Home Partners of America Provides Consumers A New Path to Homeownership®, Reaches $700 Million Milestone

 In line with the core of the 2015 home-buying season, Home Partners of America is offering consumers a new way to pursue their dream of homeownership through its innovative Lease with a Right to Purchase program.  Launched in mid-2012 as a new solution to the tight mortgage market, Home Partners has already helped 7,900 Americans move into homes in strong communities across the country.  The company is expanding rapidly, with plans to help 10,000 households move into homes in the next 12 months and has already purchased $700 million worth of single-family homes in more than 30 markets across the country. 

"Our goal is to provide our clients a transparent and flexible path to homeownership in great communities," said Bill Young, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Home Partners of America. "Many people want the benefits of living in a single-family home in a good neighborhood with access to a strong school system, but are not yet ready to buy a home for a variety of reasons.  Through our resident-led program, people can access homes in neighborhoods where rental options are very limited."

A Model Built on Transparency and Flexibility

After being approved through Home Partners' application process, prospective residents work with licensed real estate agents of their choosing to select the right home for them from a wide portfolio of properties across the country.  Home Partners purchases the home, providing rent and purchase price certainty for an agreed-upon timeframe, usually between three to five years. The resident's only financial commitment is to lease the house for one year. Residents have the opportunity to pursue further lease renewals or purchase the home at any point in time during their residency. 

The program focuses on acquiring homes in communities with schools ranked in the top half of the market based on published rankings, where there are historically few homes available for rent, but a significantly larger number of homes for sale.  Home Partners believes this strategy maximizes the likelihood of long-term home appreciation, empowering Home Partners' business model while building a foundation for customers' long-term financial success. 

Home Partners approves residents for a monthly lease approval amount that it believes is conducive to long-term financial success in obtaining a mortgage.

"Today, the greatest hurdle to homeownership for millions of consumers is the inability to make the financial commitment in the near-term, particularly in neighborhoods where home prices increase higher than the median income levels grow," said Dr. Sebastien Gay, Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago. "The Home Partners of America model creates a very affordable and financially responsible path to homeownership and puts power back in the hands of consumers by giving them more options for their home search."  

Creating Positive Momentum in the Real Estate Market

Home Partners of America, formerly known as Hyperion Homes, launched in November 2012 in Chicago and has since entered 30 additional markets, with plans to expand as demand for the program grows. Capital provided by BlackRock, Inc., KKR and other institutional investors will help Home Partners reach over 10,000 households across the country. 

"We are excited to support Home Partners of America's innovative, transparent and safe path to homeownership.  The success of its resident-led model is that it truly aligns the interests of residents, the community and investors in our funds," said Brian Stern, a Managing Director at BlackRock, Inc.

To help establish its program in markets across the nation, Home Partners has relationships with several real estate companies, including Realogy Holdings Corp.'s franchise brands CENTURY 21®, Coldwell Banker®, ERA® and Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate as well as NRT LLC, the largest residential real estate brokerage firm in the United States, also a subsidiary of Realogy.  PHH Home Loans, a joint venture between PHH Mortgage and Realogy, is developing a program for Home Partners of America's customers to facilitate qualified resident access to home financing.  PHH Mortgage is an industry leader and one of the top 10 originators of retail residential mortgages1 in the United States. 

"The Home Partners of America model gives real estate agents access to a larger pool of prospective clients, including renters whose situations might have led them to believe that they didn't have a clear path to owning their dream home at the current time," said Alex Perriello, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Realogy Franchise Group. "It is empowering for our franchisees and their affiliated agents to help their rental clients find a home in the neighborhood they want and then conduct a quick closing with Home Partners."

As evidence of its desire to align with local markets and the interests of customers, Home Partners also announced it has made its program even more affordable by lowering customers' annual right to purchase escalation to conform more closely to local home price appreciation in certain markets.

"We are focused on helping our customers succeed: making the process easy, collaborative and flexible; and assisting successful residents when they decide to acquire the home," said Young. 

To learn more about the program or apply, visit http://www.homepartners.com/. 

About Home Partners of America

Home Partners of America is committed to making homeownership a reality for more people. The program provides a clear path to homeownership. Its process is easy, transparent and built on a foundation of choice and flexibility. Home Partners is helping more people get into great homes, in neighborhoods they love, with the opportunity to build a more secure financial future.

Home Field Advantage - John Smoltz, Atlanta Braves

After Splurging in 2014, Families Trim Back-to-School Spending for 2015

Average Spending on Back to School Has Grown 42 Percent in Past 10 Years

After spending more on school supplies and electronics in 2014, parents this year will head into the back-to-school season evaluating what their children really need before spending on new items. According to NRF’s Back-to-School Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, the average family with children in grades K-12 plans to spend $630.36 on electronics, apparel and other school needs, down from $669.28 last year. Total spending is expected to reach $24.9 billion. Additionally, indicating the continued growth in the back-to-school arena, families on average have spent 42 percent more on school items over the past 10 years.

