I was hoping to better understand some of the supply chain dynamics, I guess in terms of the P&L impact and stick to the gross margin theme first. You guys have been talking about how much of a headwind to gross margin, supply chain, I think at one point, it was something like 900 basis points of a headwind, where does that stand as of this most recent quarter in terms of the impact. And then more broadly supply chain, if you could speak around, how you see that progressing? And do you think supply chain hold you back in terms of hitting your shipment target for the balance of the year? Thanks. Pasquale Romano: Yeah, thanks for the question, Mark. So to start, the PPV/supply chain impact that we’ve been talking about, it’s probably closer to five and six points per quarter. There is logistics charges. We can take it up another quarter two and then we have had a couple of write-offs that we did last year that impacted us. So I just want to frame that the percentage points there, it’s really closer to five or six that are specifically, supply chain, no question that has gotten much, much better from a supply perspective. So we really snapped through this quarter and I was glad to see. I think I actually said in prior calls jeez I’d love to build some inventory, right, because we’ve had to lead business on the table in prior quarters and backlog out of whack. So we’re back to a nice rhythm now. I think from a build perspective there, as you can imagine, there are some prior deals that we had to cut that gets supplied that’s now sitting in inventory. So you won’t see a 100% of the supply chain impact disappear overnight. We obviously have to work that through existing inventory and sell that through, but I would say from an operational perspective, logistics are pretty much back to normal, which is a real-time thing. However you don’t. And then the supply chain thing also back to a really good place. So once we work through any existing inventory that had those higher prices previously will be hitting our stride. So but I think it’s fair to say that we are well past the worst of it. Mark Delaney: Thank you. Operator: Our next question comes from Stephen Gengaro with Stifel. Stephen Gengaro: Good afternoon, gentlemen. One thing for me, I wanted to get your read on NEVI funding, kind of where we stand and what your thought processes on timing, but also, do you have insights into kind of where your customers are in the process as far as trying to secure funding? Pasquale Romano: Sure, Stephen. So just to give you some hard facts around NEVI, there are exactly four states where applications on NEVI proposals are due back within shortly, in general, a little over half the United States has programs that are effectively live where we’re working applications and comments that I’ve made in the past have not changed and that we work across the board with our customer base where the customers are aligned well positionally with position requirements, their location requirements within the NEVI program as well as having the right amenity structure, giving a driver something to do that they would want to do, while they are on a road trip. So combining those two things, we are orchestrating responses to the NEVI program, and sometimes by the way, we’re in multiple applications as the technology provider with different sets of folks from our customer base, that’s generally how we approach it. So think of us as trying to put together this set of optimal sites to meet the state’s requirements by looking into our customer base or potential customer base and trying to orchestrate that. Stephen Gengaro: Okay, great, that’s helpful. So would you expect like an inflection point when the funds are flowing? Or do you think it will be a kind of a more smooth, smooth, just kind of realization of those revenues over time? Pasquale Romano: Yeah, so Stephen, this is what I referred to as an all whoosh no bang industry. If you think about what I just said there, right? It’s all whoosh and no bang. So the timing of all of this stuff, while you will see NEVI starting as we get into 2024 to start to build momentum, right? It’s going to build — it’s going to build along — there’s not going to be a sharp discontinuity where you suddenly going to go vertical on something like that just is this market just doesn’t let you state programs and how state programs are implemented, just doesn’t let you state programs and how state programs are implemented. Just doesn’t let you look at the VW Appendix D programs that contributed to our revenue and it contributed to it in a smoothly increasing way over that program and we would expect NEVI bigger in magnitude to have a similar impact. So I wouldn’t expect some discontinuity out there in the future. The sun and the moon and the stars could align and that could happen just not consistent with history. Operator: We’ll take our next question from Bill Peterson with JPMorgan. Bill Peterson: Yeah, hi, good afternoon and nice to see the gross margin improvement. Just like to clarify in terms of the guidance for this current quarter, it sounds like what you’re saying in some of the trends you saw in the first quarter, are to continue, but just want to make sure still continued relative strength in Europe and fleet, still some I guess discretionary slowdown in commercial and residential. Is that the right way to think about it? Or are there some other areas that are starting to unlock or I guess when does the commercial and residential start to unlock? Is it — I mean we’re kind of past the debt ceiling. What are people, I guess, waiting on at this point from your vantage point? Rex Jackson: Yes, Bill, thanks for the question. First of all, in looking forward to Q2, we did not put parameters around that. But to your point, residential is a function of the sale of cars, right? So keep an eye on how fast EVs move from OEMs into the hands of consumers and that’s a hard one to gauge, but it does look like the OEMs are catching up on their ability to deliver which is great. Commercial is tied to mostly the back to work, although there’s a lot of new construction and other areas where it’s just an imperative because this isn’t a nice to have anymore. This is infrastructure you’ve got to put in. So as the commercial sector — it’s happier and less constrained. Obviously, I think that will be down back to the benefit of our business. Thank goodness in both — in the commercial sector for our existing customers because they keep coming back. So they are a very, very nice underpinning for our existing revenue and what we’re looking at in Q2. And then fleets, you didn’t mention fleet, but fleets, a little harder to predict because it’s — it’s funny on the front end, it tends to be smaller than you would expect. And then on the middle and the back end, it’s bigger than you would expect in terms of per customer. So that could be a little [indiscernible] but Q2 is just a blend of the stuff that we see. I don’t know that it’s going to be meaningfully or wildly inconsistent with the stuff we’ve seen in Q1. Bill Peterson: Yes. Okay. Thanks. That’s a good leading to my second question. So you’ve given some good parameters that you do expect some gross margin, I guess, expansion kind of keep OpEx for any flattish. So that’s really good to back into the two-thirds improvement on the fourth quarter. But I guess, holistically, if we think about third-party forecast, IHS has nearly 60% EV growth in the US this year. I think it has above 60% EV growth in Europe for the calendar year. Your current quarter kind of 40%, 41% year-on-year growth, but is there any reason to think in the back half of the year that at least your network systems, charging systems growth wouldn’t be in that kind of range? Rex Jackson: Well, I wouldn’t put that, frankly, I haven’t thought about it and exactly that those percentage terms. I do think that — the one comment I made in my prepared remarks, to look at the shape of the year and our ability and then saying we think we can cut the adjusted EBITDA loss by approximately two-thirds. It tells you we’re thinking we’re going to have a pretty bad second half, right? So I wouldn’t express in percentage terms, but I would say we’re obviously looking forward to a very strong second half, which is frankly what we’ve done in the last two years in a row. Operator: We’ll take our next question from Alex Potter with Piper Sandler. Alexander Potter: Perfect. Thanks. I had a question, I guess, on customer satisfaction, uptime reliability. I know you’ve done a big focus for the company, those metrics maybe in the past weren’t where you would want them to be. Just interested in knowing maybe what inning you’re in, in terms of addressing that, both, I guess, qualitatively, but also to the extent possible to translate that into P&L impact growth would also be useful and interesting. Thanks. Pasquale Romano: A lot of angles on the answer to that question. First of all, I can’t speak for other charging manufacturers, but we’re very proud of the reliability of our systems and the uptime. We’ve had a variety of different packages for parts and labor warranty programs since the beginning of the company. We’ve encouraged customers to purchase those programs. We have a very high attach rate of those programs, as we’ve commented on that before. All our chargers are connected to our network effectively. So we have good visibility as to general uptime on the network and whether the chargers are in a catastrophic state of failure or not. There are a few mechanical failures we cannot spot, but we have drivers that have a nice little mobile app in their pocket and boy, will they tell us when something is broken. They’re a good canary in a coal mine from a network hygiene perspective. And with that said, we are doubling down now even harder on network hygiene. We are — because of inventory relief, we now can turn around spare parts very, very, very quickly, next business day in most cases. That was not true during the pandemic. There was some delay there because obviously, we were impacted and we had no — we were hand-to-mouth on inventory. So I think that hurt the entire industry in terms of repair cycle delay, that has subsided now. We have completely revamped our support operations across the board, driver support, station-owner support, especially in fleet. We have a lot of new programs in fleet for parts and labor warranty, training of self-maintainers, forward stocking of spares, et cetera. So we think we’re actually in quite good shape with respect to our ability to handle that. We’re not going to get over confident. We’re going to continue to watch it closely. And it is, as you’ve seen in my prepared remarks, multiple times now, it is a big rotation. There was a question earlier that Rex