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

CHICAGO, July 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- 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.

¹ Based on 12M2014 statistics from Inside Mortgage Finance, February 27, 2015

Media Contacts:
Ashley Currie
312.396.9763
[email protected]

Ayoub Rabah
312.780.1977
[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150730/249728LOGO

SOURCE Home Partners of America

Related Links

http://www.homepartners.com