Regardless of the slight decrease, survey results point to a more confident consumer when it comes to spending and the impact of the economy. The survey found 76.4 percent of families with school-age children say they will change their spending because of the economy, the lowest in the seven years NRF has been tracking it, and down from 81.1 percent last year.

“As seen over the last 13 years, spending on ‘back to school’ has consistently fluctuated based on children’s needs each year, and it’s unlikely most families would need to restock and replenish apparel, electronics and supplies every year,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “Parents this summer will inventory their children’s school supplies and decide what is needed and what can be reused, which just makes good budgeting sense for families with growing children."

“Heading into the second half of the year, we are optimistic that economic growth and consumer spending will improve after a shaky first half of the year,” said Shay.

As Economy Improves, Impact on Spending Lessen

Solid growth in job creation and consumer confidence have greatly contributed to the economic recovery, which could be positively impacting how families shop for school items this year. The survey found 40.6 percent of those who say the economy is impacting their spending plans will look for sales more often, down from the 46.2 percent last year and the lowest since NRF began tracking this in 2009. Additionally, 29.8 percent will buy more generic or store brand products, down from 34 percent last year and another survey low.

For those who have to restock what their children need for school, 92.7 percent will purchase new apparel, spending an average of $217.82, though most (94.1 percent) will head out for new school supplies, spending an average of $97.74; families will also spend $117.56 on new shoes.

In 2014, 58.3 percent of parents said they would buy electronics for their school-age children, and planned to spend an average of $212.35 — one of the highest amounts seen in the survey’s history. Having less of a need for electronics this year, however, families said they would decrease their spending on gadgets for their children and will spend an average of $197.24.



Source: 2015 NRF Back to School/College Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics.
"Heading into the second half of the year, we are optimistic that economic growth and consumer spending will improve after a shaky first half of the year."
NRF President and CEO
Matthew Shay


Early Birds Change Course; Omnichannel Offerings Desired by Shoppers

More families with children in grades K-12 are opting to wait before rushing out to shop. According to the survey, 19.6 percent will shop at least two months before school, down from 22.5 percent last year. Starting a little later this year, two in five (42.8 percent) will shop at least three weeks to one month before school, down slightly from 44.5 percent last year. More families (30.3 percent) will shop one to two weeks before school, up from 25.4 percent last year.

When asked why they begin shopping for back to school at least two months out, 64.9 percent said they shop early to spread out their budgets, and half (51.1 percent) do so to avoid crowds associated with school shopping. Other popular reasons include not wanting to miss out on popular merchandise (21.5 percent) and prices and promotions being too good to pass up (45.3 percent).

Planning to shop around for their school merchandise, families will head to their local department (56.4 percent), discount (62.2 percent), clothing (53.5 percent), electronics (22.4 percent) and office supply stores (35.9 percent). And slightly more than one-third (35.6 percent) of those looking for school items will shop online.

For the first time, NRF asked about shoppers’ intentions to use retailers’ omnichannel offerings; of those planning to shop online, nearly half (48.4 percent) say they will take advantage of retailers’ buy online, pick up in store or ship to store options, and 17.3 percent will look for expedited shipping offers. Nine in 10 (92.1 percent) will take advantage of retailers’ free shipping offers.

“Savvy and budget-conscious parents today have plenty of experience when it comes to looking around for great deals and value-add promotions, and it seems mom and dad will use that to their advantage this summer to take advantage of retailers’ omnichannel services,” said Prosper’s Principal Analyst Pam Goodfellow. “To ease hectic schedules and long shopping lists, it’s likely that we’ll continue to see consumers try out and regularly use services like free shipping, reserve online and even same-day delivery — options busy parents have been waiting for.”

Broken out by age, Millennials are much more likely to use these channels: Two-thirds of 18-24- and 25-34-year-olds will use a buy online, pick up in store or ship to store option (65.7 percent and 65 percent respectively), and 15.4 percent of 25-34-year-olds will use a reserve online option, much higher than the 9.1 percent of average adults who plan to do so. Additionally, 23 percent of 18-24-year-olds will use same-day delivery, significantly more than the 10.2 percent of average adults.


Three-quarters Say Half of What they Buy for School is Influenced by Children

Fashion-forward teens and tweens know just how to get mom and dad’s attention when it comes to new school gear to make their friends stop and stare. According to the survey, 86.4 percent of school shoppers say their children will influence one-quarter or more of their back-to-school purchases. And for the smaller purchases, children plan to chip in some of their own money; teens will dole out $33.27, and pre-teens will spend an average $17.57.

- See more at: https://nrf.com/media/press-releases/after-splurging-2014-families-trim-back-school-spending-2015#sthash.l4mBg9yf.dpuf

Home Field Advantage - Edgar Martinez, Seattle Mariners