HomeUnion, a company out to make buying and selling homes as easy as trading stocks, has taken steps to make it easier for users to find properties that match their investing goals.
HomeUnion lets people buy single-family rental properties around the country on a platform that hosts listings deemed to be favorable investments based on algorithms and on-the-ground research.
The company is a broker in each of its markets, employing salaried real estate agents to find and bid on properties when a customer is ready to pull the trigger.
HomeUnion, which says it’s “pioneering a ‘stock market’-like secure and flexible way of remote real estate investing,” recently began grouping its investments into three categories to help investors more easily lock onto investments that are right for them.
“Income” properties are expected to provide higher monthly cash flows with low-to-moderate price appreciation, and “growth” properties are deemed likely to achieve high appreciation with varying cash flows.
“Balanced” properties tend to be the lowest-risk investments available on the platform. They’re supposed to have a more balanced mix of cash flow and appreciation.
“Even within the same real estate market, properties can fulfill different investment needs and can be grouped to match investors’ specific profiles,” said Don Ganguly, founder and CEO of HomeUnion, in a statement.
A retiree, for example, might be hunting for cash flow that will generate better income streams, he said. “Whereas a young professional looking to build wealth may be less interested in income today, but more interested in properties with higher projected appreciation rates.”
HomeUnion’s rollout of the investing categories is the latest improvement that the firm has made to its investing platform.
In March, the company rolled out detailed snapshots of properties’ surroundings, providing neighborhood-specific information like the affordability of rents based on income, the breakdown between homeowners and renters, age distributions and education levels and school metrics and average commute times.
Investors can buy properties with HomeUnion, or use financing provided by HomeUnion or a lender. Then they can coast: The tech firms handles upkeep and rent collection.
