Columbus real estate company Rhove is offering opportunities for investors to buy a stake in properties for as little as $1.
The company, which was founded nearly four years ago by Gravity developer Brett Kaufman and entrepreneur Calvin Cooper (now Rhove’s CEO), allows renters to set aside a share of their rent to build up savings for a down payment on a home.
“Rhovers” can use the app to invest in featured properties in Columbus—including mixed-use property Gravity in Colorado, Illinois, South Carolina and Oklahoma.
To add to its appeal, service users can submit a property and petition to invest while communicating with one another.
“The barriers of entry [in real estate] are getting higher and higher, and home ownership is getting farther and farther out of reach,” Cooper told Columbus CEO. “Our vision is that everybody in the world should have the access and opportunity to invest in and own the places that we live, work and play.”
The National Association of Realtors reports that millennials made up the largest share of homebuyers in 2020, with Black millennial buyers making the bulk of African Americans’ home purchases. However, there is still a significant gap in homeownership rates between Black Americans (46.4%) and white Americans (75.8%).
Rhove is hoping to help bridge the gap.
“Our vision has always been the same. We want to extend access for everyone to own in our communities,” said Cooper to The Columbus Dispatch. “I believe democracy is strongest when everyone has ownership,” he added. “We just want to lower the barriers to entry.”
