The US is facing a problem: Its real estate market is booming, and there is no shortage of buyers. US rents in 2024 jumped 23% year-on-year back up to pre-pandemic levels, and sales are up 18%, according to Deloitte, and this upward trend is set to continue for the coming years.
No doubt some of that demand is spilling over to neighboring EU, which is likely why I-Labs (i-labs.app), Spain’s top app development agency is developing its first ever proptech venture studio which is bringing its fractional property investment platform to the US next year.
I-Labs has developed its proprietary tech for fractional investing, and with over 2 years in development, it aims to launch in the next few months and to expand to the US from its HQ in EU. The model I Labs is using to launch is a twisted venture studio model, rather than scouting for founders and helping them with the journey, I Labs has first developed the product and is then scouting for founders.
I labs hopes to make it easier for people to participate in the real estate market by buying a share of a given property, makes sense for boosting investment in its real estate market and at the same time, making the tax benefits and high returns of property investing accesible to micro investors for the first time in history. I-Labs’s process is simple for property investors. It lets you buy a share in a property that it manages on behalf of shareholders and lets you earn a slice from the monthly rentals. If the property gets sold, the investors get a share of the profit as well. The app also lets investors sell their stake in a secondary market called Exit Windows that it opens every six months.
I Labs predicts US and EU to be home to most of its customers, and about 12% of its customers to be from GCC & Asia.
And to entice more international investors, the app will be compatible to investors looking for golden visas, tax rebates or any real estate investing perks through traditional means. I Labs estimates to return roughly 4%-7% to its customers through rental income, and to pay around $4.5 million worth of rental income to its customers during the first year in operations. The average expected investment in properties is around $1,500, and on average, customers are expected invest a total of $5,600 through the platform.
US has properties that are recently completed and under development that are worth trillions and only accesible to big conglomerates like blackrock and vanguard. ‘We are going to use [our] experience to offer a similar unified product for investment in the states within the same app,” CEO of I Labs said.
The CEO noted that I Labs aims to break even by the end of this year with his proptech app and be profitable by next year. The venture studio is also exploring potential co-founders to take over the project in the hopes of faster expansion.