Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

Listing Bits Episode 54: Opportunities for Agents to Partner with Opendoor – with Shannon Fitzpatrick & Tyler Hixson

Many agents might view Opendoor as a competitor, yet another tech platform out to eliminate their jobs. But what if you could leverage the iBuyer as a partner to build your real estate business?

Shannon Fitzpatrick leads a team of 45 agents at Movoto Real Estate in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nevada, and Tyler Hixson serves as the Director of Real Estate Partnerships and Strategy at Opendoor. In this episode of Listing Bits, Tyler and Shannon explain how agents can leverage Opendoor as a tool to grow their business, bringing cash offers to prospects and tying multiple transactions together.

Shannon speaks to the value of going into a listing presentation with an Opendoor offer, describing how it allows him to do what’s best for the seller, and Tyler discusses why agents can get a stronger offer from the platform by articulating the property’s unique features. Listen in for insight into the misconceptions agents have about Opendoor and learn how to work WITH the iBuyer to serve your clients and generate more leads.

What’s Discussed: 

How Shannon uses Opendoor to bring a cash offer to prospects

Leveraging Opendoor to tie multiple transactions together

The value of going into a listing presentation with an Opendoor offer

Opendoor’s offer valuation process and associated service fees

How Opendoor passes its vendor discounts on to sellers

How Opendoor can serve as a powerful lead gen tool for agents

Why agents can get a stronger offer from Opendoor than sellers

How Opendoor works directly with agents through closing

How Shannon uses Opendoor as a recruiting tool at his brokerage

The advantage to sellers of working with an agent AND Opendoor

The misconceptions agents have about the Opendoor platform
-Quality of offer + fees
-Think it’s out to eliminate agents

Opendoor’s plans to expand to serve all customers, home types

Resources:

W+R Studios

Cloud CMA

Opendoor/CloudCMA

Connect with Tyler:

Opendoor’s Agent Partner Program

Connect with Shannon:
Movoto

Shannon’s Website

Shannon on Zillow

Industry Relations Episode 37: Inman Connect Las Vegas Pre-Show – RealScout, Opendoor, Redfin and Coming Soon Listings

Fight! Fight! Fight!

We’ve always been told that people love it when Rob and Greg argue.  If that true, then we have one of the best Industry Relations Show ever!

With Inman Connect Las Vegas on the horizon, Rob and Greg are facing off over the trend toward exclusive listings and the new Redfin-Opendoor partnership. What does the development of in-house listing programs mean for the industry? And how will the joint venture with Opendoor impact RedfinNow? Our intrepid hosts have very different answers to these questions.

On this episode of Industry Relations, Rob and Greg are discussing the impact of systematic coming soon listings. Rob makes the argument that widespread adoption will take down the MLS, moving residential real estate to the commercial model. Greg makes the case that pocket listings are nothing new and challenges the idea that the MLS will become a ‘dumping ground’ for properties that haven’t sold privately.

Rob and Greg also weigh in on the new partnership between Redfin and Opendoor. Listen in for Greg’s insight around why the collaboration is a genius move that benefits both parties and learn why Rob sees it as a huge concession on Redfin’s part—a concession that will eliminate their own iBuyer operations in each and every Opendoor market.

What’s Discussed: 

What Rob & Greg are looking forward to most at Inman Connect

Greg’s criticism of Rob’s recent posts on RealScout’s Buyer Graph

Rob’s argument that coming soon programs will take down the MLS

Greg’s counter that exclusive listings are not a new phenomenon

How residential real estate may be moving to a commercial model

Greg’s take on the brilliance of the Redfin & Opendoor partnership

How the new partnership with Opendoor will impact RedfinNow

Rob’s view of the partnership as a concession on the part of Redfin

Connect with Rob and Greg:

Rob’s Website

Greg’s Website

Resources:

Inman Connect

Notorious R.O.B. Blog

RealScout Buyer Graph

HAR YPN

Howard Hanna Find It First

Top Agent Network

Redfin & Opendoor Partnership

RedfinNow

Offerpad

Our Sponsors:

Boost Summit

Notorious V.I.P.

