Cash offers seem to be the latest real estate trend. Homes are selling fast and, more often than not, they sell to all-cash buyers.
Austin-based Homeward noticed the trend picking up years ago and decided to do something about it. On Thursday, the finance company announced it raised $371 million to help people buy a home with an all-cash offer. This round comes a year after the company raised $105 million.
“We anticipated cash offers becoming standard a few years ago — sellers prefer cash offers because they are much more certain to close,” Tim Heyl, CEO and founder of Homeward, said in a statement. “We designed our cash offer in a way that enables real estate agents to make every buyer a cash buyer.”
Homeward will use the fresh funding to open additional markets and scale the company, according to a news release. Homeward services are currently available in Texas, Colorado and Georgia.
This latest funding round includes $136 million in equity and $235 million in debt. The funding round was led by Norwest Venture Partners with participation from Javelin, Adams Street, Blackstone Alternative Asset Management, LiveOak Venture Partners and Breyer Capital.
In addition to the funding round, Jeff Crowe, managing partner of Norwest Venture Partners, will join Homeward’s board of directors.
Since launching in 2018, Homeward has raised $501 million in funding split between equity and debt, including $105 million last May and $25 million in July of 2019. Homeward differs from traditional iBuyers in that the company works with real estate agents.
The company is currently hiring for dozens of roles, including remote and Austin-based opportunities, in departments including engineering, finance, product, marketing and more.
