Bilt Rewards, an app that gives customers perks for paying their rent on time, is launching a first-of-its-kind points program for home purchasers.
The New York-based startup announced Thursday it has struck a deal with eXp realty – the largest independent real estate company in the world with more than 85,000 agents – who will act as the company’s brokers. The real estate company will charge its usual broker fee and pay Bilt a referral cut.
The new program awards one point for every $2 of a home’s closing purchase price – so new owners of a $400,000 property can earn up to 200,000 points redeemable on expenses like travel with more than 100 major airlines and hotel partners, fitness classes and dining out.
Ankur Jain, Bilt’s founder and chief executive and a former Tinder exec, acknowledged that high interest rates over the past few years have created a challenging environment for first-time homebuyers.
“As the new administration comes in and we kind of enter a new time, it looks like interest rates will be coming down again for the first time in a while,” Jain said in an interview with The Post.
“And I think that just opens up a huge opportunity for young people who have been renting to look at buying their first home,” he said.
The company also awards points to condo and co-op owners, and is “eagerly” working toward awarding points on mortgages, Jain told The Post.
Bilt’s new points feature for prospective homebuyers assigns customers an eXp broker who can help tour homes and negotiate a deal. Customers are then awarded points based on the total purchase price, including closing costs.
Bilt has its own Mastercard that allows customers to pay rent without the usual 3% transaction fee, but users can also add their existing credit cards to the Bilt app to earn points. It is free to sign up.
The company gives all users access to its Neighborhood Rewards platform so new homeowners can redeem their points at their favorite local spots – including restaurants, hotels, yoga studios and SoulCycle classes, Lyft rides and even prescription refills at your nearest Walgreens.
Bilt is made to help renters transition to home owners in a simple and rewarding way, Jain said.
Alongside its new home purchases rewards, the company announced the launch of its home search tool, which will be live on its website and is tailor-made for renters ready to take the next step.
The tool promotes transparency around home prices, breaking them down into personalized monthly payments that factor in customers’ state and county taxes, insurance costs, available mortgage rates and closing costs.
“For how much you pay in rent, what could you buy today? What does that look like city by city?” Jain said. “I don’t want to have to worry about searching taxes differently and all this stuff, just give it to me all in. We do all the work for you.”
Bilt partnered with different data providers, including mortgage lender groups, to gather intel on tax rates, insurance rates and mortgage rates to build out the tool.
Bilt reports customers’ payments to all three major credit bureaus to help boost their credit scores, Jain said.
Earlier this year, the company – which partners with property owners including The Related Companies, Brookfield, Cushman & Wakefield and Highmark – brought on former American Express CEO Ken Chenault as chairman of its board and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell as an independent director.