Eric Wu has a plan

From Inman News…

Opendoor CEO wants to make homebuying and selling free

On Monday, Wu outlined his vision during a panel session at the Techonomy 18 technology conference in Half Moon Bay, California, at a hotel perched on an oceanside bluff.

In his opening statement on the panel, Wu said Opendoor wanted to make real estate transactions both “frictionless” and “over time, a free experience.” He repeated this goal later on and added that it “requires patience and requires time.”

This reminds me of the recent adage, “When something online is free, you’re not the customer, you’re the product.”

“Cloud CMA’s iBuyer Connect has legs.”

I couldn’t come up with a better headline than Inman News in their post today about Cloud CMA’s new feature “iBuyer Connect” so I just stole it. : )

Cloud CMA’s iBuyer feature has legs
New feature from W&R Studios is patent-pending, now open to investors nationwide

“In August, W&R Studios began testing iBuyer Connect, originally called Cloud Investor Connect, in Southern California. It gives an agent the option to request cash offers from iBuyers after creating a CMA for a property, provided that the property meets the requirements of an iBuyer.

Should any iBuyers that are part of the iBuyer Connect network choose to submit an offer, the agent can then go to a listing presentation armed with one or more cash offers to present to a prospective seller, along with a CMA.

If the seller accepts the investor offer, the agent will represent the investor as a buyer’s agent. The agent might also win the listing, in which case the agent could also serve as a dual agent. The feature doesn’t comes with any additional cost, and the compensation agents receive from an iBuyer varies by company and market.

Our current test is with a Southern California company who is focused on flipping homes. Venture backed iBuyers like “Opendoor” are typically making offers closer to market value. Cloud CMA can work with both models.

We recently celebrated the results of agents who used iBuyer Connect for the first time to make transactions. The response from these agents has been great.

We are also surveying all agents using iBuyer Connect and are very encouraged by the results (we sent the survey out to a pool of 250 participants and got 35 results back).

When asked, “How likely would you use this feature on future listing presentations?” Over 85% said they were “Very Likely”, “Likely” or neutral.

Here are some other quotes from the survey.

“The services works as advertised, the communication from the investor was great. “

“It could work for certain properties. We would use it again in the future.”

“I think this is a great new tool and look forward to using it again. “

“The offer was extraordinarily low… but still useful for selling an investor network to clients.”

“I really appreciate the service. I believe that it is great to have that service available when listing homes, especially when the home needs work and you dont need to wait for an offer.”

I reached out to one of the agents, Briar Warren of Murrieta, who successfully sold a home using iBuyer Connect, you can read her comments on our press release here.

As we continue to test this feature we are learning how to provide even more value to Cloud CMA subscribers. We think agents can provide a great experience to their clients by enabling them to participate in this growing iBuyer marketplace.

Curious about iBuyers?

I think CRMLS did an excellent job of summarizing iBuyers in a recent blog post.

Curious About iBuyers? Check Out This Helpful Guide

Fundamentally, iBuyers are companies (or divisions of companies) that make fast, automated cash offers on real estate listings. Then they turn around and sell the listings, potentially remodeling or otherwise updating the properties in the process.

Some critics claim the iBuyer model is no more than an update on traditional home flipping. Proponents, however, point to the technological advances iBuyers have made. Each iBuyer has its own automated valuation model (AVM) that helps them price listings – some even using machine learning and neural networks to come to a price estimate. When it comes time to sell the listings, some iBuyers incorporate technologies such as augmented reality and identity verification to make the buyer’s experience seamless, painless, and high on the “wow factor.”

The blog post is very concise. It also talks about how Cloud Investor Connect works in their market and how it lets agents participate.

There’s been a lot of new activity in this space as current players are expanding in to other markets and new entrants like Bungalo are getting in to the game. I’m sure iBuyers will be a good topic for the hallways at CMLS.

Industry Relations Episode 26: Reframing the iBuyer Phenomenon

Today’s consumer is used to pushing a button and having magic happen. (Thank you for the insight Jeremy Waxman.) And more often than not, we are willing to pay an extra fee for things like convenience and certainty. For this reason alone, the iBuyer phenomenon is here to stay, and the real estate industry would do well to consider how traditional agents might participate in the changing market.

