Deal will enable more clients to invest in US residential real estate at scale
Commercial real estate giant Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) is dipping its toes in the red-hot market for rental homes.
JLL has announced a “multi-faceted transaction” with Roofstock, a proptech company that manages rental properties for big investors and operates an online marketplace for single-family homes. Under the deal, JLL will purchase a minority stake in Roofstock, allowing the Chicago-based CRE firm to extend its services in the residential sector. The companies also formed a commercial agreement in which Roofstock will serve JLL’s clients looking to invest in US housing.
“The single-family rental asset class is seeing strong demand from our investor clients – both private and increasingly institutional – and this investment will position our teams to offer unique insights and access to opportunities in this space,” said Richard Bloxam, CEO of JLL’s Capital Markets.
The partnership will also see Roofstock acquire Stessa, an asset-management platform for single-family rental (SFR) investors, which had been owned by JLL’s technology division since January 2018. Stessa currently features more than 170,000 properties on its platform, representing over $45 billion in assets.
“We are excited to work together with JLL to help service JLL’s clients in the SFR space and accelerate Roofstock’s domestic growth and global expansion,” said Gary Beasley, co-founder and CEO of Roofstock. “We are also thrilled to welcome the talented Stessa team to Roofstock and are excited to integrate their asset management and accounting software into our retail product offerings. The relationship with JLL directly supports our efforts to make real estate investing more seamless and accessible.”
“We are thrilled to join forces with Roofstock, which is leading the way in making the single-family rental asset class more accessible to investors,” said Heath Silverman, co-founder and CEO, Stessa. “Stessa can leverage Roofstock’s proprietary data to help investors make smarter, more informed decisions and seamlessly buy and sell properties through Roofstock’s marketplace. Together, we will be able to offer comprehensive owner services saving investors both time and money throughout every stage of the real estate ownership lifecycle.”
