In this sponsored Ten Minute Talk, Diego Sanchez interviews Venkatesh Ganapathy, CEO of LiveEasy, to discuss the evolution of LiveEasy from a moving concierge service to a comprehensive home management platform. The two explore the challenges of homeowner retention in the real estate and mortgage sectors, the importance of building lasting relationships, and how LiveEasy aims to provide value to both homeowners and real estate professionals in a challenging market.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00For the ones that are in the market who are hesitant right now, that's where the total
00:03cost of ownership comes into play, right?
00:05For a real estate agent and a loan officer to say, hey, yes, the rates are 7%.
00:08But guess what?
00:10By being part of our relationship, A, we're going to continuously monitor those rates
00:15and the moment the rates come down, we'll make sure that you get the best rates at any
00:18point of time.
00:19Secondly, we'll also give you tools to continuously save money in other places.
00:32I'm Diego Sanchez, president of HousingWire, and I'm thrilled to welcome Venkatesh Ganapathy,
00:38CEO of LiveEasy, to this sponsored 10-minute talk.
00:42Venkatesh, what inspired you to create LiveEasy and how do you see it fitting into the broader
00:48landscape of housing market innovation?
00:51Yes, we took a slightly different and longer approach to starting this.
00:58Start of LiveEasy is actually MoveEasy, almost about 11 years ago, which was more of a moving
01:03concierge service.
01:05I was moving from Chicago to Columbus.
01:07It was a small move.
01:09It was the first time that I was moving and I decided to pretty naively put my information
01:14on the internet and, you know, I was promised instant quotes.
01:20Never got that except got bombarded with phone calls and emails.
01:24Remember getting phone calls like six months after my move.
01:27So thought that there has to be a better experience across the board.
01:31So started MoveEasy as a platform to essentially help consumers with the entire moving process.
01:40We started in the real estate industry around 2017 and that was our first foray into the
01:46housing space in general.
01:48We worked with real estate brokers, agents, widely build our services for them and essentially
01:54helped their clients settle in.
01:56So once the moment our transaction goes into contract, we would come in and set up everything
02:00from internet, cable, TV, home security, they're moving, all of those things.
02:06And that is where we kind of started to take off.
02:092020 was when we kind of truly started transitioning to the LiveEasy concept, which was more, the
02:15more we were talking to both our agent and broker clients, as well as the homeowners,
02:21but they were saying like, hey, it's great that you're helping us with the move, but
02:25then after the move, there's no way that the agent can really stay in touch with the consumers
02:33and just sending them either valuation of their homes or vendor notifications and other
02:39things is not enough to essentially pull them back.
02:43And so that's where we started expanding our platform to the larger kind of home management
02:48service of sorts and then grew from there.
02:51So 20 plus, I think about a year and a half ago, we fully transitioned into LiveEasy and
02:57have now a full blown home management platform that essentially takes care of that client
03:02from the time, regardless of where they come in as a homeowner, essentially taking care
03:08of them throughout the process, during their home journey, whether they're buying a new
03:12home, whether they're renting out, essentially anyone with a roof on their head, we're able
03:16to help them with that entire journey.
03:18Yeah.
03:19It sounds like you're trying to tackle that retention issue, which is prominent on the
03:24real estate side and even more prominent on the mortgage side.
03:29Only one in five borrowers return to their original lender for the next loan.
03:35Do you also work with mortgage brokers and loan originators to help them stay in front
03:41of the homeowner?
03:42Hugely.
03:43So the way we got into the mortgage industry was through real estate.
03:47A lot of our real estate brokers, they have their own in-house mortgage space.
03:51And so those guys would essentially come to us and say, hey, this is great that you're
03:54actually helping real estate agents, but we have a much bigger problem out here.
03:58It's a very transactional relationship, right?
04:00How do you truly engage the user to come back?
04:04And so that's when we started essentially offering this for the mortgage companies as
04:07well.
04:08And you're absolutely right.
04:10I think the retention piece is a huge problem.
04:12And everyone is trying to do a portion of this, either give users data to come back
04:20into the platform or some kind of an incentive for them to essentially just either check
04:26their rates, credit karma, check their home value and whatnot.
04:30We've been fortunate because of our larger integrations that we have in the home services
04:36space.
04:37We've essentially created a platform where we look at it from three different angles.
04:41One is the home finances, kind of giving users the basic information about their home valuation,
04:46about where can they save money, where should they be investing their equity in.
