Roofstock, a proptech startup aimed at making it easier to purchase an income-producing property, announced Wednesday its acquisition of Great Jones, a property management platform that Roofstock intends to utilize for its “end-to-end single-family rental platform.”
The Oakland, California-based company offers an online marketplace where buyers and sellers can both buy and sell rental homes in more than 70 U.S. markets. Some of these properties have tenants already residing in them, giving investors the opportunity to buy and sell the home without the renters being forced to vacate.
Like many mortgage and real estate entities in 2020 and 2021, Roofstock got a cut of that sweet, sweet housing market upswing. According to a release, the company surpassed $3 billion in transaction volume and saw a 10x year-over-year transaction volume boost (measured in gross merchandise value) in the first half of 2021 alone.
Its latest acquisition, Great Jones, takes the property management role to a digital space. The company offers data-driven rental analysis, property marketing and renter screenings, and provides 24/7 resident access to emergency support. The company does collect the rent itself if investors choose to use the platform; however, it ensures users will get the money within 30 days.
As of Wednesday’s release, Great Jones has 5,000 homes under management and 97 employees that will all fall under the Roofstock umbrella based on terms of the acquisition.
Monetary details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Roofstock also announced Wednesday that founding Zillow executive Chloe Harford and veteran commercial real estate executive Craig Robinson have joined its board of directors.
In response to her board appointment, Harfford said she was attracted to Roofstock’s platform and the huge opportunities ahead. And opportunities abound. Rooftstock pegs the single-family rental market at $4 trillion — that’s a trillion more than its estimates in early 2020 after investors threw a fresh $50 million at it in a round led by SVB capital.
“As we continue to simplify the process of investing in and managing real estate, the addition of a customer-focused, tech-forward retail property management solution in Great Jones improves Roofstock’s ability to support owners during the entire investment lifecycle,” Roofstock CEO Gary Beasley said in a blog post.
Beasley noted it as “terrific complement” to Rootstock’s other 2021 acquisition Stessa, a platform for real estate investors to keep track of rental property performance and accounting.