- Homeownership co-investment platform company Haus announced it raised $7.125 million in funding
Haus — a new co-investment platform company for homeownership — announced that it has raised $7.125 million in seed funding in order to make buying a home more affordable. Haus’ $7.125 million in funding was put together with $4.125 million in seed investment and $3 million in debt capital. New investors Montage Ventures, RIT Capital Partners, Tim Ferriss, and several others participated in this round.
How does Haus work? The way it works is by offering buyers more flexibility to buy and sell equity in their home in real-time and benefit from 30% lower monthly payments on average.
According to a recent national survey, 68% of millennials said they regret purchasing a home due to the higher than expected fees upon purchase and hidden costs associated with owning a home. And at the same time, the percentage of millennials owning a home is the lowest when compared to any previous generation despite them being the largest group of home buyers. And the burden of owning a home has reached a breaking point.
Haus is on a mission to change the system so that consumers do not have to borrow money from banks or take unfavorable loans. This service is currently available in select cities in California, Oregon, and Washington.
“Millennials are being boxed out of the housing market with many being forced to delay buying a home because of a combination of personal student loan debt and skyrocketing costs associated with homeownership,” said Haus CEO Jonathan McNulty. “As a homeowner, I’ve experienced surprise fees and steep costs causing me to rethink the paradigm entirely. The gap in homeownership is only growing wider and new options are needed before we reach a point of no return.”
McNulty joined Haus as CEO under a year ago and he oversaw the broadening of the company’s business. Originally Haus started out with free home selling and then it shifted to a new co-investment model for homeownership. This approach led to monthly payments becoming 30% lower than the traditional mortgage on average. And for the first time, homeowners also have the flexibility to buy and sell equity in their largest asset in real-time through Haus.
Haus acts as a co-investor rather than a lender so you are not borrowing money from a bank and taking on debt. Haus essentially partners with homeowners to share in the equity of the home. And if the home value appreciates, as its partner, Haus benefits from the financial upside. On the flip side, if the value of the home value depreciates, then Haus helps shoulder the financial burden.
“The current real estate model has been broken for a long time,” added Matt Murphy — Partner at Montage Ventures, who led the Haus seed financing round. “Homeownership rates for people ages 25 to 34 is much lower than it should be. We are excited to partner with Haus to bring much-needed relief to current homeowners and prospective buyers alike.”
Haus was founded by Garrett Camp — who is the founder of Expa, the founder and chairman of Uber, and co-founder and former CEO/chairman of StumbleUpon. And Uber’s first head of finance Jesse Lucas is an advisor to Haus.
