You may have heard more about iBuyers and Power Buyers recently, as they gain traction in the real estate market. iBuyer, which stands for ‘Instant Buyer’, uses artificial intelligence to determine a home’s value and will provide a quick, all-cash offer on your home. Similarly, Power Buyers are companies that provide cash up-front for real estate purchases, giving consumers more leverage and options for transactions. Our in-house 8z Bridge and 8z Offers - Cash Buyer programs are examples of Power Buyers.
A major benefit of these solutions is that they give buyers and sellers additional flexibility and convenience. The classic method of selling a home on the open market, and then turning around to purchase a new home is not always the best option for everyone - especially in a tight market.
- Some people may be in a situation where they need to sell as fast as possible; perhaps they got a new job in another state and can’t wait for their home to sell.
- Others may be uncomfortable with having numerous buyers walking through their home for showings, so an iBuyer would be the perfect solution to sell with minimum hassle.
- Additionally, a Bridge loan solution allows consumers to buy with no contingencies, creating opportunities to win in this competitive, low-inventory market.
Whatever the scenario, iBuyers and Power Buyers are changing the way people buy and sell homes. In addition, many Realtors and consumers alike are starting to favor these new solutions over older methods.
Before we take a deeper dive into these trends, let’s take a look at your local market stats for the month of July.
In past months, we’ve discussed 8z’s Bridge and Cash Buyer solutions. These are prime examples of how Power Buyers are solving major issues in today’s market, allowing consumers to buy their new home before selling their current one, as well as enabling them to make all-cash offers on homes in a very competitive seller’s market.
These programs are absolute game-changers for buyers. Consumers who use Power Buyers are averaging less than 2 offers to close right now, while conventional buyers average 6+ offers. These solutions were especially helpful in the midst of the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean they’re going anywhere now. Billions of dollars have been invested into this space, resulting in a growing market share. On top of that, people love these solutions; consumer satisfaction surveys rank Power Buyers and iBuyers as some of the best companies to work with.
iBuyers have been around for some time now, but their offers are becoming even stronger, and fees have dropped significantly. In fact, some iBuyers are now making stronger offers than what you may get on the open market, which has traditionally been the best way to maximize home value.
Let’s take a look at a real-world example. A recent 8z client used our Offer Optimizer tool to evaluate all of their options for selling their home. An iBuyer came in with an offer of about $100k over the estimated sale on the open market!
In the past several years, iBuyer’s offer strength has typically been slightly below market value, making them more of a niche solution for particular homeowners that need to sell quickly and with minimum hassle. But at least for now, offer strength has actually risen above typical market value, making iBuyers a viable option for many more sellers.
You can also see how their fees have also declined quite a bit, now 2.5% lower than in 2019. [You can view this data in the charts below]
Our Offer Optimizer tool allows you to quickly get and compare all available iBuyer offers, making it easy to find the best offer for your home.
Technology continues to rapidly evolve, bringing along new and better solutions for the real estate market. Consumers are adopting – and even preferring these new solutions – as they make complex problems easier to solve. 8z is committed to being a modern brokerage, staying ahead of the curve and offering these amazing new services to our clients. Contact me to review all of your selling options - iBuying included.
