Unison Home Ownership Investors Announces Over $300 Million in Total Capital Raised and Key Leadership Appointments
Unison Brings Consumers One Step Closer to Home Ownership
Feb 22, 2017, 07:07 ET
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Unison Home Ownership Investors, the leading provider of home ownership investments, announced today that it has secured a new investment mandate that increases total capital raised to over $300 million. In addition, the company announced new appointments to key leadership positions that will continue to support the strong growth of its home ownership investment programs and reinforce its dominance in the category.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the homeownership rate decreased to 63.7 percent in 2016, the lowest yearly average in over 50 years. By connecting institutional investors with homebuyers, Unison is changing home ownership in the U.S. Consumers who need capital to buy a home or homeowners seeking liquidity from their home without borrowing are able to leverage Unison's platform to receive funds from institutional investors.
"Unison built its platform to make home ownership feasible and accessible to more consumers," said Thomas Sponholtz, chairman and co-CEO, Unison. "Today, we move forward towards our long-term goals. The additional funding, organizational changes and new hires will help us continue to drive origination and the expansion of the Unison brand."
"As we continue to develop the home ownership investment category, we are leveraging our relationships within the lending community and creating highly beneficial and compelling programs for the American homebuyer and homeowner," said Jim Riccitelli, co-CEO of Unison. "Today, what we invented is an innovative form of financing; tomorrow it will be a mainstream way to purchase and own a home."
In addition to Prosper Marketplace President Ron Suber joining Unison as a strategic advisor and an investor, the company has also announced further organizational changes and hires.
Bill Walker has joined as managing director, Consumer Sales Operations. In this position, Walker is responsible for cultivating and developing the current consumer sales channel, and developing other direct-to-consumer channels. Additionally, Walker will work closely with marketing and other channel managers to develop best practices for lead generation. Walker comes to Unison with over 20 years of marketing and operations experience in the financial services sector. Walker has held executive level positions at Barclaycard, WWW Rental Group and most recently was the vice president of Customer Experience at Prosper Marketplace.
Brian Elbogen has been promoted to managing director and has assumed management responsibility for the partner channel. Elbogen's role will include channel strategy, buildout of channel infrastructure and process along with the day-to-day management of all channel activity.
Raj Dosaj has been promoted to managing director of Business Development. In his new role, Dosaj will focus on strategic initiatives to expand the lender channel.
Tracy Adamo has joined as director of Direct Marketing. In her position, Adamo is responsible for cultivating and developing the direct-to-consumer channel to drive originations across Unison's HomeBuyer and HomeOwner Programs. Adamo has more than 15 years of experience in cross-channel direct marketing, and has held senior-level marketing roles in both technology and financial services companies including Autodesk, Washington Mutual, Providian Financial and PeopleSoft.
About Unison Home Ownership Investors
Unison introduced the home ownership investment category in 2007. Unison provides homeowners with long-term financing in exchange for the opportunity to share in the gain or loss in the home's value when they decide to sell – up to 30 years later. There are no interest charges or monthly payments on the investment. Over the last decade, we've become the largest home ownership investor and expanded nationwide by working with lenders, regulators and institutional investors to integrate home ownership investing into the U.S. housing finance system. What sets Unison apart is true partnership: we invest at the same home value as the homeowner and share with them the downside risk and upside potential - in Unison.
Unison HomeBuyer opens the door for people to buy the home they want with less debt and risk, typically by doubling the purchaser's down payment. This larger down payment makes it easier to qualify for a loan, increases buying power, lowers the monthly payment and/or allows a buyer to reserve cash. Unison HomeOwner provides cash now to current homeowners without the added debt or payments of a home equity loan or HELOC. Homeowners use the money to eliminate debt, remodel, pay for school, invest, or as a cash cushion for financial stability.
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SOURCE Unison Home Ownership Investors