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Faira is raising more cash to help build out its real estate platform and expand to the San Francisco market.

The Seattle-area startup today announced a $1.2 million investment from Mark Hager and Himel Capital, which has backed companies like Uber, Vroom, and others. Angel investors Amit Mital, a backer of Zillow, Redfin, and OfferUp, and R. Ravi, a professor at the Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business, also participated in the round.

Founded in 2015, Faira wants to reduce complication and increase transparency for those that are buying and selling a home. It does this by conducting inspections before a house goes to market, providing information like seller disclosures, and utilizing technology to create a more efficient negotiation process online.

Faira is free to use for sellers; it makes money by charging a 0.5 percent platform fee to homebuyers. The startup also helps sellers eliminate agent commission fees by providing services like an MLS listing, inspection reports, professional photos, and syndication on sites like Zillow and Redfin.

The company says it helps sellers save $20,000 on average; homes listed on Faira typically stay on the market for 12 days.

Faira has several competitors that also offer alternatives to the traditional real estate agent commission model like OfferPad, OpenDoor, Knock, and GoldenKey. But Faira says it takes a different approach.

“Faira enables sellers to get the best price for their home for two reasons,” explained Faira CEO Kamal Jain. “There is social proof in the transparent offer process, which gives buyers confidence. Faira also gives agent-less buyers access to the offer process, and therefore more competition. Direct buyers can save 3 percent on the price using Faira without an agent.”

Jain also said competitors have avoided markets like Seattle and San Francisco. The former eBay distinguished research scientist, who founded the company with Eduardo Oliveira and Haresh Sangani, also noted that Faira does not intend to compete with brokers.

“Instead, Faira listings offer full agent commission for buyer’s agents and our platform provides essential time-saving features to maximize brokers’ efficiency and productivity,” he said. “We bring brokers a $100,000-plus monthly commission opportunity.”

On its FAQ page, Faira notes that it is “not a real estate broker.” It does, however, offer access to a dedicated agent in exchange for a 1 percent commission.

“We provide the technology platform, transparency reports and marketing services to support your sale,” the site reads. “Brokerage services are provided by Faira.com LLC, WA License #19883, and other partner brokers.”

Faira has helped sell homes in urban, suburban, and rural areas across Washington and will now expand operations to the Bay Area market. The 12-person company has raised $2.7 million to date.

Article source: http://www.geekwire.com/2017/real-estate-startup-faira-raises-another-1-2m-expands-san-francisco-market/

Faira is raising more cash to help build out its real estate platform and expand to the San Francisco market.

The Seattle-area startup today announced a $1.2 million investment from Mark Hager and Himel Capital, which has backed companies like Uber, Vroom, and others. Angel investors Amit Mital, a backer of Zillow, Redfin, and OfferUp, and R. Ravi, a professor at the Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business, also participated in the round.

Founded in 2015, Faira wants to reduce complication and increase transparency for those that are buying and selling a home. It does this by conducting inspections before a house goes to market, providing information like seller disclosures, and utilizing technology to create a more efficient negotiation process online.

Faira is free to use for sellers; it makes money by charging a 0.5 percent platform fee to homebuyers. The startup also helps sellers eliminate agent commission fees by providing services like an MLS listing, inspection reports, professional photos, and syndication on sites like Zillow and Redfin.

The company says it helps sellers save $20,000 on average; homes listed on Faira typically stay on the market for 12 days.

Faira has several competitors that also offer alternatives to the traditional real estate agent commission model like OfferPad, OpenDoor, Knock, and GoldenKey. But Faira says it takes a different approach.

“Faira enables sellers to get the best price for their home for two reasons,” explained Faira CEO Kamal Jain. “There is social proof in the transparent offer process, which gives buyers confidence. Faira also gives agent-less buyers access to the offer process, and therefore more competition. Direct buyers can save 3 percent on the price using Faira without an agent.”

Jain also said competitors have avoided markets like Seattle and San Francisco. The former eBay distinguished research scientist, who founded the company with Eduardo Oliveira and Haresh Sangani, also noted that Faira does not intend to compete with brokers.

“Instead, Faira listings offer full agent commission for buyer’s agents and our platform provides essential time-saving features to maximize brokers’ efficiency and productivity,” he said. “We bring brokers a $100,000-plus monthly commission opportunity.”

On its FAQ page, Faira notes that it is “not a real estate broker.” It does, however, offer access to a dedicated agent in exchange for a 1 percent commission.

“We provide the technology platform, transparency reports and marketing services to support your sale,” the site reads. “Brokerage services are provided by Faira.com LLC, WA License #19883, and other partner brokers.”

Faira has helped sell homes in urban, suburban, and rural areas across Washington and will now expand operations to the Bay Area market. The 12-person company has raised $2.7 million to date.

Article source: http://www.geekwire.com/2017/real-estate-startup-faira-raises-another-1-2m-expands-san-francisco-market/

LOS ANGELES –  A onetime close friend of real estate heir Robert Durst testifying in Durst’s murder case says that Durst’s wife told him she was afraid of her husband before she disappeared.

The witness, Nathan “Nick” Chavin, is a New York advertising executive who was a longtime friend of Robert Durst and his wife Kathleen Durst. He was also a friend of Susan Berman, whom Durst is charged with killing.

Chavin on Wednesday described watching Durst’s marriage deteriorate before his wife, who went by Kathie, mysteriously disappeared in 1982.

Kathie Durst had confided in Chavin with her worries about her husband, but didn’t discuss any violence.

“She said she was afraid of him,” Chavin said. “She never said he hurt her.”

Robert Durst is not charged in Kathie Durst’s disappearance, but prosecutors contend that he killed his best friend Berman in 2000 because she was going to talk to police about the case.

Chavin testified that he did not think Durst was responsible for his wife’s disappearance at the time, but that line of questioning was interrupted by the court’s recess for the day.

When he returns to the stand Thursday, he’ll address Berman’s death. Prosecutors have said Chavin will give testimony that will “bury” Durst.

Before he took the stand, Chavin’s identity had been kept a secret, and he entered the courtroom through a back door with a personal security detail.

Prosecutors have suggested that with Durst’s estimated $100 million fortune, he could have witnesses knocked off. The defense said that suggestion is absurd and have pointed to Durst’s frail condition and the fact he’s in jail where his phone conversations are recorded. Durst has pleaded not guilty.

But the judge allowed Chavin to testify in a rare proceeding to record testimony from a few elderly witnesses and those who fear for their safety and may not be alive to testify at trial. Durst has yet to even be ordered to stand trial.

Chavin, 72, said he once considered Durst his best friend.

He told of two violent incidents Durst described to him, including one that involved kicking a man in the head who had flirted with his wife.

“The guy pissed him off,” Chavin said and he noted that Durst never showed any regret for the incident or distress after being sued.

In another incident, Durst said he had run over a female police officer in the San Francisco Bay Area while creeping through traffic.

Chavin asked why he wasn’t in jail.

Durst replied: “What’s she going to do, go to her superiors and say, ‘He ran over me at 1 mph?’” Chavin said. “I think he did it in a prankish way.”