iBuyers aren’t out to steal your seller clients—in fact, they may be an asset in your market
By Megan Craig
Your client needs a fast, uncomplicated sale so she can move across the country next month with money for a new house in hand.
Enter an iBuyer. Available through well-known companies like Zillow, Opendoor and Offerpad, iBuyers are companies that will make an offer on a home sight unseen, allowing for a faster, less complicated transaction. But less complicated doesn’t always mean better—the offers generally are lower than a seller would have received through a traditional agent transaction.
A threat to traditional agents?
Despite technological advances like the ones that allow clients to sell their homes without ever listing them, 89 percent of sellers last year reported enlisting a real estate agent when selling their home, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.
And “iBuyer” isn’t a new concept—it’s just an updated way of saying “close now, cash, no concessions,” says Addie Owens, CRS, of RE/MAX Touchstone in Mount Dora, Florida.
“It offers the seller a more immediate experience, and there are some times when it makes sense to give up a large part of your equity for a fast sale,” Owens says. Those times include a fast relocation for a job or an inherited property, when the seller cares more about getting out of the house and its potential costs (like taxes) and less about getting top dollar for the sale.
But Owens says sellers don’t need to sacrifice service—and money—just to sell quickly. Hiring a professional who knows what they’re doing will allow the seller to move fast without turning to an iBuyer site. People may see it as the easy way out, but the easy way out costs a lot of money. If sellers listen to an agent and price the house right in the first place, they won’t need to worry about the house sitting on the market, and will benefit in the long-term.
“The real estate business has always and will always rely on boots-on-the-ground agents to be the eyes, ears and shepherds of a transaction,” Owens says. “If you’re concerned about iBuyers taking business away from you, you need to go back to your value proposition and examine your contribution to the sale experience.”
Finding help instead of harm
Some agents aren’t worried at all about iBuyers entering their market. In fact, Tim Kuptz, CRS, broker/owner at RE/MAX Advantage in Henderson, Nevada, says he sees iBuyers as a positive thing for his busy market because it offers his clients another possible option.
“To talk to a seller and not bring up iBuyers is not transparent. They’re here, they’re available, and people get suspicious when you downplay the significance of it,” Kuptz says. “I see them as an asset in our market. If the seller really does need to unload the property, of course you should bring it to their attention that these are out there.”
Timing is a huge concern for some sellers, he says, so encouraging those clients to solicit offers through iBuyers gives them a sense of control. It also helps him navigate how aggressive he can be with pricing the home—after looking at offers online, the seller can better tell him their bottom-line expectation for the house’s final selling price.
Agents who work with a high volume of relocation clients also benefit from iBuyers in the market, says Laura Wallace, CRS, owner of RE/MAX on Point in the greater Memphis, Tennessee, area. With a military base close by, she sees homeowners coming and going all the time.
“The iBuyers help prevent homes from sitting on the market and help people get to their next job or move on to the next chapter in their life,” Wallace says. She sees these companies taking the place of short sales, which are more stressful for sellers.
“Who wouldn’t want to be a part of it? It’s just another avenue of selling homes and getting homes sold instead of sitting on the market or going into foreclosure,” she says.
Your commission position
It may sound crazy to offer up an iBuyer to a seller whose home you’ve already listed. But as a listing agent, you can still be paid your listing commission, even if your seller ends up using the quick-sell option, says Tim Kuptz, CRS, broker/owner at RE/MAX Advantage in Henderson, Nevada. Here’s how:
List the house the traditional way, then reach out to the iBuyers to secure offers that may be of interest to your clients. “You have a contract, so they’ll buy the listed house and work with you. They factor your fee into their fees,” Kuptz says.
Bank on the referral fees. If an agent refers a client to Opendoor or Offerpad without a listing agreement in place, that agent can still be paid a referral fee for sending over a successful sale.
Stay up-to-date with real estate news and trends like iBuyers with the Council’s complimentary subscription to Inman. Go to CRS.com/resources to read more.