took with respect to operating expense and operating expense focus areas and any focus area changes. And what we’ve consistently said over the last several earnings calls, is that we have lived inside what is a flattish envelope for operating expense, but we are not living inside a flattish operating expense with respect to our efforts on reliability, support operations, et cetera. So we are moving emphasis because we believe that, that is the biggest differentiator you can have right now. Is — it has to be reliable, and we’ve commented also previously the construction of our products are not only from a hardware perspective, looked at from a software point of view inward. So they’re designed for all the features that we think are great, but they’re also designed to be repaired at an incredibly rapid rate and also to be able to support forward stocking of spare parts so that there can be effectively a minimum number of subcomponents we build all our charging infrastructure out of, so it can be very easy to support the repair cycle that will need to support to meet the uptime requirements of most of our customers. So huge investment on our side. Absolutely huge. Operator: Our next question comes from Shreyas Patil with Wolfe Research. Shreyas Patil: Hey, thanks so much for taking my question. You guys have talked about how there is more diversity amongst your verticals as it relates to your revenue. Is there anything to consider in that from a margin perspective? I think in the past, you’ve talked about the workplace charger business being the strongest, fleet was a little weaker due to higher DC fast charging mix. Just curious how we should think about that. Rex Jackson: Yes. So it’s actually more product-specific as opposed to vertical specific but — so single-family home is single-family home, right? And that has a margin. We’ve talked about that. It tends to be healthy, but not as strong as some of the AC products that we put into our commercial and fleet operations. Strongest margins are long-standing AC products, which we’ve recently upgraded to higher power and made some other improvements. But — so where AC goes, you get a better margin and that can be commercial or fleet. And then obviously, we put a lot of effort behind a very robust DC portfolio, which is everything from model that fit in certain applications to what we call our Express Plus, which is modular architecture and the margins on those are getting — are good and getting better. We actually had really good progress because the brand new products and you’ve launched at a lower number than you ultimately expect to do. So I wouldn’t say it’s by vertical, it’s by product because all of our products — our products go into both of the major verticals, commercial and fleet. So I hope that helps you. But it’s — so think of it more from a product perspective. Operator: We’ll take our next question from Brett Castelli with Morningstar. Brett Castelli: Yeah, hi, thank you. Just following up actually on that previous question. Rex, you mentioned the rollout of the new CP6000, I think, on the AC side. Can you just kind of talk about sort of the mix between that new product and the more legacy product that you’re seeing today? And then also, can you touch on any margin differences between the new product versus the legacy? Thank you. Pasquale Romano: I’ll talk about the space that is carved out for itself, so to speak, and Rex can address the margin question in particular. We brought out the 6k not to replace the 4k series. We brought it out as a high-end product. It has a lot of things that obviously roll down over time into lower-cost products, but it’s the flagship currently and it also, for applications, where it’s needed, can provide more power per port and that is not necessary in most medium-duration parking scenarios. So it is not applicable necessarily to every single vertical, although it may have other features that make it applicable to other verticals because it has features across the board that are superior to the 4k product. Without getting into too much detail on the mix because it’s so vertical specific, what I will say is the fleet segment, if it goes with an AC more in a light commercial situation is typically using the 6k or are more lightweight products for light commercial, it is not typically using the 4k product, although we do have some fleet scenarios that use that. So the uptick in fleet, in particular, there’s some correlation there. And the 6k is the primary product we use in Europe. So from the commentary that I made — the primary AC product, I should say, that we use in Europe. So the comments that I made regard to fleet and Europe strength and the corresponding strength in the 6k, those one pulls the other, right? The fleet and the Europe business are more 6k dependent than they are 4k dependent. Rex, I’ll let you take the margin question. Rex Jackson: Yes. So from a margin perspective, the 6k, as Pat said, it’s premium product, higher performance, better features, obviously, we’re evolving the product portfolio in a positive way. It actually has similar margins in North America to the 4k. It’s not all the way there yet but it’s nice to be able to build a next-gen product and to preserve margin on that in the process. And then what’s helping us in Europe, as you may recall, we on the AC side, because of local requirements, et cetera, we’ve had to leverage third-party hardware, and now we don’t have to do that anymore because the 6k is a product that is legal and certifiable and works in both North America and Europe. So that’s been a nice improvement from a margin perspective for us in Europe. Operator: Our next question comes from Itay Michaeli with Citi. Itay Michaeli: Great. Thanks. Good afternoon. Just two quick ones for me. First, I was hoping you could maybe comment roughly on what you’re seeing on utilization of your charges, particularly among commercial customers. And I know not every customer is looking to maximize utilization per se, but curious what you’re seeing there? And second, for Rex, just in terms of the inventory build in Q1, maybe how should we think about working capital at a high level the rest of the year? Pasquale Romano: Two very different questions. I’ll take the first, Rex, you take the second. In terms of utilization, our sales team obviously is — sees utilization data as to our customers. It’s a standard reporting feature in our network. And the utilization has to be measured in the context of the hours of operation at the site. I’ll give you — so it’s hard to comment on utilization in the network as a whole and have that be meaningful because in any subvertical, the utilization is measured differently because it’s measured during hours. And the easiest example to give you is a stadium. We have a lot of stadium customers. The stadium is only active when there’s an event at that stadium. Measured on a utilization basis over a 24-hour, on a 365-day year basis, stadiums have horrible utilization unless there’s an event and then they’re 100% booked. So it all goes down to how you measure it. And utilization is very, very strong across the board. And if you want to see the best proxy for that, look at comments that we’ve made in the past about the rebuy rates. The rebuy rate tends to be the majority of the revenue within a quarter because as Rex mentioned in an answer to one of his questions, the initial buy is smaller than you think it should be and the follow-on buys are bigger than you expect them to be. And that’s because the customers start out with some experimentation, especially in the commercial segment where it’s more discretionary. And then they see the utilization and let that drive the expansion. So because the rebuy rate is so strong, it’s the best proxy you guys can use for, is the utilization on the network? Is it strong and is it growing? Rex Jackson: Yes, and very quickly on the inventory working capital question. No question in Q1, our inventory popped up almost $50 million. In truth, that’s actually a blessing not a curse because we went from a lot of long lead time items and a lot of stuff in raw materials to being able to kick things up and get some bills and we have low obsolescence risk on these products. So getting through that and having a blend to inventory of good finished goods that we can move and therefore, we have pretty back-end loaded quarters like most companies. And so knowing that you can ship, what you need to ship at the end of the quarter to meet demand is a really good thing. So I think the inventory will come down meaningfully on a percentage basis relative to revenue. If you look at like the size of the company, the question is bigger than it needed to be in Q1, but those the reasons because we’re coming out of the supply chain issue. And then working capital generally, we bring in inventory down relative to that, that will help as the company grows. And so I actually think that, that part of the picture will definitely improve later this year. Operator: We’ll take our next question from Joseph Osha with Guggenheim Partners. Joseph Osha: Hi, thanks. I just have one question. We talked a little bit about NEVI earlier. I’m wondering, given the timetable and the ambition of the CARB Advanced Clean Fleets rule, what your thoughts are about how that might begin to layer into your business? Thanks. Pasquale Romano: I mean you saw the strength in the fleet business. And so also the fleet business is one of — is interesting. California obviously usually leads the way in the United States with respect to innovation and policy and incentives. But because it’s just good for business to electrify your fleet from a cost structure perspective, we’re seeing a fleet business that’s pretty pervasive across Europe and the United States and not necessarily hotspoted just in California. And like any program, and this is very in line with the comments on NEVI, it doesn’t hit you all at once, it tends to build. So it will contribute. It will contribute over time because it will drive vehicle electrification but again, I don’t expect it to drive, it just can’t move. And remember, you need the vehicles to be able to have demand for the charging infrastructure and that’s the biggest variable there. You can have the incentive structure there, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the vehicles are going to follow in perfect order. Operator: Thank you, everyone. This concludes today’s presentation. We appreciate your participation, and you may now disconnect. Follow Chargepoint Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CHPT) Follow Chargepoint Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CHPT) We may use your email to send marketing emails about our services. Click here to read our privacy policy......»»

