“By merging Lime Property’s deep local expertise with our technology-driven approach, we’re poised to streamline their operations and empower the teams with better tools, all while enhancing the experience for landlords and tenants alike,” Ilya Drozdov, co-founder and CEO of Dwelly, wrote in a Tuesday (Sept. 24) post on LinkedIn.

Dwelly’s full-stack business-to-business (B2B) platform is tailored to automate tenant management, payments and post-rental property maintenance, according to the company’s LinkedIn profile.

“When discussing other moves in the sector, the need for digital transformation in our industry has never been more critical,” Drozdov wrote in his post. “Many agencies struggle with outdated processes that hinder property managers from focusing on what truly matters.”

Dwelly Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer/Chief Product Officer Dan Lifshits said in a Tuesday post on LinkedIn that real estate is “an industry with an AI revolution to be made” because it is people-centric, communication-heavy and has headcount costs that amount to over 65% of revenues.

“One of the biggest hurdles in our industry is the strain of repetitive tasks, draining resources and blocking innovation,” Lifshits wrote. “Real estate is still burdened by significant tech debt, and acquiring Lime Property is a key move in tackling it. Together, we’ll set a new standard for letting agencies and drive the change this sector needs.”

Property managers are embracing digital solutions to gain operational efficiencies and boost tenant satisfaction, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence and Ingo Money collaboration, “From Rents to Refunds: The Push for Faster Payments in Property Management.”

The report found that the satisfaction rate of renters who use online payment methods is 77%, which is much higher than the 35% satisfaction rate among those who use traditional payment methods, and that of renters who received refunds via digital methods is 72%.

Digital transformation allows property management companies to leverage technology to address the challenges endemic to the space, Tony Julianelle, CEO of Atlas Real Estate, told PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster in an interview posted in June.

The post UK PropTech Startup Dwelly Adds 1,000 Properties With Lime Property Acquisition appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

“In the wake of stringent measures, consumers are instead facing all-time high hotel prices and residents facing all-time high rents,” the company wrote on its blog Tuesday (Sep. 3) as it called on the city to scale back the regulation.

The company argues that Local Law 18 — which mandates that short-term rental hosts be licensed by the city and comply with occupancy rules and building codes — has not helped lower rents, while hotel prices continue to rise.

Airbnb, which had sued New York over the law, is calling on the city to ease these restrictions so that property owners have a better chance to rent out their places.

“By rolling back parts of the law, the city can increase the supply of accommodations for consumers, support resident hosts, and revitalize local businesses that depend on tourism dollars,” wrote Theo Yedinsky, Airbnb’s vice president of public policy.

A report Tuesday by Bloomberg News notes that the city has shown no indication it plans to change the law. While there was an early processing backlog for hosts’ applications, the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, responsible for the rule’s implementation, offered data showing it has caught up with 99.7% of the 6,672 applications it’s gotten in the last year.

Christian Klossner, executive director of the enforcement office, praised the regulation for helping the city achieve “its goal of enhancing the enforceability of decades-old housing laws that many hosts violated and from which companies profited,” the report said.

The company’s efforts come as the travel industry — while expected to make a record contribution to the global GDP this year — is seeing customers cut back.

For example, the PYMNTS Intelligence report, “The Last Transaction: Family Spending Habits Reveal Merchant Opportunities in Retail and Travel,” shows shifts in spending due to inflation.

“Parents with children at home have notably reduced their discretionary spending, despite generally higher incomes,” PYMNTS wrote last month. “The report shows that 62% of married parents with children earn more than $100,000 annually, but these families have cut back on retail purchases from an average of $147 in 2022 to $114 in 2024.”

While they were 77% more likely to make travel purchases, parents with children have reduced their travel spending by 11% year over year, while childless households have upped their travel expenditure, averaging $620 annually and reaching up to $754 for older consumers.

The post Airbnb Wants NYC to Ease Short-Term Rental Restrictions appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

This financial product, Buy Before You Sell, has been expanded to 40 new states and is now operating in a total of 47 states, the company said in a Monday (Aug. 26) press release emailed to PYMNTS.

Buy Before You Sell is designed to help homebuyers solve the problem of needing to sell their existing home in order to buy a new one, according to the press release. The product lets these homebuyers unlock up to 70% of the equity from their existing home and start making offers on another.

“We are deeply focused on building the tools and technology that solve the hardest problems that lenders face today in closing transactions,” Drew Uher, founder and CEO of HomeLight, said in the release. “So far, the response to Buy Before You Sell has blown away our expectations and we’re thrilled to add so much value to both our lender and agent partners as well as their clients.”

