- There is a new player in the Polish real property market: Homly, a platform facilitating the sale of residential properties in the Instant Buyer model (i.e. minimum formalities allowing for the speedy conclusion of the process).
- Homly will also offer private investors an opportunity to invest in real estate (real estate flipping). The process will be supported by an automated valuation model (AVM).
- Tar Heel Capital Pathfinder has invested in Homly PLN 1.2 million. The company has raised PLN 1.5 million in total.
Tar Heel Capital Pathfinder has invested PLN 1.2 million in Homly, a platform facilitating the sale of residential properties in the Instant Buyer model, as well as building an offer to allow private investors an opportunity to invest in real estate (real estate flipping). Aside from the financial investment, the fund is also actively assisting founders in building their business.
Homly has raised PLN 1.5 million in the first round in total, as the additional PLN 300.000 has been invested by a group of private individuals.
Homly primarily deals with the acquisition of residential properties from their owners, simplifying the whole process down to three simple steps requiring minimal time investment. The startup’s offering is aimed at making life easier for the owners who want to save time normally required to effectuate the sale, also for those whose priority is to quickly gain access to cash, or for others who are not able to see the process through in person. The transaction can be closed as quickly as in 7 days.
The start-up is aiming to bring a fresh perspective and agility to the real estate industry in Poland.
– Our market traditionally tends to be slow in reaction and conservative in its approach to real estate transactions. Anyone who has dealt with the sale of apartment realises that the process is a nightmare – the avalanche of phone calls, time spent presenting the apartment to potential buyers, high cost of intermediaries and the uncertainty spurred by some clients’ wavering resolve. Homly simplifies all of this, guaranteeing a quick and swift deal. Our client’s comfort is our priority – says Adam Rzepkowski, co-founder of Homly and an expert in e-commerce with over 15 years of experience in building and managing online businesses (he has co-created one of the first major online IT stores in Poland – Vobis.pl).
Homly’s clients include both private owners and developers. It has been developing operations in Warsaw and other Polish cities, including Szczecin, Kraków, Wrocław and Trójmiasto.
Homly will also offer an opportunity to invest in real estate.
– You can partner with us not only to sell your apartment, but also to invest: we will give private individuals a chance to put their money into our investment projects based on real estate flipping, meaning reselling apartments for a higher price. Homly is going to be the one doing the work concerned with the increase of the value of residential properties and their profitable sale – explains Maciej Świtek, the second co-founder of Homly and a manager previously involved in the financial and investment industry (Ipopema TFI and Metlife, among others).
The process of selecting estates to be added to the investment portfolio will be additionally supported by an automated valuation model (AVM) that Homly has been developing for the last few months. Homly expects its investment product to be released onto the market in November.
– Real estate investments are currently one of the most reliable forms of investing capital with good return rates, and as such they attract private investors. Not everyone has the time to get personally involved, or an acumen for this kind of business. And most of us have experienced in person how tedious and troublesome selling an apartment can be. Homly solves real problems of both of these target groups – adds Michał Wrzolek, Investment Director in Tar Heel Capital Pathfinder, a venture capital fund that has invested in Homly.
According to data from National Bank of Poland on the primary and secondary real property markets, in recent months the process of selling a residential property has been estimated to take between 4.5 and 6 months. These numbers exclude ads of the properties that have not attracted any buyers. The average ROI in the real estate flipping market is estimated to oscillate between a dozen and several dozen percent per annum.