Wood Mackenzie forecasts 7% growth for the residential solar market in 2023. You may keep an eye on FSLR, CSIQ and JKS. Impressive projections for the U.S. residential solar market in 2023 bode well for U.S. solar stocks. Also, the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act has bolstered the prospects of U.S. solar stocks. However, Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) and consistent supply-chain challenges might continue to hurt the near-term prospects of solar stocks to some extent. Nevertheless, considering the rapidly growing demand for renewable energy as the preferred source among electricity developers, an investor might keep some solar stocks on the watchlist. The forerunners in the U.S. solar industry are First Solar FSLR, Canadian Solar CSIQ and JinkoSolar Holdings JKS.About the IndustryThe Zacks Solar industry can be fundamentally segregated into two groups of companies. While one group is involved in designing and producing high-efficiency solar modules, panels, and cells, the other set is engaged in installing grids and, in some cases, entire solar power systems. The industry also includes a handful of companies that manufacture inverters for solar power systems, which convert solar power from modules into electricity required by electric grids. Per a report by Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) published in March 2023, buoyed by robust installation trends, solar accounted for 50% of all new electricity-generating capacity added in the United States in 2022, reflecting an improvement from 46% in 2021. This represents solar’s largest-ever share of generating capacity. It ranked first among all technologies for the second year in a row.3 Trends Shaping the Future of the Solar IndustryRecord Solar Installations Boost Prospects: With growing demand over the past couple of quarters, the U.S. solar industry has been witnessing a solid upside, overcoming the initial adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is evident from the latest installation trend prevalent in the nation. For instance, as reported by SEIA, the residential solar segment installed close to 6 GWdc in 2022, up by a solid 40% from 2021. We expect to witness similar robust solar growth in the United States going forward. To this end, Wood Mackenzie forecasts 7% growth for the residential solar market in 2023. Such impressive projections are indicative of a bright outlook for U.S. solar stocks.Inflation Reduction Act to be Growth Catalyst: The historic Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed by the U.S. Senate last August is projected to be a solid growth catalyst for U.S. solar stocks. The latest ruling by the Biden administration is expected to be a major growth driver for the solar industry. As part of this Act, for the first time, the U.S. solar industry will have access to production tax credits and an investment tax credit for domestic manufacturing across the solar value chain. SEIA and Wood Mackenzie project IRA to aid the U.S. solar market to grow 40% through 2027. This, in turn, should boost U.S. solar stocks’ growth trajectory.  Supply-Chain Challenges & UFLPA Might Hurt: Supply-chain constraints have been hurting the solar industry, a trend expected to continue in the near term. To this end, Wood Mackenzie earlier announced its expectation that the solar industry will remain supply constrained through at least the second half of 2023. Due to near-term supply-chain constraints, SEIA expected 77% of the effect of the IRA to materialize in the utility-scale segment beginning in 2024. Consequently, the supply-chain issue is expected to remain an overhang on utility-scale solar installations, at least in the near term.In June 2021, UFLPA went into effect and resulted in the detention of solar modules, exacerbating ongoing supply-chain challenges. SEIA projects that UFLPA could limit solar deployment through 2023 due to module availability constraints, delaying the near-term effectiveness of the IRA to 2024 and beyond. These factors make the near-term outlook for solar stocks somewhat bleak.Zacks Industry Rank Reflects Bright OutlookThe Zacks Solar industry is housed within the broader Zacks Oils-Energy sector. It currently carries a Zacks Industry Rank #84, which places it in the top 34% of more than 250 Zacks industries.The group’s Zacks Industry Rank, which is basically the average of the Zacks Rank of all the member stocks, indicates bright near-term prospects. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperforms the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.Before we present a few alternative energy stocks that you may want to consider for your portfolio, let’s take a look at the industry’s recent stock-market performance and valuation picture.Industry Beats Sector & S&P 500The Solar Industry has outperformed both its sector and the Zacks S&P 500 composite over the past year. The stocks in this industry have collectively gained 9.2%, while the Oils-Energy Sector has lost 16.2% in the same time frame. However, the Zacks S&P 500 composite has risen 0.4%.One-Year Price Performance Industry's Current ValuationOn the basis of trailing 12-month EV/EBITDA, which is commonly used for valuing solar stocks, the industry is currently trading at 30.42X compared with the S&P 500’s 12.67X and the sector’s 2.66X.Over the last five years, the industry has traded as high as 54.22X, as low as 27.86X and at the median of 39.51X, as the charts show below.EV-EBITDA Ratio (TTM)3 Solar Stocks Worth WatchingJinkoSolar Holdings: Based in Shanghai, China, the company is a manufacturer of solar products like silicon wafers, solar cells and solar modules, with a global network spanning Europe, North America and Asia. On May 24, 2023, JinkoSolar announced that it has entered into an investment framework agreement with the Management Committee of Transformation Comprehensive Reform Demonstration Zone of Shanxi Province for an integrated project manufacturing monocrystalline silicon pull rods, silicon wafers, high-efficiency solar cells and modules. The project will be constructed in four phases, with an annual production capacity of 14 gigawatts (GW) for each phase.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for JinkoSolar’s 2023 sales indicates an improvement of 32% from the prior-year reported figure. Earnings estimates for 2023 indicate an improvement of 60.1% from the 2022 reported figure. The company currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).  You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Price & Consensus: JKSCanadian Solar: Based in Ontario, Canada, the company is a vertically integrated manufacturer of silicon ingots, wafers, cells, solar modules (panels) and custom-designed solar power applications. It designs, manufactures and delivers solar products and solar system solutions for both on-grid and off-grid use to customers worldwide. On Jun 1, 2023, Canadian Solar announced that its subsidiary CSI Solar has entered into an agreement to deliver 49.5MW/99MWh of turnkey battery energy storage solutions to a leading European specialist in solar energy development, production and storage, Cero Generation and Enso Energy.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Canadian Solar’s 2023 sales indicates an improvement of 24.5% from the prior-year reported figure. Earnings estimates for 2023 imply an improvement of 63.7% from the 2022 reported figure. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).Price & Consensus: CSIQ First Solar: Based in Tempe, AZ, the company is a leading global provider of comprehensive PV solar energy solutions, and specializes in designing, manufacturing and selling solar electric power modules using a proprietary thin-film semiconductor technology. On May 12, 2023, First Solar announced that it has further strengthened its global leadership in thin film photovoltaics (PV) by acquiring Evolar AB, a European leader in perovskite technology. The acquisition is expected to accelerate the development of next-generation PV technology, including high-efficiency tandem devices, by integrating Evolar’s know-how with First Solar’s existing research and development streams, intellectual property portfolio, and expertise in developing and commercially scaling thin film PV.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for First Solar’s 2023 sales indicates an improvement of 32.3% from the prior-year reported figure. The consensus estimate for earnings is pegged at $7.36, suggesting a massive improvement from a loss of 41 cents reported in 2022. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.Price & Consensus: FSLR  Zacks Reveals ChatGPT "Sleeper" Stock One little-known company is at the heart of an especially brilliant Artificial Intelligence sector. By 2030, the AI industry is predicted to have an internet and iPhone-scale economic impact of $15.7 Trillion. As a service to readers, Zacks is providing a bonus report that names and explains this explosive growth stock and 4 other "must buys." Plus more.Download Free ChatGPT Stock Report Right Now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report First Solar, Inc. (FSLR): Free Stock Analysis Report JinkoSolar Holding Company Limited (JKS): Free Stock Analysis Report Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research.....»»

