Revolut will now offer its customers investment at property platform Bricklane; investors can invest in Bricklane tax efficient individual savings accounts for a minimum of 100 British pounds ($122); Bricklane investors receive rental income and capital appreciation from the properties they invest in. Source
P2P commercial real estate lender Relendex has received authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority; the platform provides secured commercial property loans through its P2P marketplace lending platform and now plans to seek the offering of innovative finance individual savings accounts for its investors; in comments regarding the authorization, Michael Lynn, the firm's founder and chief executive officer said, "FCA full authorization marks a fantastic start to 2017 for the Relendex team and platform which will further encourage and facilitate investment in commercial property from both our UK and foreign investors." Source
AlphaFlow has announced the launch of AlphaFlow Managed Portfolios; created by Ray Sturm, co-founder of RealtyShares, AlphaFlow has been managing real estate investments that allow investors to invest in loans across multiple real estate crowdfunding platforms since its launch in 2015; the introduction of the AlphaFlow Managed Portfolios is an effort to better meet the needs and demands of the firm’s investors; the new platform will provide investors with a real estate portfolio of 75 to 100 real estate loans; the portfolio will be driven by AlphaFlow Advanced Analytics and targets returns of 8% to 10% with a 1% fee on assets under management. Source
LendingHome was founded in 2013 and is the second startup business founded by Matt Humphrey; the firm announced its new consumer loan mortgage product at LendIt USA 2017; since its initial launch, the business has originated over $1 billion in mortgage loans with a focus specifically on fix and flip property owners; the new product will expand the capabilities of the firm's technology by offering consumer mortgage loans to first time homebuyers; the product expansion is a natural extension of the business and talking with Forbes, Humphrey says it has been a part of the firm's plan since founding the company. Source
Money360-affiliate M360 Advisors has registered with the South Korea Financial Supervisory Service; the registration allows institutional investors from South Korea to invest in the firm's real estate fund; the fund invests in secured US commercial real estate properties through bridge loans and offers global investors a high yield fixed income alternative; the fund has already received $65 million from a South Korean institutional investor and is planning for investment of $250 million in the first half of 2017; the fund is managed to provide international tax efficient investing along with high yield fixed income returns and has a number of other foreign investors including investors in China, Singapore, South Africa, Europe, Canada, the Netherlands and Kuwait. Source
LendingOne has launched a lending system for fix and flip lenders in the real estate industry; according to the firm's press release, the platform provides originators with advanced technology to streamline all aspects of the loan-underwriting, closing and servicing processes; with the launch, private lenders can now utilize the LendingOne system to offer more competitive pricing for borrowers; through the system lenders can also subordinate a portion of fix and flip real estate loans. Source
UK mortgage loan marketplace platform, LendInvest, has released its 2016 earnings; originations on the platform increased 84% to £320 million for the year ending March 2016; company grew revenue 133% to £32 million with a profit of £3.4 million; leads most of its competitors who have been consistently reporting losses. Source
OfferPad is a real estate platform to help homeowners sell their homes; investors include private funds managed by LL Funds, LLC and an investment management firm in Philadelphia; company plans to expand to additional markets; similar to competitor Opendoor, OfferPad buys homes from homeowners; current markets include Phoenix, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Tampa and Orlando; the company has 100 employees and will launch in Los Angeles soon. Source
Marketplace lender, PeerStreet, has raised $15 million in a funding round led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz; PeerStreet offers secured real estate loans through its lending platform; the minimum investment is $1,000; investors on the platform include high net worth individuals, family offices and institutions; Andreessen Horowitz's Rampell noted the competitive advantages of PeerStreet compared to competitors included their fast growth and distribution model; he stated, "Most companies that are lending to consumers spend all the money in customer acquisition and it is very hard to get a profit." Source
UK marketplace lender Landbay has lowered its borrowing rates and fees in an effort to refresh its offerings for buy-to-rent property borrowers; rates for a two-year fixed term loan will now start at 3.39% and rates on a five-year fixed term loan will start at 3.59%; arrangement fees have also been reduced to 1.5% from 1.75%; the firm has also made some changes to its approval criteria; Paul Brett, managing director of intermediaries at Landbay had the following comments: "We are constantly listening to our intermediary partners and to the requirements of the market. Our rates have been reduced across the board to ensure we remain competitive whilst our criteria enables us to serve a wide range of specialist borrowers seeking a fast decision." Source