The real solution to the Zillow ‘Instant Offers’

What we would you convey to any sellers who are considering the option of a direct, cash sale?  Listed here are six points.

We work in this market and know the community much better than any website could.
We can help you get your house ready for sale.
We will promote your home to the widest possible audience, not only investors hoping to make a profit on your home.
We will make an effort to ensure you get the best offer possible, and we possess the skills that will help you negotiate the terms of the sale.
One of the best parts of our job is helping you locate a buyer who will love your home the way you do.
As a REALTOR®, We adhere to a Code of Ethics that includes a pledge to “protect and promote the interests of [my] client” (Article 1). These web based companies may facilitate your transaction, and not necessarily with all your interests in mind. With “Instant Offers,” unless you opt to work with an agent, you’ll be on your own handling the details of the transaction.

If past performance is any indicator of the future, sellers will continue to gravitate our way. The National Association of REALTORS®’ 2016 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers showed that 89% of sellers worked with a real estate professional to sell their homes. Only 8% of home sales in 2016 were FSBOs, a type of which is direct sales.

Still, direct sales may pose other challenges to the industry.

In addition to competing for sellers’ attention, these online investor sales may exacerbate the already tight inventory situation the majority of our buyer clients are facing. Instant Offers, for example, connects sellers with a small selection of of investors who are partnering with Zillow. Sellers who go that route are taking their home out of the inventory for the average buyer.

Also, sellers who choose direct sales aren’t listing their home on the MLS. In what way will that affect the reliability of MLS data? Not only real estate professionals but also economists and governments use that data to spot market trends, determine fair market values, and make plans.

John Mosey, president of NorthstarMLS, which serves more than 16,000 real estate professionals in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, sees no cause for concern on that front. “We’ve dealt with things like the ‘coming soon’ phenomenon and off-MLS activity, and we’re seeing that these trends aren’t shifting FSBO numbers,” he says. “Our transaction volume in 2016 was $19 billion, and we’re in the Midwest, where market values don’t come close to the coasts. So you don’t need the off-market activity to get a true picture of what’s going on. I think the potential harm with these off-market listings is that a lot of them have never been market-tested, so it’s hard to get an accurate appraisal.”

If nothing else, Mosey adds, direct-sale platforms are yet another innovation that will actually make both MLSs and practitioners think more deeply about how to communicate their value.

Denee Evans, CEO of the Council of Multiple Listing Services, lives in Las Vegas where Instant Offers is now being tested. She draws a correlation between real estate and her previous work in the financial industry. “Even when people began doing their own online trading, there was a healthy industry for financial planners. You’ll need a professional to assist you with that. You can find too many little things to keep track of,” she says.

“Even with my real estate knowledge, I don’t buy and sell houses myself,” Evans says. “There’s no replacement for a professional who does this every day and knows the ins and outs of the market.”