Dallas Fintech Zippy Finds Its Niche in Manufactured Home Financing »Dallas is innovating
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Dallas-based fintech company Zippy is disrupting manufactured home financing in North Texas and other states via its innovative digital platform.
Managing Director Ben Halliday
Founded by former JPMorgan Chase bankers, the startup is led by CEO Ben Halliday, a TCU graduate, and COO and President Jordan Bucy. The company seeks to increase access to affordable housing via manufactured housing.
“We just showed up. We originally met at JPMorgan and helped build their venture bank. But yeah, it all started in a bar,” Halliday told Yahoo! Finance earlier this year. “We were introduced to manufactured homes, found out that there are a lot of misconceptions about it, and Jordan pushed me to look into it. We got excited about it from an investment perspective and as a way to help solve the country’s affordable housing crisis.”
Digital lending platform for manufactured home communities in 11 states
Zippy partners with manufactured home communities in North Texas to provide affordable housing solutions.
The company’s innovative solution, a digital lending platform for manufactured home loans, is available in 11 states, including Texas. The company plans to more than double its footprint by 2023, establishing partnerships with hundreds of local communities.
Recent investment from FirstBank
FirstBank recently invested in Zippy, helping to establish a foundation for the company to continue working on its mission.
“Until Zippy, the industry has been pen and paper only, and now with Zippy, everything is done virtually and quickly,” said a Zippy spokesperson. Zippy’s online platform allows borrowers to apply for, receive and manage manufactured housing loans entirely through a digital interface.
Timely loan for affordable housing
COO Jordan Bucy
The founders first acquired a manufactured community in Lubbock, where they gained respect for the industry during the community’s four-year revitalization.
The two founders “came across our skis pretty quickly.” Still, they worked on the property for three years, buying land, replacing water lines, remodeling the property and landscaping, adding a park and playgrounds, and selling 80 homes in what is now known as the Lone Star Manufactured Home Community.
Although no longer in the construction business, they developed Zippy into a manufactured home loan business.
Halliday and Bucy also discovered the challenges that come with a concentrated market running on old-fashioned technology.
To solve that problem, Zippy built what it calls an “industry-first” platform that provides loans in as little as five days, the company told Dallas Innovates.
The goal is to increase affordable housing solutions
Now the founders are increasing their efforts to meet the need for affordable housing solutions.
“After a record-breaking run in which mortgage rates plunged to all-time lows and home prices soared to new heights,” Zippy said they want to offer options to “homebuyers who never thought home ownership was a possibility.”
Zippy has partnerships with hundreds of communities and plans to more than double its footprint by 2023, growing well beyond Texas, where its services were first available.
In Dallas, the company works with more than 30 home environments manufactured in North Texas, including a successful partnership with Trails at Cimarron.
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