Ribbon expands footprint in Arkansas, Colorado and Illinois

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Power buyer Ribbon is expanding its presence in Arkansas, Colorado and Illinois — three states where the company has been in business for less than a year.

The New York-based power buyer has entered 10 new states this year, bringing the total number of states where Ribbon has a presence to 17.

Shaival Shah

“As we’ve expanded state-by-state, we’ve also followed where our partners and demand need Ribbon to be in existing states,” said Ribbon CEO Shaival Shah, in announcing the three new markets:

• Hot Springs, Arkansas
• Greeley, Colorado
• Champaign-Urbana, Illinois

Ribbon announced its entry into Illinois in September, Colorado in July, and Arkansas in May. The company also provides power buyer services in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Ribbon is an “open power buyer” that partners with real estate agents and lenders, allowing homebuyers to waive mortgage, appraisal and home sale contingencies by making cash offers of up to $1 million with Ribbon’s backing.

In many cases, Ribbon will enter new markets by partnering with a real estate brokerage or lender as an initial launch partner, while also working with other real estate agents and lenders.

In Hot Springs, Ribbon will work with agents at Crye-Leike, the nation’s third-biggest independent real estate brokerage, which also partnered with Ribbon when it launched services in Alabama and Arkansas.

Kristyn Cooley

“We’re looking forward to combining forces with Ribbon, leveraging its powerful tool with our strong connections in the community to help our buyers in Hot Springs win their dream homes,” said Kristyn Cooley, managing broker at Crye-Leike in Hot Springs, in a statement. “Eliminating key contingencies that keep sales from going through will help our homebuyers compete with investors, while making it that much easier for agents to get an accepted offer.”

In Greeley, Ribbon is partnered with a national mortgage lender, Synergy One Lending. Ribbon also has multi-state partnerships with Amerifirst Home Mortgage and Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp.

Chris Larson

“Ribbon’s partnership supports Synergy One’s ongoing mission to humanize and modernize the home lending experience,” said Synergy One Loan Officer Chris Larson, in a statement. “With the backing of an all-cash offer that’s guaranteed to close, our buyers will have an impressive advantage even as market conditions change.”

The new markets follow through on a commitment Shah made to continue expanding even as Ribbon announced on July 28 that it was laying off 136 employees, or about one-third of the company’s workforce.

Like many companies that have been affected by rising mortgage rates, Ribbon said it was cutting costs to adjust to a “very significant shift in the market.” But Ribbon, which announced a $150 million Series C raise in September 2021, said the layoffs would also help the company achieve profitability as it continued to expand.

“We are working closely with our partners and will continue to open new states and go deeper into existing states,” Shah told Inman at the time. “We are working with our partners’ revised market and time needs.”

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Email Matt Carter