COLUMBUS, Ohio — A technology company has teamed up with a real estate developer in an effort to make every renter a homeowner through a new app that was launched earlier this month. It’s already gaining traction.

What You Need To Know

  • The goal is to redesign the infrastructure of real estate altogether while making homeownership a possibility for every renter

  • Instead of buying public equities, you're buying a stake in your home, and the barrier of entry is $1 for instant ownership

  • 10 percent of the millennial population doesn't expect to ever buy a home

It’s the first time that anything like this has ever been done and app developers said it is a game changer for renters, especially for those who have never owned a home.

Those living at Gravity apartments in Columbus’ Franklinton area are getting first dibs on participating in the rentership program through the app.

Gravity is trendy apartments in an evolving neighborhood once known for high crime and high poverty. While the development has caught the eye of creatives, the Rhove app is doing that and more for residents like Julius Kissinger who lives there. 

“For people who don't have the means to go out buy a house especially during the pandemic and everything, I think it's a great program and there's something for, like, the younger generation to be a part of," Kissinger said.

Calvin Cooper and a team of engineers developed the app and the program to give people like Kissinger an economic stake in the community.

“Instead of buying public equities, you're buying a stake in your home, and the barrier of entry is $1... and it's instant ownership. Right now, you buy it, and then just for holding on to your stake, you're going to earn a 5 percent in return," Cooper said.

By downloading the app you can find out if your apartment development is participating. 

“Everybody who's a resident is going to be granted a $50 stake just for being a resident there," Cooper said. “Rentership really is redesigning the infrastructure of real estate to bring people live. Our vision is that every renter is a homeowner by default.”

The tenant can buy rentership units, which is kind of like buying stock in the building. If you move out, you get the cash from what you put in, plus profits gained on your investment. If the property gets sold, you’d get bought out but get the chance to take part in the appreciation of the property value.

“If you decide to sell early, then you can redeem your shares in the Rhove app, and we'll buy that back from you so there's instant of liquidity. It's not just about the building that we live in. I think it's about the broader community and the impact that ownership has on society," Cooper said.

Cooper spent the last two years working on the app day and night seeking to empower people by helping them to save money while developing equity and wealth. He said seeing his mom lose her home during the last recession and finding it tough to buy his own home as he looked at rent dollars vanished sparked the idea. That's in addition to understanding the real estate wealth gaps for Black people were big as well as for millennials who have zero net real estate wealth. 

“Ten percent and growing of the millennial population don't expect to ever buy a home," Cooper said. "They'll see homeownership as a good investment because they experienced like myself, their parents may be losing their homes, or being underwater so we know the risks.”

Cooper admits owning a home is a risky and expensive investment, but for developer and partner Brett Kaufman, he sees the new app as a way to give tenants the chance to own a stake in the property without all of the strings attached.

“Why not have opportunities for people to love what they do, where they live, who they surround themselves with how they can improve their lives that doesn't have to be something that isn't achievable?" Kaufman said. 

So for renters like Kissinger, having some sort of stake versus none at all is great.

“So I did see it as a benefit to you know owning a stake in your home and staying here long term and you know, trying to find some benefit out of renting," Kissinger said.

Cooper, an adventure capitalist turned tech company owner, never imagined creating something like this. Now, he sees it as not only a dream come true, but a way to solve critical economic inequalities for generations to come. Partners in the company said they see the rentership opportunity program as a matter of citizenship and social responsibility.

While it’s in the early stages, they hope to expand to many more properties and nationwide. To learn more about the app, visit your Google Playstore or your Apple App and search for Rhove, Inc.