At the upcoming virtual event, “FORES Summer Session: The Qualia Product Roadmap,” leaders from Qualia will discuss our latest product innovations. A panel of real estate experts will also join us to discuss how the pandemic has shifted consumer expectations and business operations.

Mike Peregrina, Co-Founder and CFO of Homie, will join Qualia CEO Nate Baker and Blend CEO and Co-Founder Nima Ghamsari on this panel. We connected with Mike virtually to learn more about Homie’s business model, how Homie works with Qualia, and his perspective on the future of home buying. 

Qualia: Can you provide a little background on Homie and how you’re shaking up the home buying experience?

Mike: Homie is a venture-backed, fast growing, disruptive, tech-enabled real estate broker that is eliminating high commissions and complexity in the home buying and selling process. We are building the first successful end-to-end platform for a seamless real estate experience that simplifies the entire transaction, from contract to close—including real estate, home loans, title & escrow, and insurance.

Qualia: What have the events in the first half of 2020 confirmed about Homie’s end-to-end model?

Mike: During these uncertain times, Homie’s value proposition of savings, simplicity, service, software, and social impact, is resonating with consumers. This is the biggest confirmation of the value we provide. Consumers are paying attention to the economics of the real estate transaction and looking for a better, differentiated customer experience. 

Despite launching just prior to the shutdown, our Las Vegas operations are already outpacing Utah and Arizona during their first six months. More broadly, we just hired a new chief product officer to accelerate product development and we are expanding to Boise, Idaho, and Denver, Colorado. The future is bright!

Qualia: How do you work with Qualia to achieve an end-to-end platform experience? 

Mike: Homie leverages Qualia in a number of ways to maintain our brand and mission all the way through closing. This means our customers experience security and peace of mind, a modern closing experience, and positive engagement. At a high level, here’s how we achieve this with Qualia:

  • Qualia’s platform provides automatic file status updates and tools to communicate securely so client privacy is protected. 
  • Homie utilizes Qualia to create an overall streamlined closing experience that saves our clients and team members time. 
  • Qualia’s reporting tools enable our leadership team to uncover additional efficiency opportunities and to brainstorm how to disrupt the “business as usual” approach to closing.
  • Qualia facilitates a smooth, user-friendly client survey process wherein we receive quality feedback in real-time from customers to improve our closing experience. 

Qualia: What technology are you most excited to leverage in the year ahead to meet consumer demand?

Mike: Our mission is to make homeownership easy, affordable, and accessible to all. So, we’re looking to extend lifetime value for consumers by adding Homie Insurance, Homie Home Services Marketplace, and soon Homie Home Warranty. Technology will be and is instrumental in this vision. One-stop shop is the phrase we often use at Homie and it’s something consumers are seeking out. 

Qualia: What does the future of home buying look like to you?

Mike: It looks bright and it looks like Homie. We are pioneering the way people sell their homes. We are pioneering how consumers search, access, and purchase their dream homes. And we are revolutionizing how customers get a mortgage and how they close on that transaction. 

The future of real estate is tech-first, it’s easy, it’s no-stress and no-pressure. It’s on-demand and coupled with real estate experts—if you need them. With Homie those experts include real estate agents, loan officers, title & escrow officers, and insurance agents.