Wondering how to pick strong, market-beating stocks for your investment portfolio? Look no further than the Zacks Style Scores. It doesn't matter your age or experience: taking full advantage of the stock market and investing with confidence are common goals for all investors. Luckily, Zacks Premium offers several different ways to do both.Featuring daily updates of the Zacks Rank and Zacks Industry Rank, full access to the Zacks #1 Rank List, Equity Research reports, and Premium stock screens, the research service can help you become a smarter, more self-assured investor.Zacks Premium includes access to the Zacks Style Scores as well.What are the Zacks Style Scores?Developed alongside the Zacks Rank, the Zacks Style Scores are a group of complementary indicators that help investors pick stocks with the best chances of beating the market over the next 30 days.Based on their value, growth, and momentum characteristics, each stock is assigned a rating of A, B, C, D, or F. The better the score, the better chance the stock will outperform; an A is better than a B, a B is better than a C, and so on.The Style Scores are broken down into four categories:Value ScoreValue investors love finding good stocks at good prices, especially before the broader market catches on to a stock's true value. Utilizing ratios like P/E, PEG, Price/Sales, Price/Cash Flow, and many other multiples, the Value Style Score identifies the most attractive and most discounted stocks.Growth ScoreWhile good value is important, growth investors are more focused on a company's financial strength and health, and its future outlook. The Growth Style Score takes projected and historic earnings, sales, and cash flow into account to uncover stocks that will see long-term, sustainable growth.Momentum ScoreMomentum traders and investors live by the saying "the trend is your friend." This investing style is all about taking advantage of upward or downward trends in a stock's price or earnings outlook. Employing factors like one-week price change and the monthly percentage change in earnings estimates, the Momentum Style Score can indicate favorable times to build a position in high-momentum stocks.VGM ScoreIf you like to use all three kinds of investing, then the VGM Score is for you. It's a combination of all Style Scores, and is an important indicator to use with the Zacks Rank. The VGM Score rates each stock on their shared weighted styles, narrowing down the companies with the most attractive value, best growth forecast, and most promising momentum.How Style Scores Work with the Zacks RankA proprietary stock-rating model, the Zacks Rank utilizes the power of earnings estimate revisions, or changes to a company's earnings outlook, to help investors create a successful portfolio.Investors can count on the Zacks Rank's success, with #1 (Strong Buy) stocks producing an unmatched +25.41% average annual return since 1988, more than double the S&P 500's performance. But the model rates a large number of stocks, and there are over 200 companies with a Strong Buy rank, plus another 600 with a #2 (Buy) rank, on any given day.This totals more than 800 top-rated stocks, and it can be overwhelming to try and pick the best stocks for you and your portfolio.That's where the Style Scores come in.You want to make sure you're buying stocks with the highest likelihood of success, and to do that, you'll need to pick stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2 that also have Style Scores of A or B. If you like a stock that only as a #3 (Hold) rank, it should also have Scores of A or B to guarantee as much upside potential as possible.The direction of a stock's earnings estimate revisions should always be a key factor when choosing which stocks to buy, since the Scores were created to work together with the Zacks Rank.A stock with a #4 (Sell) or #5 (Strong Sell) rating, for instance, even one with Scores of A and B, will still have a declining earnings forecast, and a greater chance its share price will fall too.Thus, the more stocks you own with a #1 or #2 Rank and Scores of A or B, the better.Stock to Watch: Chubb (CB)Chubb Limited was formerly known as ACE Limited. ACE Limited after acquiring The Chubb Corp in Jan 2016 assumed the name of Chubb. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, the company boasts being one of the world’s largest providers of property and casualty (P&C) insurance and reinsurance and largest publicly traded P&C insurer, based on market capitalization of $56.9 billion. Chubb has diversified through acquisitions into many specialty lines, including marine, medical risk, excess property, environmental and terrorism insurance and has local operations in 54 countries and territories. Chubb provides specialized insurance products such as personal accident, supplemental health and life insurance to individuals in select countries. Its reinsurance operations include both P&C and life companies.CB is a #3 (Hold) on the Zacks Rank, with a VGM Score of A.It also boasts a Value Style Score of B thanks to attractive valuation metrics like a forward P/E ratio of 10.65; value investors should take notice.Four analysts revised their earnings estimate higher in the last 60 days for fiscal 2023, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased $0.21 to $17.62 per share. CB also boasts an average earnings surprise of 4.7%.With a solid Zacks Rank and top-tier Value and VGM Style Scores, CB should be on investors' short list. Zacks Reveals ChatGPT "Sleeper" Stock One little-known company is at the heart of an especially brilliant Artificial Intelligence sector. By 2030, the AI industry is predicted to have an internet and iPhone-scale economic impact of $15.7 Trillion. As a service to readers, Zacks is providing a bonus report that names and explains this explosive growth stock and 4 other "must buys." Plus more.Download Free ChatGPT Stock Report Right Now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Chubb Limited (CB): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research.....»»

Slate Property Group (“Slate”), an owner, operator and developer of multifamily and commercial real estate in the New York metropolitan area, and KABR Group (“KABR”), in partnership with Avenue Realty Capital’s (“ARC”) equity platform, have acquired 600 Columbus Avenue, a 14-story multifamily building in the heart of Manhattan’s thriving Upper West... The post Slate Property Group And Avenue Realty Capital Team Up To Close On $120M Upper West Side Multifamily Building appeared first on Real Estate Weekly. Slate Property Group (“Slate”), an owner, operator and developer of multifamily and commercial real estate in the New York metropolitan area, and KABR Group (“KABR”), in partnership with Avenue Realty Capital’s (“ARC”) equity platform, have acquired 600 Columbus Avenue, a 14-story multifamily building in the heart of Manhattan’s thriving Upper West Side neighborhood. Located one block from Central Park, the 175,500-square-foot, full-service elevator building, which spans the entire block between 89th and 90th Streets, currently comprises 166 apartments, 27,500 square feet of retail and 100 parking spots. The partnership purchased the property from its original developer and owner for $120 million, making it the largest single multifamily acquisition in New York City in 2023. The acquisition was financed in part by a $68 million loan from an affiliate of Apollo Global Management. The partnership is planning a capital improvements program that will significantly upgrade 600 Columbus’ apartment interiors, lobby, hallways, and other common areas. Residents will also have access to a new luxury amenity package, consisting of a refreshed roof deck, state-of-the-art fitness center and resident lounge. “Manhattan has exhibited strong multifamily dynamics over the past 24 months while also remaining one of the most undersupplied housing markets in the nation,” said Martin Nussbaum, Principal at Slate Property Group. “This combination of factors gives us the confidence to expand our portfolio of long-term, institutional quality assets in core New York City locations. In 2022 alone, we acquired more than $300 million in market rate value-add acquisitions, totaling more than 650 residential units and now have 350 apartments in active development throughout Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn. Our acquisition of 600 Columbus builds upon this momentum.” “We are pleased to partner with Slate Property Group and KABR on the acquisition of this unique and well-located asset on a discounted basis that fits perfectly in our value-add multifamily investment strategy in the New York metropolitan area,” said Udi Kore, Managing Principal and Co-Founder of Avenue Realty Capital. “It is difficult to replicate a building like this from the ground up, and with a very limited supply of rental housing available in the foreseeable future, its refurbishment will serve the neighborhood well.” The building features six commercial spaces situated on the ground and second floors. Current retail tenants include ACE Hardware, Atmosphere Kitchen & Bath, Round Star Soccer and Columbus Pre-School. In addition to its proximity to Central Park, 600 Columbus Avenue residents enjoy easy access to a diverse array of leading restaurants, shops and grocers including Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Zabar’s and Westside Market. The neighborhood boasts an abundance of cultural institutions, such as the American Museum of Natural History, Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Opera House, as well as close proximity to Columbia University and Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus. The building is within a short walk of the 1, 2, 3, B, and C trains, providing connectivity to Midtown in under 15 minutes. ARC has been an active equity investor in the multifamily and mixed-use segment of the market in New York City and the surrounding areas over the last 12 months. 600 Columbus marks the eighth investment funded by ARC during that period. Slate and ARC have now partnered on nine residential transactions with a combined value of approximately $450 million. In 2022, the firms jointly purchased a development site at 159 Boerum Street in Brooklyn with plans to construct 161 residential units of which 30% will be affordable. In addition, the partnership recently completed and leased up Dutch House, a 186 residential unit luxury apartment building in Long Island City, Queens of which 30% of the units are affordable. Bob Knakal’s team at JLL represented both sides of the transaction. The post Slate Property Group And Avenue Realty Capital Team Up To Close On $120M Upper West Side Multifamily Building appeared first on Real Estate Weekly......»»

The Fed Blew Up Another Real Estate Bubble And It's Losing Air Authored by Michael Maharrey via SchiffGold.com, In March, I warned that the commercial and investment real estate markets could be the next thing to break in this bubble economy. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal put a face on my warning. The rampant money creation and zero percent interest rates during the COVID pandemic on top of three rounds of quantitative easing and more than a decade of artificially low interest rates in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis created all kinds of distortions and malinvestments in the economy and the financial system. It was inevitable that something would break when the Federal Reserve tried to raise interest rates in order to fight the price inflation it caused with its loose monetary policy. Easy money is the lifeblood of the US economy and financial system. The Fed started draining that lifeblood away when it stepped in to fight the price inflation it could no longer write off as transitory. There was no way the central bank wasn’t going to break something. The first crack in the dam was the ongoing financial crisis kicked off by the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The Federal Reserve and the US government managed to plug that hole in the dam with a bank bailout. But there are plenty of other cracks in the dam. For instance, the investment real estate market is under significant pressure due to rising interest rates. As a report by Yahoo Finance noted, “Big owners of property around the country were already under pressure from the Federal Reserve’s aggressive campaign to raise interest rates, which raised borrowing costs and lowered building values.” It’s not unlike the housing bubble the Fed blew up in 2005 and 2006 but this time it’s concentrated on commercial real estate such as office buildings, multi-family housing complexes, and apartment buildings. Jay Gajavell puts a human face on this problem. Gajavell is a Texas real estate investor. According to the Wall Street Journal, his company owned $500 million-plus worth of Sunbelt apartment buildings with more than 7,000 units. He ranked as one of the biggest landlords in Houston. Gajavelli is what is known as a syndicator. He built his real estate empire using funding from numerous small investors who wanted to get into the real estate game without all the work. The plan was to buy apartment buildings, upgrade units, raise rents, and sell the buildings for a profit in as little as three years. But as the WSJ described it, these investors were “highly vulnerable to interest-rate increases over the past year that crushed the business model they and thousands of others in similar deals across the US had hoped would make them wealthy.” The Wall Street Journal described the situation as a “looming investment-property disaster.” In fact, rising interest rates have already caught up with Gajavelli. In April, his company lost four rental complexes with more than 3,000 units through foreclosure. The Wall Street Journal explained what did Gajavelli in. His company had taken out commercial real-estate loans that carried floating interest rates and were adjusted each month. Those types of loans in 2021 offered initial rates as low as 3.5%. Everything changed when the Federal Reserve began raising rates last year, driving up monthly loan payments. Inflation contributed to higher expenses, and Applesway couldn’t raise rents fast enough to keep pace. After bills went unpaid, company properties went into foreclosure.” It would be one thing if this was an isolated incident, but it isn’t. There are thousands of real estate entrepreneurs like Gajavelli, and many are in a similar situation. A law passed by Congress in 2012 helped spark the boom in real estate syndication, making it easier to market real estate investments online. According to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Securities and Exchange Commission filings, real estate syndicators reported raising at least $115 billion from investors between 2020 and 2022. In the wake of the pandemic, there was a major real estate boom spurred by zero percent interest rates and billions of dollars in stimulus money that further incentivized people to invest in real estate. As housing prices exploded, rents skyrocketed as well. One property manager described it as a mania. Now the bubble is deflating, as the WSJ describes. Many syndicators are racing to either raise funds or sell properties before tipping into foreclosure. Most hold balloon-payment loans that require repayment when they come due this year or next. Those syndicators face large payouts at a time when getting new, more affordable property loans will be difficult. Even firms with multibillion-dollar portfolios have used syndication to buy apartment buildings that no longer make enough money to cover debt payments, bond documents show.” While the Wall Street Journal does a great job of explaining the nuts and bolts of the syndication scheme and mentions the role of rising interest rates in popping the bubble, it completely ignores the Federal Reserve’s role in blowing up the bubble to begin with. As I pointed out earlier, the Fed created this problem long before when it held rates artificially low for so long. It incentivized all of this borrowing and risk-taking. Everybody just assumed rates would stay low forever so they levered up and took on more and more risk. Gajavelli probably wouldn’t have been able to build his real estate empire without Fed’s easy money policies. Unfortunately for Gajavelli and many like him, what the Fed giveth, the Fed taketh away. This describes the impact of Fed monetary policy on one sector. Bubbles and malinvestments are certainly present in many other sectors of the economy as well. The question is where will the next hole open up in the dam? Tyler Durden Thu, 06/01/2023 - 12:30.....»»

