An expert redesigning the home buying experience: Homeward

The Silicon Review

Tim Heyl became a real estate agent in 2009 and soon noticed a pattern. “The traditional real estate transaction was broken,” he explains. “I kept running into the same problem: buyers couldn’t make an offer on a new home until they sold their old home.” Heyl watched his buyers get stuck paying two mortgages, moving twice, or worse — missing out on a home they loved. "Buying a home should be fun and exciting, but many of my buyers were anxious," he remembers. "They felt rushed to make decisions and sometimes they made really bad ones." Unlike most tech companies and other players who were trying to displace agents from real estate transactions, Heyl firmly believed agents should be part of the solution. "People want a local real estate expert in their corner when they make this big purchase," he explains. "People need that guide."

Becoming a homeowner involves several steps. Once the seller accepts your offer, you still have to finance your home loan and close the purchase. The paperwork and process involved can be expensive, inefficient, and cumbersome. So the company created The Homeward Way. After it helps you buy with cash, you can finance your home with Homeward Mortgage, and then close on it with Homeward Title. Homeward bundles its services to save homebuyers money, time, and effort. That’s the Homeward Way. Tim Heyl grew up in real estate. His father founded one of Austin’s biggest home builders, inspiring Heyl to become an entrepreneur, too. So it should come as no surprise that by the time he was 24, Heyl was named the city’s number-one real estate agent by The Austin Business Journal. He ultimately led his brokerage, The Heyl Group, to be a five-time Inc 5,000 business and one of the top 25 agent teams in the country. Heyl has also built — and sold — several other real estate businesses, including Mint Title, a settlement company, and Phone Animal, an agent lead converter.

“I love helping real estate agents build sustainable businesses,” explains Heyl. “And I want to make it easier for people to buy and own homes. We have to modernize this industry. I want to partner with agents to do that.” Heyl founded Homeward in 2018 and was named Inman News Innovator of the Year in 2019. Heyl is now a father himself: he has two daughters and a son. He and his wife, Liz, mentor engaged couples at their church, and love spending time with their children at their lake house outside Austin.

Eliminate Stress. Move now. Sell later.

Floor Price Certainty simply refers to Homeward’s promise to buy your old home from you if you can’t sell it on the market within six months. Most homebuyers who use Homeward’s Buy before you sell service qualify for this guarantee, but 99% of clients sell their homes on the market so they never have to rely on Floor Price Certainty. Homeward helps you buy your new home and enable you to work with your agent to sell your existing home for its full value. The company only buy your existing home if you’re using its Buy before you sell service and are unable to sell the on the market within six months and you’re eligible to receive a floor price from it. Homeward bases your floor price on publicly available real estate data and current photos of your home. Your floor price is typically 90% - 95% of your home’s market value. The company also deducts the standard 6% agent commission fees.

Buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions of your life. Homeward believes that you should make it with the help of a real estate professional. And unlike some alternative real estate companies, Homeward don’t assign an agent to you. The company encourages you to work with an agent you already know and trust.

Buy before you sell guide

When you use Homeward’s Buy before you sell service to purchase a home, there are actually two transactions. First Homeward buys the home with cash for you (the Homeward Purchase), then you buy it back from us (the Customer Purchase). Here’s more detail about what happens at each step of the process.

Homeward approves you for a specific amount so you can start shopping and are ready to make an offer as soon as the house you want comes on the market.

WHAT HAPPENS AT THIS STEP

You will

Fill out application.

Work with a Loan Officer Assistant to provide any necessary documentation. Please check your email (and spam folder) frequently and promptly returns phone calls. Homeward often has follow-up questions during this step, and the faster you respond, the faster it can reach an approval decision.

Meet your Customer Experience (CX) Manager, who becomes your point of contact at Homeward once you’re approved.

Your agent will

Search for a home that meets your criteria if you haven’t already found one.

Behind the scenes

The Valuations team reviews the house you want to sell to ensure it meets Homeward’s criteria.

Tim Heyl, CEO and Founder