The newly appointed CEO of digital property investment platform PropHero’s Australian business, Sophie Hayek, says she will continue to build partnerships with mortgage brokers as part of a push to attract and service more investors looking for a simpler way to invest.
Based in Sydney and Madrid, PropHero offers investors an end-to-end investment technology platform and service including investment strategy, property research and identification using data and AI, property due diligence, transaction services, and ongoing recommendations to build wealth.
Investors are also supported along the whole journey with their own personal property coach, who is involved in determining client investment objectives and strategy from the beginning of the cycle, and then helping them through the entire process of purchasing an investment property.
Hayek (pictured above left), appointed to head Australia as the company attempts to expand globally in Europe, South America and the Asia-Pacific, said she was looking forward to building partnerships with brokers and financial advisers who could benefit from using PropHero for their clients.
“It is really important for us to be able to provide investors with a one-stop shop offering even if we are not a broker ourselves,” said Hayek. “We have existing relationships with a number of brokers now and are interested in helping our clients leverage the best brokers out there.”
“A big benefit of using PropHero is we are very good at leveraging data to find the best properties and locations, and that helps broker clients. But the main pain point we are solving for brokers is that clients using PropHero are able to get through to formal approval much faster.”
PropHero helps brokers with loan pre-approval for investor clients
Melbourne brokerage Cinch Home Loans has been working with PropHero since the business started. Suvidh Arora (pictured above right), Cinch Home Loans CEO, said its digital model and use of data and AI models “hooked” him from the beginning, as he could see the opportunity to provide quality property insights to clients.
He said the platform helped to deal with the biggest problem for brokers managing investor clients, which was getting pre-approval for a client wanting to a buy a property, but then the process getting delayed or extended due to a client not finding the right property or the right advice.
“The time for an investor to find a property can be long, the time to settlement is even longer, so the time to completion and getting paid for a broker can be very, very long,” Arora said.
“Every day we are analysing everything on the market and have good relationships with real estate agents, which helps us get off market opportunities,” Hayek said. “We can basically make the deal happen as fast as the clients wants to go, which is very appealing for mortgage brokers.”
PropHero helps clients by delivering data-driven insights and personalised investment recommendations through its application. It has a track record of identifying returns, with its clients seeing capital gains of 13% during 2022, even while the market fell by about 4%.
“Clients have been happy they get access to property coaches who talk them through the pros and cons of each and every property and how it aligns with their strategy,” Arora said. “They help clients look at larger picture rather than just than buying a hot spot area other people are talking about.”
Customers pay PropHero an initial engagement fee when commencing their property search, and a flat success fee when a property is purchased, which includes all the due diligence required on the property, including regular checks like fire, flood and noise risk, as well as structural risk.
Hayek said the business had close but informal relationships with brokers, and worked with them based on client feedback. “The customer experience is really important for us, and we welcome any interest because we want to be able to provide choice and that value proposition to our customers.”
PropHero has been pursuing rapid growth ever since it was launched in Australia in 2021. It has raised $1.6 million in pre-seed and $8 million in seed capital, and now has 45 employees and contractors based in Australia, Spain, Argentina, India and Indonesia.
The company’s two co-founders, Mickael Roger and Pablo Gil Brusola, will be focusing on global expansion now that Hayek has been appointed to manage Australia.