04:51So those basic details, we do provide that.
04:54And that allows users to come back.
04:56But then what we also do is do annual savings reviews, like our system automatically, if
05:02you've been in your home for more than a year, you're paying more for your home services.
05:06So we can essentially go back and reprice some of that to get savings for the homeowners
05:11on an ongoing basis.
05:13We are also able to pull in a lot of the home data from their home inspection report and
05:18all the other pieces of information coming from different places to then give this like
05:23home profile of sorts.
05:25That can then become a basis for if I have to update something, if I have to repair something,
05:32how do I connect with vendors?
05:33All of that essentially becomes a single place.
05:35So there isn't a single reason for the homeowner to come back.
05:39We provide those multiple opportunities and because we not only white label them, so depending
05:46on the customer, some of our clients want it just simply white labeled, everything looks
05:52and feels like it's their brand, emails, the platform, everything.
05:56But then some others want it completely embedded in their system.
05:59They've already spent a lot of money building this consumer facing technology.
06:04The last thing that they want, and especially in the market space, there's a lot of technology
06:10already there.
06:11The last thing that you want is essentially send the user to a third party website.
06:14So we are able to integrate with their site and make it entirely a very seamless experience.
06:19Yeah, it makes so much sense.
06:20Do you partner with individual real estate agents and LOs on sort of a subscription model
06:27or is most of your business more of an enterprise type relationship?
06:33It's a combination.
06:34So most of our business is enterprise sell.
06:37So a lot of the enterprises, depending on their size, we are able to essentially work
06:42out a deal that is a combination of both subscription as well as a transactional revenue opportunity
06:48for them.
06:49So at the end of the day, the overall price cancels out as like significantly less.
06:55If it comes to, we do work with individual loan officers and agents as well.
06:59And that is a subscription model there.
07:01But even there, it's the subscription in the larger scheme of things is pretty nominal.
07:06By the time you get like that one referral back, it's more than pays for that subscription.
07:11Absolutely.
07:12So you talked about migrating and expanding from helping people with their move to helping
07:19people with managing their overall home experience.
07:24Do you have aspirations to expand even more to, you know, more aspects of the home ownership
07:30ecosystem in your partnership with real estate agents and mortgage originators?
07:35Yes, I think a little going deeper into some of these features that we already have.
07:41So this year, for example, a big focus for us is one of the we started working with home
07:47inspection companies and are able to pull data from their systems.
07:52So we also have a platform that can recognize home appliances and identify the age and the
07:59life of the appliance and all those things.
08:01So what we are working on is some of these deeper projects are like, hey, how can we
08:04use that information to streamline the home warranty process?
08:08Or how can we make sure that when a user is essentially like they have the equity, that
08:15they are spending that equity in the right place, right?
08:17In some cases, it could be, hey, I need to buy a new rental property.
08:21But in other cases, it could quite simply be that if I if I'm able to essentially, you
08:28know, update my installation, not only the home value, does it go up, but my energy bills
08:34also come down.
08:35So how can we kind of go deeper into some of the features that are already there rather
08:38than overwhelming people with more and more features?
08:41So like, hey, let's go deep.
08:43Let's use AI to be able to truly give them exactly what they need, when they need.
08:50And and again, make it more relevant that at the end of the day, if I'm working with
08:54this loan officer, if I'm working with this mortgage bank, then that is the company that
09:00I want to keep going back to, because they're going to give me the best rates are going
09:04to give me the best systems.
09:05They're going to save money in the larger scheme thing.
09:07So looking at the house as a total cost of ownership, rather than that transactional
09:12relationship and trying to basically price match, I know that, hey, if I can work with
09:16this LO, overall, they're going to give me a much, much better value, and I'll continue
09:21to keep coming back to them.
09:23So unfortunately, it seems like we are going to have higher rates for even longer.
09:29How does LiveEasy help the real estate agent and the mortgage originator do more business
09:36in 2025, despite this difficult market?
09:40I think it's a great question.
09:43You know, I think the two kinds of customers out here, right, one who have already logged
09:46in those old rates and are really hesitant to essentially move out, knowing that they're
09:51going to have to spend a lot more money.
09:53And then the other group is obviously they are getting into the market knowing very well
09:56that these are the rates and hopefully over the course of time, it actually reduces.
10:02Where our platform comes into play in terms of helping real estate agents and loan officers,
10:06one is truly tapping into their overall network.