Since the launch of Buy Before You Sell, HomeLight has partnered with more than 10,000 loan officers and more than 28,000 real estate agents and has unlocked over $655 million in equity from clients’ existing homes, per the release.

In addition, the company now enables agents to invite their preferred lenders to the platform to help their clients access this solution, according to the release.

One of HomeLight’s partners, Lisa Shapiro, senior mortgage advisor at NEO Home Loans, a subsidiary of Luminate, said in the release: “With Buy Before You Sell, we were able to accomplish my buyer’s goal: submitting a non-contingent offer, pulling equity out now for the down payment at closing, and only having to move once, with no rent payments in the middle.”

HomeLight was launched by Uher in 2012 to introduce technology into the homebuying market and solve the “mess and headache” he encountered in the process of buying his first home, Uher told PYMNTS in an interview posted in 2021.

“The problem that I started with was the agent matching problem,” Uher said at the time. “We basically started the business by helping buyers and sellers find the best agents in their area in a data-driven way, with a focus on agents that would sell their homes faster and for more money.”

The post HomeLight Raises $20 Million to Expand Bridge Loan Product appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

The platform will be expanded to additional markets in the coming months, Indigo said in a Thursday (Aug. 15) press release.

It is designed to provide real estate agents, buyers and sellers with streamlined communications, bidding and negotiations, according to the release.

“As an independent platform, we help all market participants — real estate agents, buyers and sellers — by facilitating an open, transparent home transaction,” Shaival Shah, co-founder and CEO of Indigo, said in the release. “We believe this will be the new industry model.”

The company’s Home Checkout platform provides a single, collaborative experience that unifies home listings and offer-making, per the release.

The platform provides Storefronts that listing agents can use to communicate seller preferences, drive demand, and collect and validate offers, according to the release.

It also includes Contracts AI-powered writing and validation that helps buyers’ agents write compliant offers and agency contracts “in seconds — from any device,” the release said.

One of the organizations participating in the launch of the Indigo platform in Charlotte is RE/MAX.

Kourosh Sharifi, chief financial officer of RE/MAX Executive, said in the release that accurate, timely market data is essential in the real estate industry.

“Agents and clients now depend on data-driven insights to navigate the complexities of transactions and make informed decisions,” Sharifi said. “Indigo offers a cutting-edge platform that leverages AI to provide these crucial insights, positioning itself as a game changer in the industry.”

The advent of digital tools and platforms has brought about a significant shift in the process of buying a home, ushering in a new era of connectivity and convenience, PYMNTS reported in April.

During that same month, Backflip said it raised $15 million in a Series A funding round to grow its platform for real estate investors. The company said its technology and capital solutions help members manage their investment pipelines, secure funding and grow their real estate businesses.

In February, Zillow said it was expanding its “housing super app” to more markets after seeing how well it had been received. The app provides consumers with real estate data, education, a suite of Zillow-owned solutions and a network of its partners.

The post Indigo Begins Rollout of AI-Powered Platform for Buying, Selling Homes appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

In fact, as noted in this recent column penned by Karen Webster, paying to keep the roof over one’s head equates to 37% of take-home pay for consumers making less than $50,000 annually. The percentage changes drastically for households above that threshold, at about 13% of take-home pay.

But no matter how you slice it, and no matter the income level, mortgages and rent are high, and inflation has driven them higher still. Add in the fact that rent and other housing payments may not coincide with the timing of paychecks, and the pressures become ever more pronounced on the family wallet.

For landlords, too, the unevenness of cash flow (13% of renters missed payments last year) in the event that payments are missed or staggered, can wind up impacting their own cash coffers — and the ability to keep their own vendors, staff and supply chains paid on time.

A spate of recent announcements in the real estate industry have showcased the value inherent in payments flexibility, in using digital conduits to make payments more quickly. As noted in the “From Rent to Refunds” report, more than a third of renters still wield paper checks and use wire transfers to satisfy their housing obligations to landlords.

What Renters Want

But technology is prized here: The data show that more than half of renters prefer to pay their rent online, with 77% citing the greater ease and speed compared to traditional methods like paper checks. Renters who use online payment methods report a satisfaction rate of 77%, much higher than the 35% satisfaction rate among those who use traditional payment methods. Instant payment options can enhance renter loyalty and satisfaction in the event of refunds (say, if repairs have led to a reduction in given month’s rent) or returns on deposits.

Managing the Supply Chain

For landlords, faster payments from tenants equates to better cash flow visibility and transparency. The improvements in having money on hand to pay staff can help landlords stay competitive in a tight labor market and to make sure that everything from equipment to coffee in the clubhouse to keeping the on-site gyms in shape gets a bit easier.

