"While Match.com and eHarmony are introducing people who are looking for love, Equity Interface is introducing people who are looking to make money together by investing in real estate," he says. The goal is to introduce commercial real estate developers to investors and private equity companies looking for opportunities.
The Great Neck, NY-based real estate investment site officially launched last month following a six-month beta trial. "Like its romantic cousins, Equity Interface is only the listing service and does not certify any of the deals," Kron says. "Each developer posts its resume and a detailed description of the deal, and investors can set up a 'face-to-face' to get a first-hand feel for the sponsor and the offer." Developers pay from $500 to $1,500 to post resumes and detailed descriptions of their deals.
To comply with SEC regulations that restrict offering investment deals to the public, Equity Interface is a membership site offering information only to accredited investors. Members pay $39.95 monthly to explore offers from developers and syndicators. They can search investment opportunities nationwide by various criteria, including experience of the developer, financing needed for the project, geography and estimated financial returns.
The site also has an investment profiler tool, which allows members to receive automatic alerts about opportunities matching their investment preferences. When a matching opportunity is entered into the database, the member can receive an email alert.
This week, the site completed its first members-only investor/developer conference call. The call featured two developers: one seeking $650,000 for a North Dakota hospitality development and a second seeking $8.6 million for a Texas apartment complex renovation.
"I am committed to developing a smart, resourceful professional online community for financers and developers to connect," Kron says. He called the site "completely transparent, without brokers in the middle. Brokers can use it, but it is designed to be transparent."
As of Wednesday, Kron says the site represented investors with more than $3.8 billion to fund residential, retail, office, industrial, hotel and related real estate deals. "Despite the current economy, there is still plenty of financing for existing and speculative development," Kron says.
The challenge, he continued, is for developers to locate the correct source of funding for deals. "Many developers are looking for equity partners as part of their general business structure. But the traditional means of identifying who is available to participate on any given deal tend to be expensive and time consuming. Our site, in contrast, is extremely detailed, transparent and simple to use," he adds.
Kron says the site is powered by custom-built software. "I wanted investors to have access to more than the financial information. I felt it was important to also know the developer's experience, for example," he says.
Kron, a former strategy consultant with Ernst & Young LLP's Center for Business Innovation, holds a bachelor's degree in economics from University College Dublin and a Masters in management from Trinity College Dublin. In addition to his role at Equity Interface, he is associated with several real estate investment companies.
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