Rob and Greg are back to offer a different perspective on the iBuyer movement, discussing how the industry is misunderstanding the phenomenon. Greg explains how organized real estate might address the consumer experience by partnering with a large financial institution to ‘be the bank’ and Rob shares his take on FSBOs and iBuyers as opposite ends of a spectrum—with the traditional REALTOR experience in the middle.  

Rob and Greg address fiduciary duty, describing the conflict of interest that occurs when agents have the capacity to make on offer on a prospect’s home. They cover the difference between iBuyers and traditional house flippers, describing the considerable capital behind companies like Offerpad and Opendoor and the significance of Zillow’s recent acquisition of a mortgage lender. Listen in for insight around iBuyers moving into high-dollar markets and learn how agents fit into a future world where iBuyers are the default.

What’s Discussed:

How the industry is misunderstanding the iBuyer phenomenon

-Intention to change process of buying/selling home

-Company to figure out user experience wins

How MLS and association execs might consider the agent experience

Greg’s proposal around NAR partnering with a financial institution

Rob’s prediction that the iBuyer movement is here to stay

The conflict of interest agents face in offering to buy a client’s home

Rob’s take on FSBOs and iBuyers as opposite ends of a spectrum

-Working with REALTOR = middle ground 

The potential ‘buyification’ of the brokerage business

Why iBuyers are not as vulnerable as traditional house flippers

The significance of Zillow’s acquisition of Mortgage Lenders of America 

The tipping point when iBuyers become the default for consumers

The significance of iBuyers moving into high-dollar markets

The value in agents learning to pitch investor offers to sellers

Sponsors:

Cloud Agent Suite

The Red Dot

Resources:

Rob’s iBuyer Blog Post

Denee Evans on Listing Bits

Zillow’s Q2 Webcast

Cloud Investor Connect

Inman News: Agents can show sellers iBuyer offers with new Cloud CMA feature

Brad Inman: In real estate’s tech platform race, I’m betting on an underdog

Connect with Rob and Greg:

Rob’s Website 

Greg’s Website 

Get off my lawn!!

When I see Gary Keller on stage trying to school Brad Inman, or brokers yelling at new companies complaining about their business models, you can deduce only one thing. They are scared shitless. They ought to be. The new entrants don’t give two shits about the old guard.

You think the hyperbole and lies are at an all-time high? I couldn’t agree with you more. Why? Well, I think it starts from the top. But hey, the economy, right?

But, I digress.

You are seeing this everywhere. Zillow vs. Opendoor. Corelogic vs. Remine. Traditional brokers vs. Compass, and anyone else who got a check from a V.C. The times they are a changing.

Arguing over percentage points, or throwing a bunch of props around on stage, is not going to change things. Things are going get bloody. Guarantee it.

My advice to the old guard, get over yourself. You gotta to find new ways to win. So quit complaining and get to work. I mean, how bad could it be?

See you tomorrow at Inman Connect SF


Dan and I will be attending Inman Connect SF starting tomorrow, until Friday. I will be on stage at 4:40PM Tuesday on the “New Kids On The Block” panel (don’t ask) making a special announcement about Cloud CMA. We are super pumped about this announcement and think its one of the most innovative things we’ve done….ever. So stay tuned, and see you is SF!

Captain Luddite and the iBuyer

Cameron Paine on Inman News…

What my old-fashioned dad taught me about the ‘typical’ iBuyer

In short, I thought an iBuyer was someone in a very particular, time-sensitive situation who would trade getting top dollar on their property for security on the price.

I firmly believe that there will always be a market for these types of sellers, but what I never even considered was that someone who had no time pressure whatsoever would find the model attractive because of sheer convenience. Now that was eye-opening.

This got me wondering whether the real estate industry has underrated convenience as a factor in the real estate transaction. Surely there are more people out there like my father who value time and convenience over money.

Great story from Cameron. I have to agree with him, I thought the total available market (TAM) of these types of Sellers was limited. As time goes on my attitude is changing. I think this is a much bigger market than a lot of us realize.

BTW if you haven’t checked out Cameron’s blog, PainePoint, you should.

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