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AUSTIN (KXAN) – With real estate prices rising in Austin, a new real estate app will be launched here next month so that more people can benefit from it.
It’s called OwnProp, created by Rex CEO Peter Rex, who has been in real estate and technology for 16 years, a spokesman says.
“It has historically been an asset class that has been valued. Everyone wanted a piece of it, but the rich only got access, ”said Rex, who says he experienced the barriers when he first got into the industry as a middle-class American. “We’re opening up so that the masses can own real estate.”
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His app will use blockchain technology to “democratize access” and allow people to buy and sell real estate as if it were on the New York Stock Exchange.
“What the blockchain does for us is that we can break the property into millions of units so that people can then participate in that property,” explained Rex.
Blockchain technology acts as a kind of digital ledger that can efficiently and securely record transactions, says Rex.
That said, you don’t need a lot of money to invest in real estate – even if you only have one money. But that part is still pending, he says.
Rex expects the SEC to grant approval within 18 months, but in the meantime, the app will initially open to accredited investors in December and will also include Hotel Ella, which Rex is expected to close in December. The app will also include 1002 West Avenue, an office building.
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According to the SEC, an accredited investor includes someone whose earned income has exceeded $ 200,000 for two years and expects the same for the current year or has net worth in excess of $ 1 million, either individually or in combination with a spouse.
“In simple terms … someone who may be able to withstand the risk of losing money,” said Mark Roberts, executive director of the Texas Real Estate Center at the University of Texas at Austin’s McComb’s School of Business.
“The fact that it is opening up to accredited investors as opposed to the broader market suggests that … regulators want to see how these things work and want to make sure … what the risks are,” said Roberts.
He says this way of crowdfunding real estate investments through apps is a new but growing field.
“We’re just starting out on a lot of these things,” said Roberts. “Make sure you understand who the company is and do you know if it is … funded well enough to support its business plan?”
He advises every investor, whether accredited or general neighbor, to follow one basic rule: Do your homework.
“You don’t get your ROI until you sell your investment,” said Roberts. “How can you sell that $ 10 investment you want to make and add the option to sell so you can get your capital back if you ever want it?” So that would be a good question. “
He adds that investors should know how the building they are investing in is being managed and who is doing the maintenance.
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“We move through these tires … methodically and safely and with much careful, detailed execution,” said Rex.
He said that people can sign up now using the website form to become investors in the future.
OwnProp’s long-term goal is to scale nationally and even globally so that, like the NYSE, anyone, anywhere in the world, can buy any property.
“The New York Real Estate Stock Exchange. That means we will have trillions of dollars in assets on this platform. So this is a start for us here, with this asset here, this Hotel Ella, ”said Rex.
OwnProp is one of many initiatives Rex is working on out of Austin after relocating his headquarters from the West Coast last year. He believes Silicon Valley has lost its value to serve humanity and wants to establish a new technology leadership in Austin.
Rex detailed its plans recently in an interview with KXAN media partners, the Austin Business Journal.
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https://www.kxan.com/news/business/want-to-own-a-piece-of-austins-hotel-ella-you-may-soon-be-able-to/
