INVESTMENT
INSPIRATO
LAUNCHES real estate business
WITH THE BACKING OF THAYER VENTURES-LED SPAC , THE LUXURY SUBSCRIPTION RENTAL COMPANY NOW HELPS HOME BUYERS GET INTO THE MIX .
by JEFF WEINSTEIN , EDITOR IN CHIEF
Luxury travel subscription company Inspirato has announced a major strategic initiative to accelerate expansion of its growing portfolio with the launch of Inspirato Real Estate , which will help potential vacation home buyers to find a property to acquire and then lease back to Inspirato .
“ We launched Inspirato Real Estate to add another dimension to our strategy to grow our Inspirato residence portfolio , so that we can offer more choices to Inspirato subscribers ,” Founder and CEO Brent Handler told HOTELS . “ Over time we realized that in addition to providing travelers with exceptional service and certainty for their vacations , we also deliver a valuable service to our residence landlord partners by providing them with a worry-free ownership experience available nowhere else . This is due to the fact that our homes are available exclusively to our closed network of Inspirato subscribers , a highly affluent , built-in audience with predictable booking patterns , which enables us to invest in and take care of our landlord partner ’ s homes like no one else .”
Inspirato leadership would not divulge a specific amount invested in the new venture , but did say it is investing significantly in Inspirato Real Estate . “ We have built an extensive broker partner network to provide local market expertise ,”
Handler said . “ We have built up our own internal team to ensure we have expertise to work with families to help them find their perfect vacation home with the right balance of lifestyle benefits and investment return . And we are investing in marketing to build awareness about the Inspirato Real Estate value proposition to prospective home buyers .”
Launched in 2011 , Inspirato is expected to go public in the fourth quarter of this year in a blank-check merger with Thayer Ventures Acquisition Corp . The deal gives the combined company an estimated enterprise value of US $ 1.1 billion . In addition to the special-purpose acquisition company merger , a private investment in public equity will contribute about $ 100 million to the deal .
Prospective buyers explore a vetted collection of properties in dozens of vacation destinations directly on the Inspirato Real Estate website . Once they decide where to buy , Inspirato Real Estate ’ s team connects them to a local real estate professional . Prior to closing , they receive a personalized lease overview and financial return profile , including a net income projection for their chosen property . At closing , they lease their new home to Inspirato .
56 hotelsmag . com November / December 2021