Movin’ On Up: Plymouth Company Helps Homeowners Buy Bigger and Better

Talk about getting a new lease on life. Quite literally. Picture this: You and your spouse are seeking a change, more specifically one that involves a larger home. You’re adding to the family, you need more space, and your “starter” home or condo, as quaint as it is, just isn’t cutting it anymore. A larger home would help immensely, but there’s just one problem: You can’t sell the home you’re in. You know this because you’ve tried.

Enter Marketplace Homes, a Plymouth company which enables homeowners to buy a new home from one of their preferred new construction homebuilders and helps homeowners lease their existing home for up to six years.

I talked with Marketplace Homes National Marketing Director Chintan Pathak about how this company came to be, how their plan works, and why this form of residential switcheroo works for so many families.

Plymouth Patch: This concept sounds like it could be a Godsend for homeowners who are trapped in their homes. How and when was Marketplace Homes launched?

Chintan Pathak: Marketplace Homes launched nine and a half years ago. Our owner and managing partner (Mike Kalis) used to work in the new construction home industry, and he was seeing a lot of people who wanted to move but were stuck due to the market crash. From that point on, he came up with this concept saying, if it’s a great time to buy right now and a tough time to sell, why don’t we sell your home? And we’re doing that by offering a guaranteed lease program. We just wanted to give people another option to look at instead of short-selling or foreclosing, which has many negative effects. So, when the market does return —whether it’s next year or three years from now — we can sell the home then, but you will be able to make the life-changing decision you need to make for your family now.

Plymouth Patch: Walk us through how the Marketplace Homes plan works.

Pathak: First, we’ll evaluate your current home and determine what kind of rent we can offer you per month, in terms of guaranteed rental from us. The second thing is, we want to get you out to one of our partner builders, whether that’s in Michigan or one of the 17 states we operate in, so that you can find a community — and a home — that you would like to move into. It’s two-fold: things have to work out on the rental side, and we have to make sure you find a place that you like that makes sense for your family. Then, we set you up with an appointment with one of our solution specialists, and they’ll give you a call at a designated time. Our solution specialists will guide you through the process until your home is either built or you move into one of our existing homes.

Plymouth Patch: Tell me what’s in it for Marketplace Homes? How do you guys gain revenue?

Pathak: We work with our preferred builders across the country — new construction home builders — and we’re paid a real estate commission. It’s very similar to a realtor or real estate agent, but we’re able to provide something that they can’t, which is the condition that they can’t sell their home. Realtors can try and try to sell the home, and drop the price, but that doesn’t make sense for a lot of people. So we’re able to provide them with an alternative, and in turn, we receive a real estate commission from the new construction home builder with nothing out of pocket for our client.

Plymouth Patch: Tell me about the ideal Marketplace Homes candidate... if a person can’t qualify for a mortgage, would the deal still work?

Pathak: We see a lot of people, and our typical client generally has a young child under the age of five, and they’re living in a condo or starter home, which they planned, eventually, to get rid of. Now, they’re having their second child… but they can’t get rid of their home, which can be a little chaotic. We also see a lot of people who just want to move into a better school system for their kids, or want to be closer to their jobs. We see these people on a daily basis. Again, there is a two-fold here: You have to like a community of your choice that we offer and you have to fall in love with a home you would like to move into. Secondly, you have to be able to qualify for a second mortgage. This is where we can see a little bit of filtration, but this program is designed so that those who can afford a second mortgage can make the decision right now to move forward instead of being stuck in place.

Plymouth Patch: OK. Here’s another quandary: What if someone is “upside-down” (they owe more on the mortgage than the home is worth) on their home?

Pathak: The type of client we help is someone who is underwater. The fact that they are underwater — or upside down on their mortgage — is the reason they can’t sell their home for what  it’s worth. But by renting their home through Marketplace Homes, our clients do not have to worry about being a property manager because they have Marketplace Homes to deal with all of those things. All the stress that comes with being a landlord is alleviated through us.

Plymouth Patch: I would think that more individuals are renting in this market, but it still seems that a potential kink in the chain is finding a good renter. How does Marketplace Homes overcome this challenge?

Pathak: We strive to maintain great standards in putting in great rental tenants in these homes. We do get quite a few lease option tenants who may have had a foreclosure, or something that prohibits them from getting a loan for a new home. Those people need a nice place to stay as well. And, most people want to be able to own something at some point, so we get a lot of lease option tenants.

Plymouth Patch: How far does your involvement with the rental property go? What about maintenance and repairs?

Pathak: We handle everything. All maintenance, all repairs on the property. If a pipe bursts in the middle of the night, you have Marketplace Homes to take care of that for you. In terms of property management, we’ve done an excellent job, and we’ve earned a Better Business Bureau A+ Rating. We’ve done a fantastic job of taking care of these things whether it’s here in Plymouth, in our own backyard, or in Denver, CO.

Plymouth Patch: And what if the tenant doesn’t pay?

Pathak: If the tenant doesn’t pay, Marketplace Homes is tied into a lease agreement with you. Say, for example, you are the homeowner, and we’re giving you $1,000 per month. If the tenant doesn’t pay, you still receive a payment. If we have to go through the eviction process, you are still guaranteed your money. That’s beauty of our program, but that is why we strive to put good tenants in homes so that Marketplace Homes doesn’t have to deal with any situations like that.

Plymouth Patch: Let’s talk about the fun part: Building a new home! Must one of your clients build a new home — what if they want to buy one that is already built? And do you have a cache of established builders?

Pathak: We work within 17 states, and clients can either build a home with one of our preferred builders or they can move into a new inventory home that’s already built. We work with the top 20 of the top 100 builders in the country: Pulte Homes, Lombardo Homes, which is the number one growing builder in Michigan. Our preferred builders are the best in the industry, and we can pretty much cater to any market in the country, which helps for national relocation.

Plymouth Patch: How can potential candidates get the ball rolling?

Pathak: The best thing they can do is visit marketplacehomes.com. On our page, there is a lead application form where people can put their name, their number, and their address, and our call center will call you back shortly and schedule an appointment with one of our solution managers.

Plymouth Patch: What is the absolute best part of your job?
 
Pathak: To see that we’re making a difference. That is more fulfilling than anything. I am able to directly help so many people who deserve a better solution than what they have today. Realistically, everyone is making these decisions for the betterment of their kids or themselves, and to be able to be a part of that is amazing.