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Proptech startup brings together a world-class team to enable investing in real estate for as little as $1
VANCOUVER, BC, July 15, 2020 /CNW/ – addy Technology Corporation (“addy” or the “Company”), a Vancouver-based proptech start-up on a mission to allow every human to become a homeowner, launched today enabling Canadians to invest in real estate for as little as $1. The Company also announced the appointment of five leading real estate, technology, and legal experts to its Board of Directors and Advisory Board. Steve Evans, Co-founder and CEO of Sunstone Realty Advisors, Pure Multi-Family REIT LP, and Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust; Pascal Spothelfer, CEO of Genome BC and past President & CEO of the BC Tech Association; and Keith Spencer, technology lawyer and retired partner at a leading Canadian law firm, join as Directors. Co-founder and former CEO of BuildDirect, Jeff Booth, has been appointed Chairperson of the Board. Thuan Pham, former Chief Technology Officer of Uber, joins the Advisory Board.
“Quality real estate opportunities are usually out of reach for everyday people and it is getting worse. As governments continue to print money in response to the global pandemic, they are pushing asset prices higher, which ironically makes it harder for anyone without vast sums of cash to participate in real estate,” said Michael Stephenson, Co-founder and CEO of addy. “We believe everyone should have the opportunity to own property with access to real estate investing at any amount, regardless of income, age, or other conflicts.”
Property purchase decisions are made collectively by addy’s executive team, investment committee, and Board of Directors. Once identified, the property is broken out into investment increments valued at $1. For example, a $1M property is divided up into 1M shares; and shares in the property will be available to qualified members on addy’s platform. Investors can decide how much they want to invest.
“The team has been quietly building the technology platform for the past two years in order to streamline the entire investment process and to minimize transaction costs,” said Thuan Pham, former Chief Technology Officer at Uber and addy Advisory Board member. “I’ve seen countless proptech startups in Silicon Valley and addy is the first one I’ve seen with a real chance at completely reinventing the industry.”
The Company’s proof of concept property located on Vancouver, BC’sTrout Lake sold out to 305 investors in addy’s network. Investments ranged from $1 to $95,000, and the average investment was $4,551. Investors were spread across the country. It was the first of its kind in Canada.
New Appointments addy has made the following appointments to its leadership team:
Jeff Booth, Co-Founder & Chairperson – Entrepreneur, technology leader, author, and co-founder of BuildDirect. Jeff was named BC Technology Industry Association’s (BCTIA) ‘Person of the Year’ in 2015 and in 2016 was listed as one of Goldman Sachs ‘100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs’.
Steve Evans, Board Member – President of Sunstone Realty Advisors and Co-Founder and former CEO of Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust (formerly Canada’s dominant “pure-play” industrial property REIT, founded in 2007 and traded on the TSX; sold to Blackstone in 2018 for $3.8B) and Pure Multi-Family REIT LP (a Canadian based vehicle offering exposure to institutional quality US multi-family real estate assets, founded in 2012 and traded on the TSX; sold to Cortland in 2019 for US$1.2B).
Pascal Spothelfer, Board Member – Pascal has held senior executive roles, in both Europe and Canada, across industry sectors ranging from technology, not for profit organizations and academia, President & CEO of Genome BC since 2016.
Keith Spencer, Board Member – Technology lawyer at a leading Canadian law firm, retired Co-Leader of the firm’s Start-Up & Emerging Company Services Group, recipient of The BC Tech Association’s “Bill Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award”, Board member of numerous emerging Canadian technology companies.
Thuan Pham, Advisor – Former Chief Technology Officer at Uber. Prior to that, he was VP of Engineering at VMware, Westbridge, and DoubleClick. He holds a BS in computer science and engineering and an MS in EE/CS from MIT.
About addy addy Technology Corporation (“addy”) is a proptech company on a mission to allow every human to become a homeowner. The Company enables Canadians to invest in real estate for as little as $1. addy was founded in 2018 by a team of real estate and technology entrepreneurs and is headquartered in Vancouver, BC. To learn more, visit: addyinvest.com and join the @addyinvest community on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Tune in to the addy podcast on iTunes and Spotify.
Disclaimer The information provided herein is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute or form any part of any offer or invitation or other solicitation or recommendation to purchase any securities. It should not be considered financial or professional advice. You should consult with a professional to determine what may be best for your individual needs.
Forward-Looking Statements This document contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation (collectively “forward-looking statements”). The use of the words “intention”, “will”, “may”, “can”, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although addy believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements since addy can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and addy does not undertake any obligations to publicly update and/or revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of additional information, future events and/or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.
SOURCE addy Technology Corporation
For further information: Media Contact: Katie Kernahan, [email protected], 1 (833) 462-9888 ext 710
TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
