In the same week it kicked off services in Colorado’s most popular ski towns, luxury second homeownership platform Pacaso has formally entered Europe, according to a press release.
Aspiring owners in Marbella, Spain, can now take advantage of the unique ownership model devised by co-founders Austin Allison, who developed dotloop and sold it to Zillow, and former Zillow CEO, Spencer Rascoff.
Pacaso is planning a rapid overseas expansion. Like it does domestically, the company hires a number of local service providers to tend to the homes they buy and sell in parts to eight individual buyers. Each home exists in a stand-alone LLC, and revenue is generated from a 12 percent fee that covers ongoing management, LLC setup and buyer acquisition.
Agents who partner with Pacaso to sell LLC shares can earn a 4 percent commission, the company stated. Torgeir Wemmestad-Haaland, founder and CEO of broker and developer Sovilla, has entered into an agreement to partner with Pacaso.
In June, Pacaso announced the hire of Razor Suleman to head Pacaso Global. In that release, Pacaso stated Suleman will lead growth in Mexico and Canada, as well.
Suleman co-founded Canadian organization Elevate and started corporate social network Achievers.
In the release, Suleman said the initial response to their presence in Spain has been “amazing.”
“We’ve been hard at work building our business and local team here in the South of Spain, and the support we’ve received from our partners and crew members reiterates that this market is truly a great fit for our co-ownership model,” he said.
Like both founders’ previous endeavors, Pacaso leans heavily on a mobile app to help owners manage when they use the property and to schedule concierge services and other ongoing needs.
Additionally, Pacaso managed to establish the term “co-ownership” as a formal type of ownership in RESO’s 2020 Property Dictionary of industry terminology. The designation will help lend credibility to the company’s model and help get out from under any stigmas associated with timeshares or fractional ownership, which can impact community tolerance of their model.
Pacaso’s head of industry relations, Marnie Blanco, took the stage at Inman Connect Las Vegas to help lead a session on luxury sales are changing, and new models are emerging to meet that change.
“The big thing is having a turn-key experience,” she said. “It’s the ongoing experience of not having to worry about the full management of the home, not worrying about the expenses or fees because those are all handled through Pacaso. Not having to figure out cleaning or maintenance or when you’re going to stay.”