EasyKnock — the first institutionalized residential sale-leaseback company in the U.S. — announced it raised $215 million in Series A funding from new and returning investors. Recently, EasyKnock has released MoveAbility — which is the second game-changing program in flexible homeownership. With MoveAbility, homeowners are able to leverage their equity to seamlessly purchase their next home prior to moving out of their current home.
“We are continuing to create flexible homeownership products that enable homeowners to access their equity,” said EasyKnock CEO Jarred Kessler in a statement. “With MoveAbility, we’re offering homeowners autonomy of the process of bridging between their current home and their future home. As roughly 5 million homes are sold every year, millions of Americans can benefit from our program.”
EasyKnock was founded by Kessler and Ben Black. Together they boast a collective forty years in the real estate, business development, sales, and technology industries.
The Series A round included a $12 million in equity and it was led by existing investor Blumberg Capital. New investors Correlation Ventures, 500 Startups and Rubicon Ventures and existing investors Montage Ventures, Kairos, and FJ Labs also joined this round. And this funding follows a $103.5 million debt-equity round that EasyKnock raised last year.
With this funding round, it will enable the company to expand its current products and launch MoveAbility — which is a product that provides homeowners their equity and enables them to purchase their next home from the comfort of their own home.
One of the problems with the current landscape is that there are stringent underwriting rules where having an existing mortgage balance has a negative impact while applying for refinancing or a bridge loan.
This is why Americans struggle to access the necessary funds for securing a dream home. And on top of that, there is pressure and uncertainty surrounding when and for how much their home will sell — which leaves homeowners in a constant state of stress and limbo.
And it is why millions of families sell their homes in a hurry and at a below-market rate. Or they have to uproot their families and settle into temporary accommodations while they sell one home to buy another.
MoveAbility is essentially able to enable a seamless and painless transition from home to the next where the homeowner can create a timeline that suits them.
This is achieved by EasyKnock purchasing the home for a lump sum of cash. And the homeowner-turned tenant can stay in the home as a renter for 3-18 months while they look for a new home and use that money for the down payment.
MoveAbility’s launch follows the creation of EasyKnock’s Sell and Stay program — which enables homeowners to sell their home and remain in the residence as renters with an option to repurchase or money at any time during a five-year lease. Sell and Stay and Moveability are both currently available in 25 states.