Theranos' Elizabeth Holmes reported to a women's prison in Bryan, Texas, to begin serving her sentence of more than 11 years. Convicted Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes reported to a minimum-security women's prison in Bryan, Texas, to begin her 11-year sentence.Philip Pacheco/Getty Images Elizabeth Holmes dropped out of Stanford at 19 to start blood-testing startup Theranos. The technology was praised as revolutionary and Holmes was hailed as the next Steve Jobs.  Theranos' value grew to $9 billion until flaws in the technology were exposed and Holmes was charged with fraud. After a monthslong trial, Holmes was found guilty.  Here's how Holmes went from precocious child, to ambitious Stanford dropout, to an embattled startup founder now in prison. Elizabeth Holmes was born on February 3, 1984 in Washington, D.C. Her mom, Noel, was a Congressional committee staffer, and her dad, Christian Holmes, worked for Enron before moving to government agencies like USAID.@eholmes2003/TwitterSource: Elizabeth Holmes/Twitter, CNN, Vanity FairHolmes' family moved when she was young, from Washington, D.C. to Houston.Washington, D.C.Getty ImagesSource: FortuneWhen she was 7, Holmes tried to invent her own time machine, filling up an entire notebook with detailed engineering drawings. At the age of 9, Holmes told relatives she wanted to be a billionaire when she grew up. Her relatives described her as saying it with the "utmost seriousness and determination."Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes.REUTERS/Carlo AllegriSource: CBS News, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley StartupHolmes had an "intense competitive streak" from a young age. She often played Monopoly with her younger brother and cousin, and she would insist on playing until the end, collecting the houses and hotels until she won. If Holmes was losing, she would often storm off. More than once, she ran directly through a screen on the door.Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of Theranos, attends a panel discussion during the Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting in New York, September 29, 2015.REUTERS/Brendan McDermidSource: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley StartupIt was during high school that Holmes developed her work ethic, often staying up late to study. She quickly became a straight-A student, and even started her own business: she sold C++ compilers, a type of software that translates computer code, to Chinese schools.Tyrone Siu/ReutersSource: Fortune, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley StartupHolmes started taking Mandarin lessons, and part-way through high school, talked her way into being accepted by Stanford University’s summer program, which culminated in a trip to Beijing.Yepoka Yeebo / Business InsiderSource: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley StartupInspired by her great-great-grandfather Christian Holmes, a surgeon, Holmes decided she wanted to go into medicine. But she discovered early on that she was terrified of needles. Later, she said this influenced her to start Theranos.Hollis Johnson/Business InsiderSource: San Francisco Business TimesHolmes went to Stanford to study chemical engineering. When she was a freshman, she became a "president's scholar," an honor which came with a $3,000 stipend to go toward a research project.STANFORD, CA - MAY 22: People ride bikes past Hoover Tower on the Stanford University campus on May 22, 2014 in Stanford, California. According to the Academic Ranking of World Universities by China's Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Stanford University ranked second behind Harvard University as the top universities in the world. UC Berkeley ranked third. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)Justin Sullivan/GettySource: FortuneHolmes spent the summer after her freshman year interning at the Genome Institute in Singapore. She got the job partly because she spoke Mandarin.An office worker walks along the Singapore River front during the lunch hour.Wong Maye-E/APSource: FortuneAs a sophomore, Holmes went to one of her professors, Channing Robertson, and said: "Let's start a company." With his blessing, she founded Real-Time Cures, later changing the company's name to Theranos. Thanks to a typo, early employees’ paychecks actually said "Real-Time Curses."Getty ImagesSource: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley StartupHolmes soon filed a patent application for a "medical device for analyte monitoring and drug delivery," a wearable device that would administer medication, monitor patients' blood, and adjust the dosage as needed.Reuters/Brian SnyderSource: Fortune, US Patent OfficeBy the next semester, Holmes had dropped out of Stanford altogether, and was working on Theranos in the basement of a college house.Jeff Chiu/APSource: Wall Street JournalTheranos's business model was based around the idea that it could run blood tests, using proprietary technology that required only a finger pinprick and a small amount of blood. Holmes said the tests would be able to detect medical conditions like cancer and high cholesterol.Theranos Chairman, CEO and Founder Elizabeth Holmes (L) and TechCrunch Writer and Moderator Jonathan Shieber speak onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt at Pier 48 on September 8, 2014 in San Francisco, CaliforniaSteve Jennings/Getty ImagesSource: Wall Street JournalHolmes started raising money for Theranos from prominent investors like Oracle founder Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, the father of a childhood friend and the founder of prominent VC firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Theranos raised more than $700 million, and Draper has continued to defend Holmes.Investor Tim Draper (right).CNBCSource: SEC, CrunchbaseHolmes took investors' money on the condition that she wouldn't have to reveal how Theranos' technology worked. Plus, she would have final say over everything having to do with the company.JP Yim/GettySource: Vanity FairThat obsession with secrecy extended to every aspect of Theranos. For the first decade Holmes spent building her company, Theranos operated in stealth mode. She even took three former Theranos employees to court, claiming they had misused Theranos trade secrets.Kimberly White/GettySource: San Francisco Business TimesHolmes' attitude toward secrecy and running a company was borrowed from a Silicon Valley hero of hers: former Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Holmes started dressing in black turtlenecks like Jobs, decorated her office with his favorite furniture, and like Jobs, never took vacations.Steve Jobs.Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesSource: Vanity FairEven Holmes's uncharacteristically deep voice may have been part of a carefully crafted image intended to help her fit in in the male-dominated business world. In ABC's podcast on Holmes called "The Dropout," former Theranos employees said the CEO sometimes "fell out of character," particularly after drinking, and would speak in a higher voice.Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of Theranos, during the Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting in New York.Lucas Jackson/ReutersSource: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, The CutHolmes was a demanding boss, and wanted her employees to work as hard as she did. She had her assistants track when employees arrived and left each day. To encourage people to work longer hours, she started having dinner catered to the office around 8 p.m. each night.TheranosSource: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley StartupMore behind-the-scenes footage of what life was like at Theranos was revealed in leaked videos obtained by the team behind the HBO documentary "The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley." The more than 100 hours of footage showed Holmes walking around the office, scenes from company parties, speeches from Holmes and Balwani, and Holmes dancing to "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer.Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes at the company's headquarters.Courtesy HBOSource: Business InsiderShortly after Holmes dropped out of Stanford at age 19, she began dating Theranos president and COO Sunny Balwani, who was 20 years her senior. The two met during Holmes' third year in Stanford’s summer Mandarin program, the summer before she went to college. She was bullied by some of the other students, and Balwani had come to her aid.Footage of Sunny Balwani presenting."60 Minutes"Source: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley StartupBalwani became Holmes' No. 2 at Theranos despite having little experience. He was said to be a bully, and often tracked his employees' whereabouts. Holmes and Balwani eventually broke up in spring 2016 when Holmes pushed him out of the company.Sunny Balwani pictured in January 2019.Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesSource: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley StartupIn 2008, the Theranos board decided to remove Holmes as CEO in favor of someone more experienced. But over the course of a two-hour meeting, Holmes convinced them to let her stay in charge of her company.Jamie McCarthy / GettySource: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley StartupAs Theranos started to rake in millions of funding, Holmes became the subject of media attention and acclaim in the tech world. She graced the covers of Fortune and Forbes, gave a TED Talk, and spoke on panels with Bill Clinton and Alibaba's Jack Ma.Elizabeth Holmes with former President Bill Clinton, left, and Alibaba cofounder Jack Ma.Andrew Burton/Getty ImagesSource: Vanity FairTheranos quickly began securing outside partnerships. Capital Blue Cross and Cleveland Clinic signed on to offer Theranos tests to their patients, and Walgreens made a deal to open Theranos testing centers in their stores. Theranos also formed a secret partnership with Safeway worth $350 million.A Theranos testing center inside a Walgreens.Melia Robinson/Business InsiderSource: Wired, Business InsiderIn 2011, Holmes hired her younger brother, Christian, to work at Theranos, although he didn’t have a medical or science background. Christian Holmes spent his early days at Theranos reading about sports online and recruiting his Duke University fraternity brothers to join the company. People dubbed Holmes and his crew the "Frat Pack" and "Therabros."Elizabeth Holmes and her brother, Christian.Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesSource: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley StartupAt one point, Holmes was the world's youngest self-made female billionaire with a net worth of around $4.5 billion.Kimberly White/Getty Images for Breakthrough PrizeSource: ForbesHolmes was obsessed with security at Theranos. She asked anyone who visited the company’s headquarters to sign non-disclosure agreements before being allowed in the building, and had security guards escort visitors everywhere — even to the bathroom.Michael Dalder/Reuters Holmes hired bodyguards to drive her around in a black Audi sedan. Her nickname was "Eagle One." The windows in her office had bulletproof glass.Source: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley StartupAround the same time, questions were being raised about Theranos' technology. Ian Gibbons — chief scientist at Theranos and one of the company's first hires — warned Holmes that the tests weren't ready for the public to take, and that there were inaccuracies in the technology. Outside scientists began voicing their concerns about Theranos, too.Melia Robinson/Tech InsiderSource: Vanity Fair, Business InsiderBy August 2015, the FDA began investigating Theranos, and regulators from the government body that oversees laboratories found "major inaccuracies" in the testing Theranos was doing on patients.Mike Segar/ReutersSource: Vanity FairBy October 2015, Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou published his investigation into Theranos's struggles with its technology. Carreyrou's reporting sparked the beginning of the company's downward spiral.Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou.CBS "60 Minutes"Source: Wall Street JournalCarreyrou found that Theranos' blood-testing machine, named Edison, couldn't give accurate results, so Theranos was running its samples through the same machines used by traditional blood-testing companies.Carlos Osorio/APSource: Wall Street JournalHolmes appeared on CNBC's "Mad Money" shortly after the WSJ published its story to defend herself and Theranos. "This is what happens when you work to change things, and first they think you're crazy, then they fight you, and then all of a sudden you change the world," Holmes said.CNBC/YouTubeSource: CNBCBy 2016, the FDA, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and SEC were all looking into Theranos.GettySource: Wall Street Journal, WiredIn July 2016, Holmes was banned from the lab-testing industry for two years. By October, Theranos had shut down its lab operations and wellness centers.Mike Blake/ReutersSource: Business InsiderIn March 2018, Theranos, Holmes, and Balwani were charged with "massive fraud" by the SEC. Holmes agreed to give up financial and voting control of the company, pay a $500,000 fine, and return 18.9 million shares of Theranos stock. She also isn't allowed to be the director or officer of a publicly traded company for 10 years.Jeff Chiu/APSource: Business InsiderDespite the charges, Holmes was allowed to stay on as CEO of Theranos, since it's a private company. The company had been hanging on by a thread, and Holmes wrote to investors asking for more money to save Theranos. "In light of where we are, this is no easy ask," Holmes wrote.Kimberly White/Getty Images for FortuneSource: Business InsiderIn Theranos' final days, Holmes reportedly got a Siberian husky puppy named Balto that she brought into the office. However, the dog wasn't potty trained, and would go to the bathroom inside the company's office and during meetings.A Siberian husky (not Holmes' dog).Kateryna Orlova/ShutterstockSource: Vanity FairIn June 2018, Theranos announced that Holmes was stepping down as CEO. On the same day, the Department of Justice announced that a federal grand jury had charged Holmes, along with Balwani, with nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO of Theranos, speaks at the Wall Street Journal Digital Live (WSJDLive) conference at the Montage hotel in Laguna Beach, California, October 21, 2015.Mike Blake/ReutersSource: Business Insider, CNBCTheranos sent an email to shareholders in September 2018 announcing that the company was shutting down. Theranos reportedly said it planned to spend the next few months repaying creditors with its remaining resources.Mike Blake/ReutersSource: Wall Street JournalAround the time Theranos' time was coming to an end, Holmes made her first public appearance alongside William "Billy" Evans, a 27-year-old heir to a hospitality property management company in California. The two reportedly first met in 2017, and were seen together in 2018 at Burning Man, the art festival in the Nevada desert.Jim Rankin/Toronto Star via Getty ImagesSource: Daily MailHolmes is said to wear Evans' MIT "signet ring" on a chain around her neck, and the couple reportedly posts photos "professing their love for each other" on a private Instagram account. Evans' parents are reportedly "flabbergasted" at their son's decision to marry Holmes.—Nick Bilton (@nickbilton) February 21, 2019Source: Vanity Fair, New York PostIt's unclear where Holmes and Evans currently reside, but they were previously living in a $5,000-a-month apartment in San Francisco until April 2019. The apartment was located just a few blocks from one of the city's top tourist attractions, the famously crooked block of Lombard Street.Lombard Place Apartments, where Holmes used to live.Rent SF NowSource: Business InsiderIt was later reported that Holmes and Evans got engaged in early 2019, then married in June in a secretive wedding ceremony. Former Theranos employees were reportedly not invited to the wedding, according to Vanity Fair.Gilbert Carrasquillo/Getty Images; Samantha Lee/Business InsiderSource: Vanity Fair, New York PostHolmes' and Balwani's cases have since been separated.Justin Silva/Getty, Stephen Lam/Reuters, Business InsiderSource: Department of Justice, Business InsiderBesides the criminal case, Holmes was also involved in a number of civil lawsuits, including one in Arizona brought by former Theranos patients over inaccurate blood tests. The lawyers representing her in the Arizona case said in late 2019 they hadn't been paid over a year and asked to be removed from Holmes' legal team.Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes leaves after a hearing at a federal court.Reuters/Stephen LamSource: Business InsiderHolmes' lawyers in the federal case had tried to get the government's entire case thrown out. In February 2020, Holmes caught a break after some of the charges against her were dropped when a judge ruled that some patients didn't suffer financial loss.Brendan McDermid/ReutersSource: Business InsiderAmid the coronavirus outbreak, Holmes' lawyers asked the judge in April 2020 to deem the case "essential" so the defense team could defy lockdown orders and continue to travel and meet face-to-face. The judge said he was "taken aback" by the defense's pleas to violate lockdown.Reuters/Robert GalbraithSource: Business Insider It soon become clear that the pandemic — and the health risks associated with assembling a trial in one — would make the July trial date unrealistic. Through hearings held on Zoom, the presiding judge initially pushed the trial back to October 2020 and later postponed it further to March 2021.Passengers wear masks as they walk through LAX airport.Reuters/Lucy NicholsonSource: Business Insider In March 2021, Holmes requested another delay to the trial because she was pregnant. She asked to push back the trial to August 31, and her request was granted. Holmes reportedly gave birth to the child in July.Nhat V. Meyer/MediaNews Group/Mercury News via Getty ImagesSource: Business Insider, CNBCHeading into the trial, Holmes felt "wronged, like Salem-witch-trial wronged," says a person who used to work with her closely.Holmes, right, leaving the Robert F. Peckham Federal Building in San Jose, California with her defense team on May 4, 2021.Nhat V. Meyer/MediaNews Group/Mercury News via Getty ImagesSource: Business InsiderThe trial kicked off in September. In opening statements, prosecutors argued that, "Out of time and out of money, Elizabeth Holmes decided to lie." Meanwhile, the defense argued that although Theranos ultimately crumbled, "Failure is not a crime. Trying your hardest and coming up short is not a crime."Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes arrives at the Robert F. Peckham Federal Building with her defense team on August 31, 2021 in San Jose, California.Ethan Swope/Getty ImagesSource: Business Insider The list of possible witnesses for the trial named roughly 200 people, including the likes of Rupert Murdoch, Henry Kissinger, James Mattis, and Holmes herself.Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes leaves the Robert F. Peckham U.S. Courthouse with her mother, Noel Holmes, during her trial.Brittany Hosea-Small/ReutersSource: Business InsiderIn the end, the trial featured testimony from just over 30 witnesses.Vicki Behringer/ReutersSource: Business InsiderOver the course of 11 weeks, prosecutors called 29 witnesses to testify — including former Theranos employees, investors, patients, and doctors — before resting their case in November.Vicki BehringerSource: Business Insider The defense then began making its case, calling just three witnesses, including Holmes herself.Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/The Mercury News via Getty ImagesSource: Business InsiderOn the stand, Holmes said Balwani emotionally and sexually abused her during their relationship.Former Theranos COO Ramesh "Sunny' Balwani leaves the Robert F. Peckham U.S. Federal Court on June 28, 2019 in San Jose, California.Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesSource: Business InsiderHolmes also admitted that she added some pharmaceutical companies' logos to Theranos' reports without authorization. Investors previously said they took some reassurance in those reports because, based on the logos, they thought major pharmaceutical companies had validated Theranos' technology. Holmes said she added the logos to convey that work was done in partnership with those companies, but in hindsight she wishes she had "done it differently."Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesSource: Business InsiderHolmes also acknowledged on the stand that she hid Theranos' use of modified commercial devices from investors. She said she did this because company counsel told her that alterations the company made to the machines were trade secrets and needed to be protected as such.Brittany Hosea-Small/ReutersSource: Business InsiderHolmes spent seven days on the stand before the defense rested its case in early December.Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes arrives to attend her fraud trial at federal court in San Jose, California, U.S., December 16, 2021.Peter DaSilva/ReutersSource: Business InsiderIn closing arguments, prosecutors argued that Holmes "chose fraud over business failure" while the defense argued she was "building a business, not a criminal enterprise."Elizabeth Holmes walks into federal court in San Jose, Calif., Friday, Dec. 17, 2021.Nic Coury/Associated PressSource: Business InsiderAfter 15 weeks of trial, Holmes' case headed to a jury of eight men and four women on December 17, 2021.Elizabeth Holmes, founder and former CEO of blood testing and life sciences company Theranos, leaves the courthouse with her husband Billy Evans after the first day of her fraud trial in San Jose, California on September 8, 2021.Nick Otto/AFP/Getty ImagesSource: Business InsiderJurors deliberated for a total of seven days over the next few weeks before telling the court on January 3, 2022, that they were deadlocked on three of the 11 charges against Holmes. The judge read off some jury instructions to the group in court before instructing them to go back and deliberate further.Kate Munsch/ReutersSource: Business InsiderHours later, the jury returned a mixed verdict for Holmes, finding her guilty on one count of conspiracy to defraud investors and three counts of wire fraud. They found her not guilty on four other counts and failed to reach a verdict on the remaining three counts.Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesSource: Business InsiderThe counts Holmes was found guilty of were all related to investments; she wasn't convicted on any of the charges involving patients who received inaccurate test results.David Odisho/Getty ImagesSource: Business InsiderHolmes faced the possibility of decades in prison. Each count carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence, a $250,000 fine, and a requirement to pay victims restitution.AP Photo/Nic Coury, FileSource: Business Insider Legal experts told Insider it was unlikely Holmes would get 20 years at sentencing, but she probably wouldn't get off without serving any time either.Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesSource: Business InsiderHolmes was not taken into custody following the verdict and was to remain free until her sentencing on a $500,000 bond secured by property.Peter DaSilva/ReutersSource: Business InsiderSince the conviction, Holmes and Theranos have been the focus of a Hulu limited series, "The Dropout," based on the ABC News podcast of the same name.Amanda Seyfried in "The Dropout" (left); Elizabeth Holmes (right)Beth Dubber/Hulu; Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunchSource: Business InsiderHolmes is played by Amanda Seyfried in the dramatized series, which asks the question, "How did the world's youngest self-made female billionaire lose it all in the blink of an eye?"Amanda Seyfried in "The Dropout."HuluSource: HuluThe show premiered March 3, 2022, and also stars Naveen Andrews as Balwani, Holmes' right-hand man at Theranos.Beth Dubber/Hulu; Michael Short/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesSource: Business Insider In May 2022, Holmes pleaded with a judge to toss her conviction.APSource: Business Insider In a 24-page filing on May 27, Holmes' attorneys argued for her acquittal, saying the evidence was "insufficient to sustain the convictions."Nick Otto/AFP via Getty ImagesThey wrote, "Because no rational juror could have found the elements of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud beyond a reasonable doubt on this record, the Court should grant Ms. Holmes' motion for judgment of acquittal.""Even if Ms. Holmes committed wire fraud against an investor (she did not) and even if Mr. Balwani committed wire fraud against an investor, that does not prove a conspiratorial agreement between them, nor does it prove that Ms. Holmes willfully joined any agreement," the attorneys continued in the filing.The presiding judge tentatively denied Holmes' request in September.But that wasn't the end: Holmes filed three motions requesting a new trial, one of which centered on the testimony of a prosecution witness who allegedly went to Holmes' house in August and expressed regret that he helped convict her.David Odisho/Getty ImagesSource: Business InsiderThe witness was former Theranos lab director Adam Rosendorff. According to an account of the incident from Billy Evans, Holmes' partner, Rosendorff showed up at their home looking "disheveled" and said he felt "guilty."David Odisho/Getty Images"He said when he was called as a witness he tried to answer the questions honestly but that the prosecutors tried to make everybody look bad (in the company)," Evans recalled in an email to Holmes' attorneys about their interaction. "He said that the government made things sound worse than they were when he was up on the stand during his testimony. He said he felt like he had done something wrong. And that this was weighing on him, He said he was having trouble sleeping."In another of Holmes' motions for a new trial, she says the prosecution portrayed her relationship with Balwani differently in their respective trials, to her detriment.In the final motion, Holmes said she was denied emails showing prosecutors failed to take appropriate steps to preserve a Theranos database that she claims would have helped her defense, even though the government furnished these materials when Balwani was on trial.Holmes notched a small victory when the presiding judge ordered an evidentiary hearing regarding Rosendorff's testimony and appearance at her home. This hearing meant that Holmes' sentencing was postponed from October 17, 2022, to November 18 of that year.Dai Sugano/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty ImagesSource: Business InsiderThe evidentiary hearing proved useless to Holmes, though, as witness Rosendorff said he stood by his initial testimony and only went to her home because he was "distressed" at the idea of Holmes' child growing up without a mother.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images"At all times the government encouraged me to tell the truth and only the truth," Rosendorff clarified at the hearing."I don't want to help Ms. Holmes," Rosendorff added. "The only person that can help her is herself. She needs to pay her debt to society."On November 8, the presiding judge denied all three of Holmes' motions for a new trial, paving the way for sentencing.Chris Ryan/GettyDays before her sentencing, Holmes' attorneys asked that she get no more than 18 months, preferably under house arrest. They submitted 130 letters from friends and family — spanning everyone from Senator Cory Booker to even an ex-CDC chief — pleading for leniency.In the end, Holmes' friends and family didn't get their wish. On November 18, 2022, Holmes was sentenced to 135 months, or 11.25 years, in prison with three years of supervised release beginning on April 27. "I stand before you taking responsibility for Theranos. I loved Theranos, it was my life's work," Holmes said through tears at the hearing.Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesSource: KRON, InsiderMeanwhile, Balwani's trial began in March 2022 and also returned a conviction. He was found guilty in July on all 12 counts brought against him, and in early December Balwani was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison with three years of probation. As with Holmes, restitution will be decided at a later date. The judge ordered Balwani to self-surrender on March 15, 2023.Former Theranos COO Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani and his legal team leave the Robert F. Peckham Federal Building on July 7, 2022 in San Jose, California.David Odisho/Getty ImagesSource: InsiderHolmes appealed her conviction in December 2022, and US prosecutors said in recent court filings that she "continues to show no remorse to her victims" and is currently living on an estate that costs $13,000 a month.Holmes attending a court hearing.Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesSource: InsiderIn February 2023, a court filing revealed Holmes recently gave birth to a second child. She also asked the judge to delay the start of her prison sentence to allow her to remain free while she appeals her conviction.Holmes in a federal court in San Jose, California, on November 18, 2022.Nic Coury/AP"Ms. Holmes has deep ties to the community: She is the mother of two very young children; she has close relationships with family and friends, many of who submitted letters at sentencing vouching for her good character; and she volunteers with a rape crisis and counseling organization," the filing said.Source: Insider In April, the judge denied Holmes' request to stay out of prison during appeal.Convicted Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes reported to a minimum-security women's prison in Bryan, Texas, to begin her 11-year sentence.Philip Pacheco/Getty ImagesThe decision meant she was still set to report to prison on April 27, as scheduled.Source: InsiderBut Holmes appealed the judge's decision. In accordance with court rules, since she was on bail when she filed the motion, her prison reporting date was automatically delayed.Philip Pacheco/Getty ImagesBalwani previously used the same tactic and was able to push back his initially scheduled prison reporting date by a month — but still ultimately reported to prison on April 20.Source: InsiderIn a May 7 profile in The New York Times, Holmes portrayed herself as a doting mother of two who wears a "bucket hat and sunglasses" and walks about the San Diego Zoo. She also wants to be called "Liz" as this is the "real Elizabeth."Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)Source: The New York Times, Insider She said that with her partner Evans, she spent six months in 2019 traveling the country in an RV and sleeping in campgrounds and Walmart parking lots.Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesSource: The New York Times, InsiderHolmes admitted in her interviews with The Times that she had built a persona that wasn't "authentic" – wearing black turtlenecks, red lipstick, messy blonde hair, and using an exaggerated masculine voice.MediaNews Group/Bay Area News via Getty ImagesSource: The New York Times, Insider In May, Holmes was again denied her request to remain free while she appeals her conviction, and a judge ordered her to report to prison May 30. She and Balwani were also ordered to pay $452 million in restitution to victims of Theranos' fraud.Nick Otto/AFP via Getty ImagesSource: Insider, Insider On May 30, Holmes reported to Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, a minimum-security women's prison about 100 miles from Houston, where she grew up, to begin serving her sentence.AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, FileSource: InsiderMaya Kosoff, Paige Leskin, and Áine Cain contributed to earlier versions of this story.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Two local firms have traded the keys to the Hillside Canyon Apartments......»»

