Ownify’s vision of the future

Buying your first home is harder than ever. Rising home prices, increasing mortgage rates, high down payment and student debt make it more and more difficult for the nearly 2 million annual first-time homebuyers. 

At Ownify, our mission of making homeownership achievable is personal for us. When I bought my first home, I had to borrow money from my parents for the down payment. They were incredibly helpful and I very much appreciated their support but I always wondered why there wasn’t a better way. I had a good income and a strong credit score, I just hadn’t saved enough for the down payment.

The truth is, Ownify exists because we were part of the problem. The Ownify founders met while working together in the real estate and mortgage industry, focused on the corporate bottom line. I was building mortgage-pricing software, Chris ran a mortgage lender and Ben was buying hundreds of homes every month for a rent-to-own company. And every day, we saw up-close how hard it was for first-time homebuyers to navigate a system stacked against them. That’s why we started Ownify. We’re redesigning ownership from the ground up to make it achievable for you. 

The Problem: Homeownership is not achievable for first-time buyers

We believe that every first-time homebuyer should have a path to achieve their dream of owning their home. 

However, the traditional options to finance a home don’t work in today’s market. Saving for a down payment is a particularly high hurdle for first-time homebuyers, especially if you already have student debt. In fact, over 50% of first-time homebuyers need to borrow money from friends and family to afford a down payment! For those who can save enough for the down payment and qualify for a loan, the traditional mortgage is becoming a less viable option, with high interest rates and reduced benefit of the mortgage interest tax deduction. And as anyone house-hunting  knows, the competition is fierce. From a seller’s perspective, an offer with a financing contingency just isn’t attractive. In fact, homebuyers in today’s market are up against record-high cash offers, often from institutional investors with deep pockets. Through no fault of their own, many first-time homebuyers are locked out. The system is broken.

The big challenge: Is there a better path?

When we started Ownify, we challenged the traditional thinking that you were either a renter or an owner (with a lot of debt). What if you could buy your home “brick-by-brick?” What if you could buy the bricks you can afford and rent the ones you haven’t bought, without a big down payment? Could you be a fractional owner of the home you want to live in? Could you have the benefits of ownership like building equity, benefitting from appreciation, protection from rent increases and the ability to renovate without the drawbacks of mortgage debt? Can this be done with affordable payments for the Owni while still creating attractive returns for the capital needed to fund this path?

Well, it turns out this can be done! So we did.

Our Solution: Fractional homeownership

Ownify’s path to homeownership is built on fractional ownership. Here is how it works:

• Ownify works with qualified first-time homebuyers – we call them “Ownis” – to carefully select single-family homes for purchase. 
• After we buy a home, we fractionalize each home into 10,000 shares or “bricks.” Ownis buy 200 of the bricks on the day they move in. Ownify co-invests in the home by buying 800 bricks. 
• We then offer the remaining 9,000 bricks as securities to investors under an SEC Reg A exemption. 
• Over the next five years, Ownis live in the home and pay rent for the bricks they don’t own while buying more bricks each month - up to 1,000 bricks over five years. 
• Once an Owni has built up enough equity to qualify for a mortgage down payment, they have the option to buy out the investors. 

For our Ownis, Ownify's fractional ownership program provides the following benefits:

• Lower down payment: With fractional ownership, Ownis can secure their dream home without the burden of a massive down payment.
• Cash offer: Ownify turns a first-time buyer into a cash buyer, able to compete against corporate bidders.
• No surprises: Ownify covers repairs, taxes, insurance and makes sure there are no unforeseen costs to the Owni.
• Evergreen equity: Ownis are co-investors rather than borrowers, so their equity can never be "underwater."

For our investors, Ownify's program provides an alternative set of benefits:

• Fractional ownership: Investors can buy as little as $50 in "bricks" in a single family home to generate income and capital appreciation.
• Shared equity & shared purpose: Ownis, investors and Ownify all build wealth through increasing property values.
• Rental income: Long-term contracts in class A properties provide consistent income on the bricks investors hold.
• Community impact: The investment supports the sustainable growth and development of local communities.

With our platform, we are creating the opportunity for investors to invest directly into single-family homes occupied by first-time buyers. By eliminating the cost and complexity of the mortgage middleman, we are helping first-time buyers win in the market while providing capital returns for our investors.

We’re thrilled with the traction we’re getting in the Raleigh-Durham launch market. The reception from first-time buyers, investors, agents and the broader community has been fantastic and we look forward to building on our vision.

If our vision of the future of homeownership is exciting to you, we would like to partner with you. To start your journey towards homeownership, apply with Ownify today. If you’re interested in investing in Ownify homes, you can learn more here. If you’re interested in joining the team, learn more about us here. 

©2023 Ownify, Inc. All rights reserved. Frank Rohde is CEO and Founder of Ownify, Inc.