Selling a home for anyone, but especially busy people with jobs and families can be a painfully complex and overwhelming undertaking. So anything that makes the process easier, faster, and more convenient will be a blessing, right? Maybe . . . maybe not. There’s a relatively new phenomenon in the buying and selling of real estate, one the makes everything easy and simple – iBuying. But the truth is a Martinsburg, Hagerstown, Frederick & Charles Town real estate agent will beat an iBuyer every time.
What Is iBuying?
iBuying involves companies known as iBuyers that purchase homes outright directly from the owners. With iBuying, a seller doesn’t have to list the home, market it, stage it, show it, or pay an agent. The seller just contacts an iBuyer and provides details about the home. Then, using special algorithms, the iBuyer calculates the home’s future value and makes a cash offer. If the seller accepts the offer, she gets her money within a few days or weeks.
It sounds like an easy way to sell a home and get cash in hand quickly, but, typically, an agent will beat an iBuyer in Martinsburg, Hagerstown, Frederick & Charles Town in several ways. First, most iBuyers are investors and want to buy at the lowest price possible in order to make a profit. In addition, iBuyers are big impersonal companies that buyers deal with only digitally, for example:
- Opendoor– The original iBuyer that operates in nearly 20 markets across the country
- Offerpad– Similar to Opendoor and operates in 11 markets nationally
- Zillow – A huge company now branching out into iBuying
- Redfin – A discount real estate brokerage similar to Zillow
Less Than Market Value
The main benefits of using an iBuyer are the obvious convenience and speed when it comes to selling your home. There will be no onerous listing and marketing and then tedious waiting for offers and more waiting after accepting an offer. With iBuying, you can sell quickly and then move on. It is especially advantageous for people needing to sell quickly because they need cash or because they need to relocate soon for a job.
But that speed and convenience come at a cost, and that’s why a Martinsburg, Hagerstown, Frederick & Charles Town real estate agent will beat an iBuyer every time.
For, as we mentioned, iBuyers are typically investors and are out to make a profit above all. And that means they can’t offer you full market value for your home – which an agent can help you get. Also, iBuyers have to fund the repairs and upgrades that make a home marketable, and this too can reduce what they offer you for your home.
So the bottom line is that your bottom line usually suffers with an iBuyer.
More Reasons an Agent Will Beat an iBuyer in Martinsburg, Hagerstown, Frederick & Charles Town
Besides the major drawback that an iBuyer can’t pay you what your home is worth, there are other important reasons why a Martinsburg, Hagerstown, Frederick & Charles Town real estate agent will beat an iBuyer every time:
- When you use an iBuyer, it is all technology-based, and there’s hardly any personal interaction, which can open the door for all kinds of misunderstandings and problems. With a traditional sale using an agent, though, you have an experienced person working with you, a partner, who is looking out for your best interests and is available to answer questions and serve as a resource.
- iBuying and iBuyers aren’t available in all markets, but real estate agents are.
- iBuyers usually aren’t interested in real fixer-uppers, preferring instead liveable homes.
Supporting Statistics
So a Martinsburg, Hagerstown, Frederick & Charles Town real estate agent will beat an iBuyer almost every time, especially if you want to get what your home is worth. And consumer statistics from Zillow itself support this claim. Zillow revealed that “90%of sellers who engaged its Instant Offers platform decided against the iBuyer offer and chose a traditional agent instead.” That’s pretty telling. Besides, a good agent can make the sale process easier and smoother and more convenient too. Find out how our agents can help you get a good price without the hassle. Contact us today! 3017071678