Activist Investor Sells Almost All Stake in Insurer Aviva (Standard.co.uk) Hedge fund Cevian Capital had put Aviva and chief executive Amanda Blanc under intense pressure to boost returns to investors. Activist investor Cevian Capital has sold almost its entire stake in Aviva three years after first snapping up shares in the insurance giant. The hedge […] Activist Investor Sells Almost All Stake in Insurer Aviva (Standard.co.uk) Hedge fund Cevian Capital had put Aviva and chief executive Amanda Blanc under intense pressure to boost returns to investors. Activist investor Cevian Capital has sold almost its entire stake in Aviva three years after first snapping up shares in the insurance giant. The hedge fund sold its stake in Aviva down to 60,000 shares on Wednesday, having built up a holding of 6.5%, or 150 million shares, at its peak last October. It’s Millionaire vs. Billionaire in the Battle of the SoHo Pergola (The New York Times) The rooftop of a historic building is the focus of a renovation skirmish between Federico Pignatelli, a financier, and Ray Dalio, the hedge-fund mogul. Millions of Americans embarked on home-improvement projects during the pandemic. Many of those projects annoyed their neighbors. But in SoHo, on the top floor of a co-op building filled with multimillion-dollar lofts, an apartment addition is the centerpiece of an only-in-New-York dispute, pitting a wealthy financier named Federico Pignatelli della Leonessa against Ray Dalio, the billionaire founder of Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund in the world. Millennium Taps Another Goldman Sachs Trader (Hedge Week) Goldman Sachs has lost another trader to a hedge fund firm, with Rick Vaatsra leaving the bank’s London office this month, to join multi-strategy major Millennium Management as a senior portfolio manager based in London. Vaatsra spent over 10 years at Goldman Sachs, most recently as co-head of European index trading, having originally joined the bank as an equity derivatives trader back in November 2012. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Vaatsra, who studied finance and economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam, according to his LinkedIn profile, spent over six years at Credit Suisse as a vice president. Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com Truepenny Appoints CEO Amid Launch Preparation (Hedge Nordic) Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Truepenny Capital Management founded by CIO Thomas Orbert, a former portfolio manager at Swedish hedge fund Nektar Management, has appointed Thomas Lönnerstam as Chief Executive Officer. The new appointment will support Truepenny Capital in the upcoming launch of Truepenny Global Macro, which is set to combine a set of strategies such as a fully systematic asset allocation strategy and a macro relative value strategy. Hedge Fund Mogul Drops $47 Million on Ocean-View Palisades Compound (Dirt.com) He already owns multiple lavish homes in some of California’s most affluent neighborhoods — Malibu, Montecito and Woodside, for starters — but Thomas Laffont has just finalized his biggest splurge to date: a two-house, four-parcel compound in the posh Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles. The big buy set the Coatue Management hedge fund tycoon and his longtime wife Liz back nearly $50 million. The purchase was consummated in two separate transactions. Back in November, as first reported by The Real Deal, Laffont paid $29.5 million for two of the property’s four parcels, one with a 7,200-square-foot house and the other with a full-size tennis court......»»

Daniel Dippold used the AI chatbot to suggest alternatives to housing search platforms and to build tools that automate the process. Daniel Dippold, a coder and investor, used ChatGPT to find a rental unit in Berlin in two weeks.Julien Tse Daniel Dippold, a founder and investor, used OpenAI's ChatGPT to find an apartment in 2 weeks.  The 28-year-old used the AI to suggest alternatives to housing websites and automate the search process. He said the chatbot helped accelerate apartment hunting even though it produced many errors. OpenAI's ChatGPT seems to have endless possible use cases as people flock to the technology to plan vacations, enhance their dating profiles, and even lose weight. One coder-turned-investor used the chatbot to find an apartment. Daniel Dippold, the 28-year-old CEO and founder of venture capital firm EWOR, and his girlfriend had spent four months looking for an apartment to rent in Berlin with no success. German housing platforms like Immo Scout24, immowelt, and Immonet didn't offer units they liked, and when he turned to his network, there were no good leads."I got really worried because there was literally no one able to provide a flat," Dippold told Insider. Then, Dippold, who began using OpenAI's ChatGPT and was soon "coding with it all the time," became inspired by the chatbot's capabilities. He wondered if he could use ChatGPT to secure an apartment. "When I was really exhausted looking for a flat in Berlin, I figured, 'Hey, can I build something that makes it easier for me potentially with GPT?'" he wondered. It worked. A screenshot of Dippold asking ChatGPT to make a scraper that can build a database of housing authorities in Berlin.Courtesy of Daniel Dippold.First, Dippold asked ChatGPT to suggest 20 things he could do to find an apartment using "a method that is a little more ingenious and tech-focused" than looking at online platforms. The chatbot spit out 20 options, including setting up automated alerts on housing websites and developing a machine-learning model to predict which areas have the best deals. Some of these suggestions "inspired him," but many weren't practical, he said. As a result, he asked ChatGPT to generate 40 more suggestions. He zeroed in on his favorite: compiling a database of all the public and private property managers in Berlin to contact. He liked this option because he could ask them if they have apartments that may soon be on the market to get ahead of the competition. Next, he asked ChatGPT to build a web scraper — a tool that extracts data from websites — in Python that could create a database populated with the names of all the property managers in Berlin. The chatbot spit out a script, and after Dippold tweaked its code, the bot produced a database filled with more than 100 property management firms, each with multiple apartments that came with an address, location, phone number, and e-mail."That sped up the process even further," he said. After that, he manually wrote emails in German — GPT is better in English, he says — to each management company on the list. He included contact information, as well as why he and his partner would be good tenants. He received 35 responses in just one day. Insider verified the process with screenshots of the chatbot's responses and with emails from housing authorities. Since he didn't want to manually respond to each email, Dippold asked ChatGPT to generate code that would create automatic responses that would include personal documents like their passports and pay stubs. This meant the couple was able to send out their application materials before other prospective tenants. He narrowed down the list to three units that his girlfriend later toured based on their preferred size, price, and location. Dippold and his girlfriend are now choosing between one of two apartments that accepted their applications thanks to ChatGPT. Using the chatbot to find housing, Dippold said, was a "creative solution" that he found "faster" and "higher quality" than traditional modes of apartment hunting. Still, Dippold admits the chatbot isn't perfect. Many of the solutions ChatGPT suggested, he said, were "absolute crap," such as creating a chatbot to talk to landlords and signing a lease without seeing the place in-person. The AI only understood short prompts with little context, produced "buggy" code riddled with errors, and generated answers "that were just wrong." Still, he was able to find workarounds by asking the bot follow-up prompts and drawing from his own coding expertise to fix bugs. As a self-proclaimed digital nomad, there is no doubt he will use ChatGPT to find housing again in the future. "I would definitely do this again," Dippold said. Disclosure: immowelt is part of the AVIV Group, which is part of Axel Springer, Insider's parent company.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»