In this episode of the Top of Mind podcast, Mike Simonsen sits down with Adena Hefets, co-founder and CEO of Divvy Homes, to talk about why the rent-to-own model is gaining momentum in today’s housing market. She discusses the challenges many people are facing in getting a mortgage, looks at the dynamics behind the affordability crisis, and shares her thoughts on which segments of the housing market are best poised to hold value and appreciate. She also gives her perspective on which types of proptech startups are poised for success, and which ones will have trouble making it.

About Adena Hefets

Adena is the co-founder & CEO of Divvy Homes, a proptech company on a mission to make homeownership accessible to everyone. In 2017, Adena set out to solve a problem she saw in the market: fewer people can afford to purchase a home today than two decades ago. To solve this, she came up with a new way to finance a home purchase through a rent-to-own model that allows renters to gradually build up ownership in their future homes - all while living in it.   Prior to founding Divvy, Adena joined Square in 2013 and was responsible for building out Square Capital, a merchant cash advance platform with billions in loans outstanding. Prior to Square, she was part of the large-cap buyout team at TPG, a private equity firm, where she helped purchase companies in the real estate sector. She started her career as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch.   Adena holds a Bachelors of Science, Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University and a Masters of Business Administration, Stanford Graduate School of Business. She was named 40 Under 40 by Fortune and is backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Capital, and Caffeinated Capital. She currently lives in Oakland, California. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

• How the rent-to-own model works, why it’s attractive, and which demographic groups are embracing this approach
• Which type of proptech startups are poised for success, and which ones will have trouble making it
• Why the biggest crisis we’re facing in real estate is affordability, and what we can do about it
• Why big investor money is still on the sidelines, and what that means for the housing market
• Which segments of the housing market are best poised to hold value and appreciate
• Where we should see the impact of AI innovations on the real estate industry (and where we won’t)

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Connect with Adena on LinkedIn
• Divvy Homes
• Mike Simonsen on LinkedIn
• Altos Research

Featuring Mike Simonsen, President of Altos Research

A true data geek, Mike founded Altos Research in 2006 to bring data and insight on the U.S. housing market to those who need it most. The company now serves the largest Wall Street investment firms, banks, and tens of thousands of real estate professionals around the country. Mike's insights on the market have been featured in Forbes, New York Times, Bloomberg, Dallas Morning News, Seattle PI, and many other national media outlets.

Follow us on Twitter for more data analysis and insights:

• Altos on Twitter
• Mike on Twitter

About Altos Research

The Top of Mind Podcast is produced by Altos Research.

Each week, Altos tracks every home for sale in the country - all the pricing, and all the changes in pricing - and synthesizes those analytics to make them available before becoming visible through traditional channels.

Schedule a demo to see Altos in action. You can also get a copy of our free eBook: How To Use Market Data to Build Your Real Estate Business.