In an announcement earlier this month, the real estate software platform RealPage said it had partnered with Flex to provide customers with “flexible” rent payment options. In terms of the mechanics, the joint efforts let RealPage customers offer Flex as a payment option for residents within LOFT, RealPage’s resident portal and app as they can opt to pay their rent in several payments rather than just as one single transaction. The companies have noted that that flexible rent payments can offer property managers a way to boost net operating income, improve resident retention and stand out in a competitive rental market.

In a recent interview with Karen Webster, AppFolio Vice President of Product and Payments Adam Feinstein said using push-to-debit systems in the property management sector could make payments faster, reduce reliance on paper checks and invoices and end the typical three-day settlement periods related to ACH transactions.

And as noted here, Stake has acquired Circa to help reduce delinquencies and arrears in the rental economy by offering both rent incentives and collections management. The acquisition adds Circa’s free payment processing and success-based collections management to Stake’s loyalty, renter banking services and incentive optimization services, the companies said in June. The platform enables no-fee rent payments, cash back for on-time rent payments, credit builder and reporting and a debt-free way to access paychecks early.

The post Rental Payment Innovations Help Tenant Cash Flow appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

This is especially true when it comes to more traditional industries, like real estate in general and property management specifically. That’s because the integration of software solutions and connected devices has revolutionized how property managers operate, enhancing efficiency, transparency and overall service quality.

“We were looking at the health of the portfolio manager,” Tony Julianelle, CEO of Atlas Real Estate, told PYMNTS’ CEO Karen Webster. “How do we give our portfolio managers more resources and tools to do the job more efficiently and have more time in their day?”

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” he added.

Digital Transformation of Property Management

Digital transformation is no longer a futuristic concept in property management, but a present-day reality allowing businesses to leverage technology to address the challenges endemic to the space. For example, with advanced data visualization tools, businesses are equipped to track key metrics that can allow for better decision-making and cost control. And data is a powerful tool in property management, enabling improved performance.

“The owners and investors that we serve, they want clean data. They want meaningful projections, and they want good budgets, they want to be able to see year-over-year rent growth,” Julianelle said, noting that Atlas Real Estate serves a diverse range of property owners, from accidental landlords with a single property to large private equity firms managing extensive portfolios.

This diversity necessitates a flexible and comprehensive approach to data management and reporting, as well as access to institutional-grade capabilities for all owners, ensuring transparency and meaningful projections regardless of portfolio size.

“Our own portfolio becomes our best comp,” Julianelle said, emphasizing the value of in-house data to set benchmarks and optimize pricing and maintenance strategies. The ability to analyze lead generation, leasing trends and market conditions allows for a more responsive and proactive management approach, he added.

And Julianelle explained that his company’s partnership with AppFolio, a comprehensive property management platform, was a key step in its digital transformation journey. This collaboration enabled the business to sift through various property technology (prop tech) solutions to build a reliable tech stack that enhances efficiency.

Tenant Experience: Heart of Property Management

At the core of the property management business is the tenant experience. The successful amalgamation of technology with traditional property management practices should aim deliver the customer experience and high-touch service that tenants expect.

“The tenant is our customer,” Julianelle explained. “They are the only ones actually paying anything, so their experience is paramount. … We live in a constant battle against vacancy. The highest cost of owning real estate is vacancy.”

And other digital innovations, including smart home technologies, play a role in providing a seamless and satisfying living experience and mitigating the cost of vacancies. Features like keyless entry, smart thermostats and other connected devices contribute to tenant retention, and Julianelle added that residents — who tend to be technologically driven — appreciate the ease and modernity these technologies bring to their homes.

That’s part of why, on Tuesday (June 25), Colorado Business Magazine named Atlas Real Estate best in Colorado property management for the eighth consecutive year.

However, one digital innovation that has yet to reach breakthrough momentum in property management, whether between residents, contractors, employees or other members of the real estate ecosystem, is instant payments.

“We currently operate on a net 14 to net 7 payment schedule,” Julianelle said, “We find with our best vendors it’s easy to hit a net 7 because they’re actually uploading a complete invoice with before and after pictures.”

The future may see a shift toward instant payments as technology advances and reliability increases, but, as Julianelle added, “It is not currently an expectation to get paid instantly. What we run into is there are still people that just don’t even pay. Vendors fight that battle all the time.”

Still, he emphasized that the future of property management lies in continued digital transformation and innovation. As the industry evolves, the integration of artificial intelligence, further advancements in smart home technology, and enhanced data analytics will likely shape the next phase of property management, demonstrating the potential of technology to revolutionize an industry deeply rooted in traditional practices.

