Joel Glenny
by Thomas Herd
Joel Glenny is not new to startup technology companies, having accumulated wins (and losses) in everything from bootstrapped and venture backed companies, to aiding the launch of national community-driven and supported events, raising the conversation around technology. Glenny has been on a mission to grow his skills and bring tech to the marketplace and leave the world a better place.
Recently, Glenny teamed up with real estate entrepreneur Jeb Carty to keep young buyers and real-estate investors from making bad investments and change the ways they search for homes with the launch of Zumbly.
Although Zumbly originally started to help real estate investors find the best returning properties instantly, Glenny and Carty quickly learned, during development, that traditional real estate investors weren't the only ones spending time on their platform. Surprisingly, it was millennial home buyers who were spending upwards of an hour and a half on Zumbly searching for homes to buy, which caused Glenny and Carty to pivot and focus on millennial factors such as lifestyle, airbnb rentals, and sublet-income opportunities
According to Glenny, "It's pretty simple; if you take a step back and look at the traditional American Dream, you will quickly realize it doesn't work in today's world. Technology has changed everything and finding a forever home is a lot of unnecessary pressure. We aren't getting married and having kids right away, we are more transit, and move more often, [now that] Airbnb has made it possible to instantly make money on your home."
Here were some of the stats that Glenny and Carty relied on in shaping Zumbly to meet the needs of modern real estate prospectors:
Gen Z and Millennial home buyers are the largest cohort of home buyers in American history
On average, the are not having kids until the age of 33
46% of mortgages this year will be from buyers under the age of 35
On average, they do more research online before calling a realtor than any other previous generation
83% of Americans ages 19-24 say they plan on buying a home in the next 5 years
On average, American millennials take 3 leisure vacations per year and change jobs every 2 years
Gen Z and Millennials make side money from gig economy apps like Airbnb, Uber, Acorn, and many more
Currently running a Beta in Los Angeles and Chicago, Zumbly offers both free and paid services that provide a unique approach to the market and readily incorporates these key market factors into the appraisal and lifestyle value of properties.
Specifically, the site provides consumers with free calculations and Zumbly Home Scores, and for those seeking further information, they can opt to pay for the “Investor View”, offering additional features that help consumers find properties with the highest price-to-rent ratio and gross rent multipliers. The features also show motivated sellers based on multiple data points.
Glenny underscores that Zumbly has the special ability to hone cutting-edge solutions for the modern markets. According to Glenny, "I obsess on delivering the best solution to market, so I have to be a part of something I believe in and which is purpose-driven. To me, there is nothing more profound than making dreams come true by helping people find a home that allows them to have the lifestyle they want and not be slaves to their mortgage like previous generations.”