There are few experiences more exciting than working with a home builder to design your dream home. Once the big decisions are made, like location and architectural style, hundreds of additional decisions remain – enthusiasm can wane with every task and trip to the sales centre. If only home buyers could see available options and make design choices from the comfort of their (current) home anytime, anywhere.

Enter Jason Hardy and his team at Ownly, the Calgary start-up that’s poised to revolutionize the real estate sector by bringing the home-purchase process online via a safe, secure and convenient platform.

HOW IT WORKS

In new neighbourhoods, builders provide model homes and a sales centre where customers can see examples of home architecture, design elements and landscaping. Customers purchase a lot, choose a home design, then traditionally spend months running back and forth to the sales centre to select appliances, cabinetry, flooring and paint, while their home is being built.

But what if the entire process took place online? With Ownly’s platform, it does. From the lot purchase to securing a mortgage and choosing bathroom countertops, every aspect of buying a home can be done online, from anywhere.

SUPERCHARGED ENTREPRENEURIAL ENERGY

Ownly is a culmination of Hardy’s lived experiences and business acumen. Having spent 19 years in real estate, he knew the landscape and what was possible without knowing just how to achieve it. So how does a real estate guy become a tech leader? With a lot of dedication and a lot of help. Hardy had plenty of the first and the Calgary entrepreneurial community provided the rest.

Hardy grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, and was working for the Walt Disney Company in Florida when he first heard from colleagues about the remarkable entrepreneurial spirit of Calgary. He was intrigued enough that, when he was looking for a new adventure, he packed up his belongings and drove to Calgary, sight unseen, to begin a new life. He was instantly captivated by the city, the province, and the entrepreneurial energy that supercharges just about everything in Calgary. He firmly believes he would not be nearly as successful if he had started Ownly anywhere else.

“The entrepreneurial spirit in Calgary is absolutely unrivalled anywhere in North America. I was blown away how entrepreneurs are embraced and supported in this city.”

— Jason Hardy, Co-founder & CEO, Ownly

Hardy cut his entrepreneurial teeth with his first company, Chatterson, a real estate marketing and branding agency that he founded 14 years ago and is still going strong. Chatterson provided opportunities for Hardy to learn, grow, and be mentored by some of Calgary’s greatest entrepreneurs. He’s very open about how the Calgary community has pushed, supported, and celebrated him over the years. “Civic leaders stepped in and selflessly helped me, and I am forever grateful to them.”

The best advice he’s ever received during his tenure in Calgary? “Never give up. Keep going. Don’t stop.”

THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF REAL ESTATE

Ownly describes itself as “ecommerce for real estate.” According to the company, only 2 per cent of home builders in North America currently let customers shop online. Unsurprisingly, this presents a gigantic gap in the shopping experience of the general public, who are used to researching and making purchases of all sorts online, from makeup and vacations to luxury vehicles.

Working with trusted industry partners, the Ownly platform makes it easy for potential homebuyers to shop, finance, make an offer, place a deposit, and purchase – all in one place. For sellers, the platform works seamlessly with each builder’s current or future web infrastructure. It also uses the builder’s brand to drive business and create a frictionless experience for consumers.

Ownly provides deep insights into consumer credit capabilities, pre-qualifies buyers for mortgages, and provides lead location and geographic heat mapping, as well as valuable information about which communities, models, and upgrades are most popular. Of course, it also reduces the commissions paid to outside realtors.

In fact, Hardy believes that the current salesperson/customer dynamic has nearly run its course especially in the real estate industry. People know what they want, and customers are tired of being sold.

Realtors and other sales professionals won’t be going anywhere fast, but Hardy believes the industry is changing for the better. “I see a transition away from salespeople to trusted advisors,” he explained.

Hardy’s goal is to build a kind of Shopify for real estate. He wants to create a seamless, unique experience for everyone, whether they’re looking to get a foot on the first rung of the real estate ladder or are empty nesters wanting to downsize. He fully expects consumers to use only the parts of the platform they’re comfortable with at first and understands it might take a while for some to become fully secure with the financial aspects of a paperless home-buying process.

“This is the biggest purchase you’ll probably ever make, and we want everyone to be comfortable with all aspects of the transaction. It’ll happen.”

TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF ENTREPRENEURS IN CALGARY

As a leader himself, Hardy believes that his calling is to help develop the leaders of tomorrow. To that end, he teaches his first passion – real estate marketing – to undergraduate and graduate students at the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary, where he has been program manager and instructor in Real Estate Development for more than a decade.

In 2017, Haskayne launched Alberta’s first accredited post-secondary real estate studies program; the Westman Centre for Real Estate Studies, which offers a BComm concentration and MBA specialization in real estate studies and intends to become a global powerhouse for real estate innovation and the creation of a tech-savvy cadre of professionals in the field.

It’s working already – three Ownly team members were Hardy’s former students at Haskayne. He looks for people who are as passionate about their work as he is, describing the perfect employee as a change-maker who bases decisions on their own strongly held core values and ethics.

“Calgary is a very hard-working city,” he explains. “Finding someone with the right skills is easy. It’s all about finding the right attitude.”

Helping create the next generation of doers, creators, and thinkers is second only to Hardy’s passion as an entrepreneur and business leader. He supports other Calgary and Alberta-based entrepreneurs by sitting on Haskayne’s PropTech Advisory Board, which focuses on technology and software in the real estate vertical. His experience, knowledge, and enthusiasm helps individuals and new companies involved with PropTech build robust technology, find a market, develop a brand and become successful entrepreneurs.

WHAT’S NEXT

Ownly completed its first round of funding in May 2021, which opened and closed within four weeks. Their second round is scheduled for early 2022. Hardy is optimistic about additional funding increasing customer reach and building the Ownly brand moving forward.

“We’ve had incredible growth in just a year. Ownly has already partnered with the four largest home builders in Alberta and has entered an agreement with the largest mortgage provider in North America,” he said.

Hardy is contemplating eventual expansion into the American market and building Ownly into a global company. He also recognizes that the Ownly real estate platform could potentially be repurposed for other large, expensive purchases, such as vehicles.

The next steps for Ownly include partnering with a well-known digital identity firm for secure mortgage financing and additional security integration. Hardy sees Ownly as PropTech-meets-fintech, which seems apropos.

“We’ve had two acquisition attempts and I fully expect those to continue moving forward,” he adds.

Ownly recognizes that they are in a race to perfect their digital home-buying experience so they can secure a coveted leadership position.

“It really feels like we’re building a rocket ship,” said Hardy. A documentary about the company premiers January 2022. For a sneak peek, check out the trailer.

Are you ready to make moves in Calgary’s tech scene, working with forward-thinking companies like Ownly? Visit the careers page on Live Tech, Love Life to see what opportunities are out there in our burgeoning innovation ecosystem.

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Ownly: Revolutionizing real estate