Owning A Second Home Through Pacaso-with Austin Allison-EP99

During this episode of the Lab Coat Agents Podcast, host Jeff Pfitzer speaks with Austin Allison, Founder of a platform called Pacaso. Through Pacaso, Austin works to help homeowners achieve that dream of owning a second home through joint ownership! Episode Highlights:  Austin hails from the Midwest, Cincinnati to be specific, but now he lives in Napa. With a carpenter for a father, Austin grew up around real estate and eventually bought his first property at the age of 17. At the age of 18, Austin got his real estate license, selling real estate all through college while he studied architecture and real estate development. Dotloop was founded because of Austin’s frustrations with the document signing process in real estate at the time. Austin fell in love with Italy when visiting the country, eventually opting to live there for 3 months and learn Italian. After getting his pilot’s license, Austin realized how much goes into flying a plane besides the actual flying. Setting the goal of running a marathon in the 2 hours and 30-minute range taught Austin what it meant to really pour himself into a goal. Many highly-successful professionals have accomplished incredibly intense physical feats. Though Austin sold Dotloop to Zillow and has no affiliation anymore, Austin both understands the tension and success that surround Zillow. Austin found great inspiration from Zillow’s mission and the team that has been built to accomplish that mission. Jeff believes that if agents find themselves threatened by Zillow, they need to take a look in the mirror. At the age of only 35, Austin has started his second startup to help consumers buy their second home, Pacaso. Following his passion has led Austin to all the success that he has achieved to this point and he advises others to do the same. Since purchasing their second home at Lake Tahoe, Austin and his wife have built a whole new life. Pacaso was inspired by the widespread desire to own a second home by homeowners who can’t afford it. Some people can’t justify owning a second home when they only use it 10% of the time. Pacaso forms an LLC, buys a home under that LLC, and handles all the maintenance and details. All buyers get their own app to reserve time at the home by distributing requests fairly, making sure no single person takes all the good days. Pacaso properties are not intended for investors, only those that look to own and occupy properties for their own enjoyment. Renters tend to treat houses differently than owners, thinking mostly about the short-term, and that’s why renters are prohibited. 90-95% of homeowners who have purchased a second home do not put it up for rent. Every home is split into 8 shares of interest, not allowing more than 50% to be purchased by any 1 party. If you choose to sell your share of the home, other owners get the first shot at buying your share before hitting the market. Pacaso keeps agent partners in their respective markets in the case that buyers and sellers are unrepresented. With its sell down tool, Picasso empowers agents to win listings that would have otherwise been unavailable. Agents can use the sell down tool to email their network and post to their online communities. For those in a second home destination, Pacaso will eventually make its way to that market. Partnering with the real estate industry has given Austin the opportunity to enrich people’s lives. 3 Key Points: As a young man, Austin grew up immersed in the real estate game. He purchased his first property at the age of 17 before fixing it up with his father and flipping it. Pacaso deals with both buyers and agents to purchase new listings or listings from the website under a specific LLC and sells the remaining half of the home within 60 days. Because Pacaso acts as a manager to take care of the home, when it comes time to sell, the seller receives 100% of the profits. Resources Mentioned: Lab Coat Agents (website), (Facebook), (Facebook Group), (Twitter), (Instagram) Austin Allison Pacaso, Instagram, Facebook Dotloop Followup Boss (sponsor) Chime (sponsor)