Bellevue,
Washington-based
real
estate
investment
firm

Legacy
Group
Capital
announced
this
week
that
it
has
acquired
fintech
company

Rook
Capital,
a
provider
of

home
equity
investment
(HEI)
products
through
its
“Shared
Value
Investment”
brand.
Legacy
is
privately
owned
and
terms
of
the
deal
were
not
disclosed.

“As
[HEIs]
evolve
and
grow
into
a
foundational
component
of
the
real
estate
market,
the
need
to
empower
builders
with
a
homebuyer-focused
HEI
is
paramount,”
Legacy
said
in
its
announcement
of
the
acquisition.
“Rook
Capital’s
award-winning
platform
provides
the
best-in-class
solution
for
homebuyer-focused
HEIs,
bringing
together
and
aligning
builders
and
homebuyers.”

Legacy
CEO
Scott
Rerucha
said
his
company
immediately
identified
an
opportunity
when
examining
Rook’s
potential.

“We
fell
in
love
with
Rook
Capital
immediately,“
he
said
in
a
statement.
“The
innovative
HEI
offering,
the
world-class

technology,
and
a
channel-led
strategy
were
a
perfect
fit
for
Legacy.”

The
resources
of
Legacy
also
mesh
well
with
Rook’s
desire
to
offer
its
product
to
more
potential
clients,
according
to
Ed
Messman,
co-founder
and
CEO
of
Rook
Capital.

“Bringing
together
builders,
investors,
and
homebuyers
allows
the
Rook
vision
to
scale
at
a
pace
we’d
never
have
been
able
to
do
without
Legacy’s
know-how,
heft,
and
experience,”
Messman
said
in
a
statement.

HEI
companies
have
been

garnering
more
attention
of
late
from
larger
investors,
according
to
prior
reporting
by

HousingWire.

This
market
“is
expected
to
grow
as
HEI
companies
seek
to
partner
with
mortgage
lenders
and
real
estate
brokerages,”
the
reporting
stated.
“Rated
securitizations
of
home
equity
agreements
and
home
equity
investments
is
also
adding
optimism
about
further
expansion
as
they
signal
that
institutional
investors
are
warming
up
to
the
asset
class.”

Certain
HEI
companies
have
also
sought
partnerships
with

reverse
mortgage
companies,
which


Hometap
CEO
Jeff
Glass
has
called
a
“complementary”
business
to
HEI
providers.

“I
think
this
is
one
of
these
things
where,
as
this
industry
is
becoming
a
little
bit
more
well-known
and
as
this
idea
of
a
home
equity
investment
becomes
a
little
bit
more
popular
and
understood,
it’s
becoming
something
where
we
and
folks
inside
the
reverse
industry
and
other
industries
are
starting
to
collaborate
more
and
more,”
Glass

told
Reverse
Mortgage
Daily
in
2022.

He
added
that
adaptability
is
an
ideal
trait
for
both
HEI
companies
and
any
industries
they
may
choose
to
partner
with.

“It’s
a
big
world
out
there,
and
there’s
a
variety
of
solutions.
As
we
say,
just
as
debt
may
not
be
the
right
answer
for
some
homeowners,
our
home
equity
investment
may
not
be
the
right
answer,”
Glass
said
at
the
time.

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