The post Property Managers Play the Technology Card to Win Tenants and Investors appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

The agency did so in a report released Friday (May 10) that also identifies risks in this sector, the FSOC said in a press release outlining the report.

“We need further action to promote safe and sound operations, address liquidity risks, and enable continuity of servicing operations when a servicer fails,” Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen said in the release. “Moving the Council’s recommendations forward is crucial to protecting borrowers and preventing disruptions to economic activity.”

NMCs originate two-thirds of mortgages in the United States and own the servicing rights on 54% of mortgage balances, as of 2022, according to the release. Those figures are up from 39% and 4%, respectively, in 2008.

Among the strengths of NMCs are that they serve groups that have been historically underserved by the mortgage market, they originate mortgages more quickly than their competitors, and they have expanded into specialty default servicing, the release said.

However, they also have vulnerabilities. These include exposure to mortgage-related assets, significant liquidity risk and vulnerabilities shared with other NMCs that could lead to stress across the entire sector, per the release.

“NMCs bring certain strengths to the market,” the FSOC said in the release. “However, NMCs also have vulnerabilities, and in a stress scenario, NMCs’ vulnerabilities could cause NMCs to amplify and transmit the effect of a shock to the mortgage market and broader financial system.”

These risks have not been adequately addressed by state and federal regulators, according to the release.

In its report, the FSOC recommends that state regulators enhance prudential requirements and that Congress provide the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and Ginnie Mae with additional authorities to better manage these risks, the release said.

It also recommends measures to address liquidity pressures in the event of stress and to ensure continuity of servicing operations, per the release.

The FSOC added in the release that it “will continue to monitor the evolution of the risks identified in the report and may take or recommend additional actions to mitigate such risks.”

It was reported in February that the Bank of England is calling for more research into non-bank lenders. In that case, the effort aims to prevent a “credit crunch” that could result from a pull-back by hedge funds, pension funds, asset managers and insurers.

The post FSOC: Regulators, Congress Should Enhance Resilience of Nonbank Mortgage Companies appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

However, the advent of digital tools and platforms has brought about a significant shift in this age-old process, ushering in a new era of connectivity and convenience.

Central to this digital transformation are “housing super apps” — all-in-one platforms that consolidate a myriad of tools and services to streamline the home buying experience. These apps leverage advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality and data analytics to offer users personalized recommendations, virtual tours, and financial planning assistance.

Zillow’s housing super app exemplifies this trend, offering consumers a one-stop-shop for all their home buying needs. From real estate data and education to a network of partner services, the platform aims to deliver an integrated home-buying experience, simplifying the complexities typically associated with the process.

“Zillow is now the container into which we will continually place new features and services that work together seamlessly to solve real customer and partner pain points in their moves,” company Co-founder and CEO Rich Barton said on a Feb. 13 earnings call.

Earlier this week, the company announced plans to expand its integrated home-buying experience to more markets, granting buyers and agents in approximately 90 markets nationwide access to its Real-Time Touring tool.

This feature enables buyers to easily request property tours based on the listing’s availability without the need to speak with connection specialists or agents on the phone. And if the proposed appointment time aligns with the agent’s schedule, it is automatically booked in ShowingTime, streamlining the entire process.

The online real estate marketplace has also rolled out Zillow Immerse, a new digital tool designed for the Apple Vision Pro. This app allows users to experience a 360-degree view of every room in homes for sale, complete with AI-generated floor plans to guide their virtual tours.

“It’s early, but it’s an extraordinary home touring experience,” Barton said during the call. “We have been and will continue to be the company that is on the leading edge of utilizing technology to create magical new consumer and agent experiences.”

Online real estate broker Redfin is also embracing the digital transformation agenda, harnessing the power of AI to enhance the real estate experience for buyers, sellers and agents alike.

Through AI-powered tools like Redfin Redesign and the Redfin ChatGPT Plugin, consumers can envision the potential of a home, customize design styles and even receive personalized home recommendations based on their preferences.

And after finalizing a home purchase, homeowners have access to digital tools like Thumbtack’s home management app to better manage their properties. With features designed to streamline essential home projects, these apps provide guidance on project prioritization, hiring recommendations, and cost management, further simplifying the complexities of homeownership.

As Marco Zappacosta, co-founder and CEO of Thumbtack, said in a Tuesday (April 2) press release, “This digitally native generation wants to manage their homes the way they run the rest of their lives — on their phones. Our all-in-one app brings the support and peace of mind homeowners need.”

