# Doorvest Financial Model

End-to-end platform for buying and managing out-of-state single-family rental homes, targeting urban millennials priced out of their local market.

- Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/doorvest
- Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/doorvest.xlsx
- Category: Marketplace
- Model type: Marketplace / GMV
- Funding round: Seed
- Funding: $2.5M
- Founded: 2021
- Geography: USA; initial markets unspecified, expansion referenced in fundraising objectives [DECK, slide 9].
- Customer: B2B

## About the company

Doorvest helps customers buy and manage out-of-state single-family rental homes through one end-to-end platform. It combines property sourcing, purchase facilitation, ongoing management, and a dashboard for tracking rent, expenses, and portfolio value.

The proposition targets buyers who cannot easily access attractive local real estate, with a stated $20,000 entry point and 8–12% cash-on-cash return target. The deck positions the company as a marketplace plus managed service, while transaction and management pricing were not explicitly disclosed.

The model separates one-time revenue from home purchases and recurring management revenue from the growing portfolio. New homes closed, average purchase price, transaction fee, homes under management, rent, and management fee create the revenue build. Property exits, customer acquisition, operations staffing, and the $2.5 million seed runway test the scalability of the managed model.

## What's included

- 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions
- Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule
- Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking
- Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check
- Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR
- Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention

## Product & value proposition

- Full-stack platform: property sourcing, purchase facilitation, and ongoing management of out-of-state single-family rental homes.
- Entry point: $20k minimum investment gets a buyer into a rental home.
- Target yield: 8% cash-on-cash annually.
- Cash-on-cash range quoted: 8–12% annually.
- Additional benefits cited: tax advantages (depreciation offsets cash flow + capital gains), 30-year fixed mortgage leverage, equity build-up via tenant rent payments.
- Product is both a marketplace (find & buy) and a SaaS-style dashboard (track portfolio, rent collected, expenses, portfolio value over time).

## Market

- No explicit TAM/SAM/SOM figures in deck.
- Demand signal: 89% of millennials want to buy real estate but are blocked by high local downpayments.
- Structural context: 1/3 of US real estate owned by baby boomers; only 4% owned by millennials.

## Revenue model

Not explicitly stated in deck. Based on product description:
- Transaction fee on home purchase (typical for iBuyer/marketplace model: 3–5% of purchase price). Rationale: company facilitates the full purchase process and earns a spread or referral/closing fee.
- Ongoing property management fee (typical: 8–10% of monthly gross rent). Rationale: deck emphasizes ongoing management and dashboard - implies a recurring managed-services layer.
- Pricing is not disclosed; revenue model must be inferred for the model build.

## Traction & metrics

- Customer testimonial with metrics (slide 8):
  - $3.6k annual cash flow increase for one customer.
  - $55k projected portfolio value within 5 years.
  - 18% average annual return.
- Company claims product-market fit has been found: "We've found product-market fit & are looking to scale customer adoption."
- No revenue figures, customer counts, GMV, or growth rates disclosed in the deck.

## Unit economics

- Entry investment per customer: $20k.
- Quoted cash yield to investor: 8% annually → ~$1,600/yr cash flow on a $20k entry.
- Extended yield range: 8–12% cash-on-cash.
- Example customer outcome: $3.6k/yr cash flow increase, 18% average annual return.

## Competition / moat

- Three core risks identified (slide 7): Trust/Brand, Capital Markets, Scaling Operations.
- Implied moat: end-to-end managed experience (sourcing + transaction + management), brand trust, and access to affordable out-of-state inventory.
- Investor/operator pedigree cited as credibility signal: early investors in Honey, TaskRabbit, ServiceTitan; founders/operators from Opendoor, Human Interest, Invitation Homes, Sundae, Open Listings, Credit Karma, Wealthfront.

## Team & funding ask / use of funds

- Funding ask: $2.5M seed round.
- Use of funds (slide 9):
  1. Accelerate customer adoption / scale (product-market fit already claimed).
  2. Expand team beyond founding members.
  3. Market expansion - build on early market success and demonstrate repeatability in new geographies.

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## Recommended financial model

- **Archetype + why:** Real estate marketplace / transaction + managed-services P&L. Doorvest earns on two layers - a one-time transaction fee per home closed, and a recurring property management fee on AUM (assets under management = total home value in portfolio). This hybrid resembles a wealth-platform or turnkey-rental marketplace model, not a pure SaaS ARR model.

- **Forecast horizon & granularity:** 3 years monthly (Months 1–36). Monthly granularity needed because transaction volume ramps slowly at seed stage and property management revenue lags closings by a month.

- **Key drivers & assumptions:**

| Driver | Value | Source |
| -- | -- | -- |
| Average home purchase price | $120k–$150k | "affordable out-of-state" SFR markets (e.g. Houston, Memphis, Indianapolis) typically in this range |
| Minimum customer entry (down payment) | $20k | - |
| LTV on properties (implied leverage) | ~85% (30-yr fixed) | standard conforming mortgage; consistent with "$20k buys a home" framing |
| Cash-on-cash yield to investor | 8–12% | - |
| Doorvest transaction fee | 3–4% of purchase price | marketplace/facilitator spread; not disclosed |
| Property management fee | 8–10% of gross monthly rent | industry standard for full-service PM |
| Gross monthly rent per home | ~$1,000–$1,200 | consistent with 8% CoC on ~$120k home at 80% LTV |
| Homes closed per month (Month 1) | 2–5 | seed-stage ramp; PMF claimed but no volume data |
| Monthly close ramp | +10–20% MoM | aggressive but typical for seed-funded growth target |
| Homes under management (cumulative) | Builds as closings accumulate | Derived |
| Churn (homes sold / exited) | ~5% annually | low; rental RE is illiquid, customers hold |
| OpEx / headcount | 4–8 FTEs post-raise | "expand team" objective, seed-stage |
| Seed raise | $2.5M | - |
| Runway target | 18–24 months | standard seed expectation |

- **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear):**
  - Flex variables: monthly close ramp rate, average home price, transaction fee %, PM fee take rate, OpEx burn.
  - Bear: 5 homes/month by Month 12, low fee, high burn.
  - Base: 15 homes/month by Month 12, mid fee assumptions.
  - Bull: 30+ homes/month by Month 12, add ancillary revenue (insurance, title, refinancing referrals).

- **Required sheets / outputs:**
  1. Assumptions - all drivers, clearly labeled or.
  2. Volume & AUM - monthly new closings, cumulative homes under management, total home value (AUM).
  3. Revenue - transaction fee revenue (one-time per close) + property management fee revenue (recurring on AUM) + optional ancillary line.
  4. OpEx / Headcount - salaries, G&A, marketing, tech.
  5. P&L - gross profit, EBITDA, net income.
  6. Cash - $2.5M raise, monthly burn, runway, cash balance.
  7. Unit Economics - revenue per home closed, LTV of managed home (PM fee stream), payback period on CAC.
  8. Dashboard - key KPIs: homes closed MTD, AUM, monthly recurring management revenue, cash runway.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is the Doorvest financial model free?

Yes. The Doorvest model is a free Excel download with live formulas.

### Can I change the assumptions?

Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.