20 Fastest-Growing Real Estate Companies in 2021
I’m a couple weeks late on my annual “fastest growing real estate companies” article for 2021. Here is my ranking from 2020 if you would like to see!
Let’s get straight to it!
Companies with Tough 2020s
It’s not my intention to call anyone out, but it is interesting to note a few companies that have shed employees in the past couple years.
Remine was a high flying company that had grown 750% on my 2019 list. It has since reduced those numbers by well over half, falling 59% in headcount over the past two years. Part of that was a major business shift to selling to MLSs and institutions instead of individual agents, which saw a large reduction in their sales force. But the company has continued to shrink, helped none by a series of bad press about investors and its culture. Its Glassdoor rating is just 2.1 stars.
Fastest Growing Residential Real Estate Companies in 2021
Honorable Mentions
These are all the residential real estate companies I follow on LinkedIn that grew their headcount by at least 50% in the past two years.
I’ve made a few notes on the ones I think are especially noteworthy!
- AppFolio – 51%
- Upside Realty – 53%
- Blend – 54%
- Planitar – 54%
- Realvolve – 54%
- Mynd Management – 55%
- NextHome – 57%
- Fathom Realty – 62%
- Nextdoor – 66%. Wasn’t Nextdoor a 2013 thing? Apparently, it’s a 2021 thing, too! This large company has seen impressive growth in headcount. They are looking at a possible $4B 2021 IPO.
- The CE Shop – 68%
- Zumper – 68%
- Fifth Wall – 71%. A Venture Capital firm in the real estate space that has been staffing up for a couple years now! Sounds like fun things lay ahead for the proptech industry!
- All City Real Estate – 72%
- Conversion Monster – 74%
- Homespotter – 80%
- Real – 80%
- DocuSign – 81%. DocuSign is a pretty incredible achievement for NAR. It was already huge, and impressively has gotten huger. It has a $45B valuation as of today.
- Local Logic – 82%
- Homesnap – 84%
- Workman Success Systems – 84%
- Compass – 87%
- Homelight – 89%
- Ylopo – 92%
- Reali – 100%
- SetSchedule – 100%. SetSchedule got a lot of bad press in Inman and elsewhere about a year ago. Yet they have still been hiring at an impressive clip. Are they simply immune to the haters or have they turned things around?
- Verse.io – 103%
- Clever Real Estate -105%
- REX – 106%
- Phone Animal – 107%.
- Reonomy – 107%
- Follow Up Boss – 110%
- Kodit.io – 110%
- OJO Labs – 111%
- Houwzer – 112%
- BoxBrownie – 113%
- FlyHomes – 116%
- Virtudesk – 118%
- eXp Realty – 119%. eXp’s growth is the talk of the town – especially impressive for what was already one of the largest brokerages in America. There are even articles contemplating that they are the “Amazon of Real Estate”. I don’t think so, but I am sure they are happy with their recent results.
- DLP Real Estate Capital – 124%
- Pacaso – 138%
- EasyKnock – 150%
- RentSpree – 150%
- Homebot – 159%
- Homie – 174%
- Side – 176%. Side is my favorite brokerage model. I don’t know of anyone who is doing it like they’re doing. Very glad to see them doing well!
- Frontdoor – 181%
- LIFULL Connect – 194%. LIFILL is a Spanish company that owns numerous European real estate websites in that fragmented continent.
21 Fastest Growing Real Estate Companies
Entera – 200%
Entera is a real estate brokerage with a fascinating business model. They source single-family-home deals, often from the MLS, for institutional clients looking for rentals. Founded i 2017, they are headquartered in San Francisco but also operate from Houston, TX, clocking in at 43 LinkedIn employees as of this moment.
Ribbon – 200%
Ribbon is an iBuyer-lite that helps you finance your next home before selling your current one. Not only that, but, when approved, you can make cash offers on your next home, staying competitive in a hot market. They’ve grown to 68 LinkedIn employees in the past two years.
Qualia – 203%
Qualia is a real estate software company that offers “eClosing” platforms for title companies and lenders. Wise to this new trend, Qualia has capitalized on the increasingly digital and remote needs of the industry, boasting 336 LinkedIn employees after being founded just six years ago in 2015. They raised another $65M just a month ago and are Growth Managers!
Divvy Homes – 205%
Divvy Homes is a sexy rent-to-own startup that launched in 2017. They allow you to rent a home that they will buy until you are ready to finance it traditionally. They’ve grown to 77 LinkedIn employees.
Earnnest – 210%
Earnnest jumped onto the stage at Inman and other events when they launched in 2017, and have grown to 31 LinkedIn employees. Addressing the sorely neglected headache of delivering earnest money, Earnnest lets you easily and digitally deposit earnest money with participating title companies.
Rhino – 242%
Rhino is a fascinating startup that pays your security deposit in exchange for a monthly fee. It’s essentially like financing your security deposit. The company was founded in 2017 and secured a whopping $95M in January, 2021. No doubt its 141 LinkedIn employees will be growing in number shortly.