10:11So both of them can essentially add their past clients, their sphere of influence, right?
10:17You can actually add that because this is not asking the user to do something like to
10:23transact almost immediately.
10:25It becomes that operating system for your home.
10:29And so you can add pretty much anyone there.
10:32We are able to then notify the agent and the LO and say, hey, this person's actually been
10:36looking at these upgrades constantly or they've been looking at these properties constantly
10:42and it becomes an easy notification.
10:43Even something as simple as now's a good time for you to do a CMA, right?
10:47You haven't done that in a while.
10:49And or pulling that information from the consumer and say, hey, let us tell me what all upgrades
10:54have you done?
10:55And if they're able to say like, hey, we've done these upgrades and sending a notification
10:59back to the agent and the loan officer to say, you know what?
11:02Maybe this person is in the market or this is a good time for you to do a CMA and see
11:06if we can reconnect.
11:07So that's one way of essentially connecting with people who've already been in the market
11:12and are not really ready to sell right now to at least have that connection.
11:17For the ones that are in the market who are hesitant right now, that's where the total
11:20cost of ownership comes into play, right?
11:22For a real estate agent and a loan officer to say, hey, yes, the rates are 7%.
11:25But guess what?
11:27By being part of our relationship, A, we're going to continuously monitor those rates
11:32and the moment the rates come down, we'll make sure that you get the best rates at any
11:35point of time.
11:36Secondly, we'll also give you tools to continuously save money in other places.
11:41So yes, you're paying, you know, $4,000, $5,000 here, but we'll save you $1,000, $2,000 here
11:47and keep that net cost lower.
11:50And that's how you would want to, that's why you would want to work with us as opposed
11:54to someone who's just giving you a, you know, X amount of rate and that's about it.
11:58You're constantly adding value as the originator and the real estate agent, which is so important
12:04because if you think about what the servicers are doing, they are building a lot of tech
12:11so that when rates go down, they can be the first person to make that call about doing
12:17a refinancing.
12:18But you're empowering the originator to beat them, beat them to the punch on that, which
12:25is really interesting.
12:26Yeah, it is.
12:27And even for services, it's a constant battle, right?
12:30I mean, the services are essentially going and reaching out, but the reality is our email
12:35is now, you know, hate to say this in a public forum, but it's public property.
12:40Like it's everyone, you have that information out there during your home search process
12:45itself.
12:46You've essentially put out that information out there.
12:48There are a lot of people already know.
12:50So it's even if the services are getting there in terms of saying like, hey, here's a better
12:54rate at that time, there are five other companies that are also emailing you.
12:59Why would you essentially choose the servicer or this originator over someone else?
13:03And I think that's where the relationship piece comes into play, right?
13:07If I have built that trust over time and I know that, hey, yes, I don't have to price
13:13shop because I know that this person is not only going to give me the best rates, but
13:17is also going to do a lot more for me to make my life as a homeowner easier.
13:21I would pay that premium, if any, to just work with them, knowing that my total cost
13:26of ownership is going to be lower with them rather than just jumping.
13:29And this could be a servicer who's using us or an originator who's using us.
13:31But at the end of the day, it's still going to be as long as you're using that, a platform
13:36that truly gives that full 360 degree overview for the homeowner.
13:41We believe that that will essentially help more in today's climate where rates are just so high.
13:48Well, Venkatesh, this is a very interesting platform.
13:51What's the best way for an originator or an agent or a broker or a lending executive or
13:59a servicing executive, to your point earlier, what's the best way for them to get in touch
14:03with LiveEasy and learn more?
14:05Yeah, I think the fastest and the easiest way is our guy, Zach.
14:10He's been in this space for a long time.
14:12He's actually been working with a lot of loan originators and mortgage companies.
14:19So it's either Zach at LiveEasy.com, or if you're a real estate agent or a broker,
14:24then it's Travis at LiveEasy.com.
14:29Both of them are amazing people in terms of truly helping us get in front of a lot of
14:35these real estate brokers and LOs.
14:37Otherwise, just LiveEasy.com.
14:39You can come here and just look for either if you're a mortgage agent, a loan officer,
14:43or a real estate agent, and then we'll be able to help you out.
14:47Amazing.
14:48Well, thank you so much for joining me today on this special 10-minute talks.
14:52It's been great chatting with you.
14:53Thanks.
14:53Thanks a lot for this opportunity.