The post All-In-One Apps Ease Home-Buying Pain Points Even Post-Deal appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

With this new offering, property managers can let their renters choose between using a zero-deposit program for a fee, paying the full security deposit as a lump sum or paying it in installments over the term of the lease, the company said in a Wednesday (March 27) press release.

Whatever the renter’s choice, Qira covers the full security deposit for the renter, handles all operational aspects of the transaction and refunds the security deposit when the renter moves out, according to the release.

“Our security deposit management technology is unique, and we have the only integrated payment plan solution on the market,” Ray Doron, chief technology officer at Qira, said in the release.

The new security deposit payment plan services join the Qira platform that includes security deposit alternative programs, security deposit payments and refunds processing with full escrow management, according to the release.

The solutions are designed to help properties offload administrative tasks, ensure compliance with state laws and reduce financial risk, the release said.

With this system, Qira manages escrow accounts and ensures properties are compliant with interest-bearing account capabilities and other state regulations, per the release.

“We believe these programs greatly benefit our audience of property managers who often prefer to outsource the entire security deposit management to Qira and to our renters who now have more alternatives to pay their deposit,” Qira CEO Revital Gadish said in the release.

PYMNTS Intelligence has found that while tenants routinely pay many of their bills online, a significant portion of residential and commercial rents are still paid by paper check.

For property managers, this reliance on outdated systems can create revenue gaps while waiting for checks to clear and can force increased personnel time to be spent on processing these payments, according to “Money Mobility Helps Property Managers in a Difficult Economy,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and Ingo Payments collaboration.

In another recent development in this space, Obligo and BNY Mellon said in January that they are collaborating to enable Obligo to provide its suite of security deposit solutions directly from banking portals.

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Recent data from ATTOM, a curator of real estate and property data, shows that in 2023, an average of 38% of home sales nationwide were all-cash transactions, representing about 1 in 3 single-family home and condo sales — the highest level since 2014. Furthermore, over 63% of homes flipped that same year were originally purchased with cash, indicating the extent of cash dominance even in investment transactions.

Similarly, data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) echoes this trend, revealing that since October 2022, all-cash home buyers who did not finance their recent home purchases constituted more than one-quarter of the real estate market. And as of January 2024, all-cash buyers now comprise 32% of home sales, reaching levels not seen since June 2014.

While these statistics underscore the ongoing dominance of cash transactions in real estate, indicating the industry’s apparent hesitance around complete digital transformation, promising signs of change are emerging.

PropTech startups, harnessing the power of technology, are helping to accelerate change in real estate practices, offering innovative solutions tailored to the evolving needs of buyers, sellers and investors.

Platforms like FoxyAI, for instance, are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI)-driven computer vision, machine learning, and data science to convert property photos into actionable data, as part of efforts to revolutionize the buying, selling, planning and visualization processes in the sector.

In a recent interview with PYMNTS, FoxyAI CEO Vin Vomero acknowledged the perception that the real estate sector has historically been slower to adopt technology. However, he emphasized that industry players have rapidly embraced the potential of AI, indicating a notable shift in mindset toward technology.

“AI has been transformational across many industries, and people in the real estate world have seen that and they realize what kind of benefits AI can have within their business,” Vomero said.

The company’s clientele spans a diverse range of sectors within the real estate ecosystem, including government entities, lending institutions, property preservation firms, and insurance providers. Through its proprietary FoxyAI Model Library, accessible via an API, these clients can access comprehensive insights on property quality, condition, location and more, enabling informed decision-making at every stage of the real estate lifecycle.

“We help facilitate better information, which in turn facilitates a better selling process,” Vomero said. “So, for example, many of our customers use our condition score and quality score models to enhance their AVMs [automated valuation models], and this allows any algorithm to factor in the condition and quality of the property instantly, alongside typical property level features like location and square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, which results in a more accurate valuation.”

Moreover, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital tools and virtual platforms in real estate. As social distancing measures necessitated remote interactions, an increasing number of businesses have embraced virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies, enabling prospective buyers to conveniently explore properties and finalize deals from the safety and comfort of their own homes.

In fact, according to a survey by Rocket Mortgage cited by the NAR in a post on its website, 3 out of 5 home shoppers say they would be willing to purchase a home after only a virtual tour, an indication of the growing acceptance and adoption of advanced technologies in the industry.

In conclusion, although cash transactions maintain their stronghold in the real estate market, the ongoing evolution of digital tools and innovations is gradually reshaping traditional practices. As a result, the industry stands at the brink of a transformative journey toward a more digitized and interconnected future.

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