Homie

Homie is a Utah real estate technology company that lets consumers buy and sell homes for a flat fee instead of a percentage commission. Founded in 2015 by Johnny Hanna (CEO), Mike Trionfo (CTO), Matt Thorne (CLO) and Mike Peregrina (CFO), the company launched publicly in June 2016 from offices in Draper, Utah. Its platform systemizes and automates much of the transaction: sellers receive a listing with professional photography, a yard sign, pricing data, online advertising, automated home tours and offer pipeline management, and an assigned real estate attorney for negotiation and closing; buyers receive a step-by-step guide, an assigned attorney, home value reports, an offer-creation tool, connections to mortgage and title providers, and a mobile app.

Over time Homie expanded from flat-fee brokerage into adjacent services, entering mortgage lending in 2017 and later adding title insurance and homeowners insurance, with the stated aim of building an end-to-end home selling and buying platform. Geographic expansion followed: after Utah, the company entered Arizona in 2018 and by 2021-2022 operated in Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Idaho. In February 2022 Homie cut roughly one-third of its workforce, citing the impacts of a changing real estate market, and said it would refocus on making home buying accessible to more people while continuing to serve clients across its five states.

Founding story

The company was founded in 2015 by Johnny Hanna, Mike Trionfo, Matt Thorne and Mike Peregrina around the question of what it should cost and how difficult it should be to buy or sell a home. Hanna and Trionfo had previously co-founded Property Solutions (later Entrata), a rental property management SaaS business where Hanna was president and Trionfo led development; Thorne was an M&A and venture attorney at Holland & Hart and Stoel Rives, and Peregrina came from investment banking and investing roles at Mercato Partners and Valtus Capital Group. Homie was presented publicly in August 2015 as a startup preparing to launch, with the consumer service formally launching in June 2016.

Business model

Homie replaces percentage-based real estate commissions with fixed fees. Early pricing charged sellers $199 up front and $699 at closing (later reported as $199 plus $1,299 at closing, and subsequently a $1,500 flat fee to sell a home), while buyers paid nothing and could receive a rebate of up to $5,000 when purchasing from a seller paying a buyer-agent commission. Ancillary lines added after 2017 — mortgage lending, title insurance and homeowners insurance — extend revenue beyond the brokerage fee within a single transaction.

Flat transaction fees paid by home sellers, complemented by revenue from adjacent mortgage, title and insurance services attached to the same transaction.

Traction

Monthly listings rose from 76 in January 2017 to 274 in August 2017; the company said it had saved Utah customers over $16 million, roughly $10,000 per transaction, as of late 2017. It reported more than $1 billion in real estate transactions across Utah and Arizona in 2019 and 150% revenue growth that year. Headcount grew from 13 at the seed round to about 270-315 by 2021 before the 2022 reduction.

Latest developments

In February 2022 Homie reduced its workforce by approximately one-third, attributing the decision to the changing real estate market, and said the reduction would not affect its ability to serve clients in Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Idaho while it refocused on improving affordability and access for home buyers.