Good afternoon —
It seems like everyone is trying to disrupt the current home-buying environment. That disruption could come from a startup — the next Uber or Instagram for housing. (If I had a Bitcoin for every fintech origin story where a tech guy buying a house realized it was a terribly inefficient process, I'd be investing in NFTs right now.)
But disruption could also come from a large, established company — one with lots of consumer data and relationships — looking to carve out a big piece of the home-buying pie. That's why loan originators and real estate agents get twitchy anytime it looks like Amazon, or Zillow, or Facebook, might switch lanes.
In this vein, Rocket Companies has long been considered a threat, first going straight to consumers with ads touting "push button, get mortgage" and now pouring resources into promoting its wholesale business. The company's real estate strategy has been especially anxiety-inducing, something Senior Real Estate Reporter Matt Blake explores in his latest HW+ piece: Rocket Homes could be real estate's sleeping giant.
As Matt writes: "The company's real estate arm, Rocket Homes, has historically been a tiny part of the company's revenue. But Rocket is looking to throw its considerable weight around in real estate – positioning itself as a one-stop shop for homebuyers."
The trigger this time is a recent posting from Rocket Homes on LinkedIn, advertising for "a real estate advisor." But real estate agents have been worried before, only to find that Rocket is looking to partner, not compete. What's the end game this time? Read the tea leaves here.
Until tomorrow —
Sarah Wheeler
HousingWire Editor in Chief
P.S. We're hosting a panel on Mortgage Disruption Outlook at our Spring Summit on March 4, with Nima Ghamsari of Blend, Mike Cagney of Figure and Mark Wai of Radian. It's free for HW+ members and you can sign up here.
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