Categories : Marketplace, Property Management, Real Estate
Headquarters Regions : Greater New York Area, East Coast, Northeastern US
Founded Date : 2015
Founders : Jamie Glenn, Karan Sakhuja, Sean Black
Operating Status : Active
Funding Status : Early Stage Venture
Last Funding Type : Series A
Number of Employees : 11-50
Legal Name : Knockaway, Inc.

Here’s how Knock’s home trade-in model works: You find the home you want to buy, then Knock buys it first, all-cash. It then makes repairs or improvements (the cost of which Knock says will be rolled into your mortgage). Knock also says it will get you a guaranteed pre-approval to qualify for a mortgage on your new home. Then, Knock gets your old house ready to sell — including handling all repair work and associated costs — and puts it on the market.

Even before Knock lists your old home, it says you can move into your new one. Once your old home sells, Knock charges you a 3 percent commission.

Knock is a kind of brokerage and a house flipper, but its new trade-in model attempts to offer convenience, simplicity and reassurance to those looking to move.

Customers don’t have to worry about whether the timing between their closings will work out, how to get equity out of their home to buy a new one, whether they’ll have to move into a new home before repairs are done, or whether they’ll be able to move in with enough time before their kids have to start in a new school district.

Knock, which launched in summer 2016, previously offered a model that assisted customers with the homeselling process. The startup would list your home for you as a brokerage, but if it didn’t find a buyer within six weeks, it bought the property at a guaranteed price (as a licensed brokerage, the startup has its own agents who are salaried employees).

Knock says it has “helped over 2,000 consumers,” in the Atlanta area so far, and will continue to offer its home-listing model as an option as well.