Spruce – 250%
Spruce is a digital title company startup that emphasizes technology to power a fast and simple closing. Founded in 2016, they are at 111 LinkedIn employees after a $29M fundraising round in 2020.
Properly – 269%
Properly launched in 2018 and now boasts 51 LinkedIn employees after raising $75M in 2020. They are a Canadian iBuyer-lite that focuses on streamlining the process of buying a new home when you already own one. You can even access your current home’s equity to purchase your next one before you’ve sold.
Luxury Presence – 271%
I’ve featured Luxury Presence on my top real estate website designer page, and it’s clear I’m not alone in thinking that. They have grown an impressive amount to 134 LinkedIn employees. Founded in 2015, they focus on bespoke websites that emphasize your unique brand.
Endpoint – 350%
Endpoint is a “mobile-first” title company that has embraced the digital future of title. As their tagline suggests, they offer mobile notaries as part of their package and have a digital closing platform. Founded in 2018, they are at 100 employees.
Relocity – 337%
Relocity is a fascinating business model and possible future of the real estate agent: city host. Their relocation employees are designed to introduce consumers to their new city, presumably targeting higher-end business clientele. Founded in 2016, it seems to be working as they are at 116 LinkedIn employees.
Orchard – 485%
Orchard got its start as “Perch”, and has been a regular on these “fastest-growing real estate companies” lists. Initiall an iBuyer, Orchard has pivoted to the iBuyer-lite model of enabling homeowners to seamlessly move to their next home while reaping the full-market value of their current home. At 294 employees, Orchard is still aggressively hiring off the backs of a $69M 2020 Series C fundraising round.
Lemonbrew – 486%
Lemonbrew is a lender that includes an agent-matching platform and title services. They were founded in 2018 and have 48 LinkedIn employees. Similar to other agent ranking platforms, agents can sign up for lead partnerships with Lemonbrew.
Nodalview – 513%
Nodalview is a European company headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Europe has always been the leader in real estate photography, for some reason, and Nodalview offers to transform your smartphone into a complete photography kit. They have 57 employees on LinkedIn after being founded in 2016.
States Title – 718%
Founded in 2016, States Title has grown to 300 LinkedIn employees, raising $121M in 2020. They are a network of title agencies promising to improve the experience via machine learning. They have 300 employees on LinkedIn, though it doesn’t look like that counts the thousands in their subsidiary companies. Also, my former college roommate works here, so, I’m kind of a big deal now.
Transactly – 743%
Transactly was founded in 2018 offering FREE transaction software. There’s no catch, except they also offer optional virtual assistants to help you manage your transaction. You pay at closing! Transactly has 61 LinkedIn employees though many of their assistants I believe are 1099 contractors.
Sundae – 875%
The “Homebuyers with Heart”, Sundae is an iBuyer that splits the difference between companies like Opendoor and Homevestors, focusing mostly on distressed homes but with a more Opendoor-like experience. Founded in 2018, they are now sitting at 92 LinkedIn employees!
Better.com – 1000%+
Founded in 2016, Better.com already boasts 4573 employees on LinkedIn! That is almost as many as Zillow! They raised $200M in 2020. They are a lender who has also launched insurance and title products and focus on a tech-forward transaction.
Homeward – 1000%+
Homeward was founded in 2018. Their most recent funding round was $20M in May, 2020, and have 91 LinkedIn employee while still advertising many opportunities. They are what I call the iBuyer-lite model, who give consumers guaranteed offers and helps homeowners purchase and transition seamlessly into their next home. They are advised by the ubiquitous Mike DelPrete of iBuyer fame.
Landing – 1000%+
Landing was launched in 2019 and already boasts 186 LinkedIn employees after a $45M funding round. Already in 76 cities, they are a portal geared toward fully furnished apartment rentals. You would think their primary customer would be corporate clients, but instead they have an annual membership plan with what looks like a focus on individual consumers. And interesting model!
Real Estate Trends for 2021
The winners are especially concentrated in title and mortgage, as well as the “iBuyer lite” startups.
It makes me wonder if the traditional iBuyers like Zillow (my employer) and Opendoor got their thesis backward. Maybe they should have started with mortgage and title and then translated that into becoming a “market maker”? That seems to be the conclusion Knock made, who transitioned entirely from iBuying to the home swap model.
Again, employee counts is a very haphazard way of analyzing the direction of the market. But regarding iBuyers more generally, it is interesting that there haven’t been any new players recently – effectively none since Zillow joined in. The capital barrier is the obvious explanation. But if Zillow and Opendoor’s goal is to capture mortgages, it won’t be a good look if some of these other disruptors are able to do exactly that but for a lot cheaper.
Conclusion
So the winners from 2020 seem to be the iBuyers-lite models of Orchard, Homeward, and Ribbon, as well as those betting on the digitization of the closing transaction like Qualia, States Title, Spruce, and Endpoint. I am wagering these industries and niches will continue growing into 2021.
It will be interesting to see who joins them in success in 2021!
