Don’t you have enough money?

Let me tell you a story.

There is an actor who at his peak was probably A- list.

He started a foundation to help people buy homes who had always been renters.

Does he make money?

No.

Does he want to make money?

No.

He was featured on a very very popular HGTV show and they got a ton of donations.

Apparently though, when this permanent A list mostly movie actor and permanent A list rapper saw it, their first thought was they could make money off it and use the whole thing as an investment scheme.

Don’t you have enough money?

Actor: Richard T. Jones

Show: Home Town

A list mostly movie actor: Will Smith

A list rapper: Jay-Z

‘Home Town’: Ben and Erin renovate house for ‘The Rookie’ star Richard T Jones after tornado ravages his home

HGTV’s ‘Home Town’ has returned for a fourth season and it has to be one of the most dramatic opening episodes yet.

For those who have come in late, ‘Home Town’ follows renovation experts Ben and Eric Napiers in their journey to revitalizing homes that have fallen in disrepair, and in the process helping them be part of a modern, functional community.

In today’s episode, the couple is shown to have redone an old home for actor Richard T Jones and his wife Nancy in Laurel.

Unfortunately, the time and energy they put into transforming the property went to waste after a tornado hit the town, flattening houses and uprooting trees. However, they did promise Richard and Nancy that they’d be working on making good the loss. – Source

Landis raises $165M with funding from Will Smith, Jay-Z–backed company

Will Smith and a company backed by Jay-Z are betting on a startup that seeks to make homeownership easier to obtain.

Will Smith’s Dreamers VC and a company backed by Jay-Z’s Roc Nation participated in a $165 million capital raise for Landis, which seeks to help renters become owners. The funding round was led by venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and included debt and Series A equity financing.

Landis has now raised $182 million since its founding in 2018. Led by Cyril Berdugo and Tom Petit, the startup seeks to help aspirational homeowners purchase a home through its technology platform.

The company will often work with someone who cannot secure a mortgage because of bad credit or the inability to come up with a down payment, according to Petit. Landis will use its technology to determine whether the aspiring homebuyer can afford to qualify for a mortgage in the next 12 to 24 months. If they can, Landis will rent the customer the property and provide a coach to help the client secure the mortgage.

The goal is for the resident to start paying a mortgage instead of rent.

“People get really attached to the house, so they redouble the efforts to get that mortgage,” said Petit, explaining the premise of the business plan. – Source