This startup is demystifying homebuying in Colombia and Mexico - Via Fastcompany.com

BY ANDREA HERNANDEZ1 MINUTE READ

The Latin American housing market is highly fragmented, making it a challenge for buyers and sellers to navigate and gain enough information to make informed decisions. Most homes are not listed online, brokers are informal and unlicensed, and there’s no centralized service for aggregating listings for brokers and buyers. As a result, the process to sell a home can take as long as two years. Bogotá-based Habi introduced new tools and offerings in 2023 to make the process more straightforward for all.

In April 2023, Habi secured a $100 million credit facility from Victory Park Capital and integrated notary services in Colombia and Mexico, the countries where it currently operates. The move made Habi the first real estate platform to include all the players involved in homebuying—banks, buyers, brokers, and notaries—and reduced the time to close by 15%.

The company also opened its first in-person Habicredit center in Colombia, where by the end of 2023, it was disbursing more than $25 million a month in housing financing. Over the course of the year, the company grew to include over 1,000 real estate agents, facilitated the sale of more than 10,000 properties, and tripled in size.

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