Housers wants to grow abroad with franchises or 'joint-ventures'

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

Housers.com, the Spanish-based real estate crowdfunding company, founded back in 2015, by Alvaro Luna of Madrid and Tono Brusola of Valencia, enables investors -- with the assistance of experts' recommendations -- to choose where, when, and how much to invest in Spanish real estate opportunities.

CEO of Housers, Juan Antonio Balcázar has been at the forefront of the real estate crowdfunding platform for seven months, and has already launched its first strategic plan. His arrival came after the abrupt departure of one of its founders, Tono Brusola, after the discovery of several million euros-worth of outstanding invoices.

The problems of the past

"There was a de-compensated marketing expense during 2017, close to one million euros," he explains. A figure that the company had to assume and in which there were differences when dealing with how to pay between Tono and the board of directors.

"These differences also extended to the model that the company should have: continue as a pure real estate project or start financing other products," he says. So that dichotomy is, in his opinion, what led to the co-founder leaving the day-to-day to try to force his departure from the company through criticism of the current management. A situation that Balcázar ditches bluntly: "I do not know him, but I think he should focus on his project."

The criticisms leveled by Brusola are also seen by the CEO of Housers as a formula of pressure before the capital increase that takes place at this moment. He believes he is seeking the best price, now that the company is seeking four million euros in capital to finance its new strategic plan until 2023. It entails the expansion to almost a dozen countries around the world, from Europe to Latin America, passing through Asia and Oceania.

The future plan

"We have a powerful brand that makes it possible," says Balcázar, who aims to move from the 35 million euros of investment achieved in 2018 to more than 310 million euros in 2023 and 650,000 registered users compared to the current 100,000 in the platform. .

The exit to the outside will not be easy by the regulatory pressure. So, to be able to adapt easily to all regulations, Housers contemplates different growth formulas. From own openings in Europe to the possibility of looking for joint-ventures or, even, franchises.

"This will allow us to diversify the company in different markets," he explains, adding that there will be three types of countries: those where he has real estate; those where there are only investors (who can invest all over the world) and countries where there is a combination of both. "In this way we minimize risk and exposure to the cycles of the economy."

Currently the company has a presence in Spain, Portugal (where you will soon obtain the license) and Italy. Although its investors are more than 45 different nationalities.

What is it?

The goal of Housers is to help citizens to invest in the real estate sector. Through crowdfunding the greenhouses contribute to finance the owners of the houses or real estate, which offer profitability. How do they return it? Through what they get from the sale or rent of them.

They also help to finance real estate developers, who help obtain new work and who return the profitability of what they get with the activity of housing promotion.

Balcázar explains that they have two markets. On the one hand, that of investors "to whom we help diversify their investment and minimize risk. If it were not for us, having an extensive real estate portfolio would be impossible unless you have a lot of money."

The other market in which Housers moves is that of real estate development. "We offer alternative and complementary financing to the bank, but always with guarantees," he insists. Of course, it makes clear that "this is an investment and, as such, there can always be risks of losing all the money invested."

In the opinion of Balcázar, Housers is prepared to be "a source of real estate financing when a bad cycle comes," since when dealing with collective investments -and with a great geographic dispersion- "it is not so clear that we are going to affect the cycles."

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

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