With the inventory of homes now hitting record lows in the U.S. and the abundance of home shoppers still on the rise, agents are navigating a seller’s market like none other. This year, homes are no stranger to multiple bids and offers way above asking price, even as much as $100,000 over. For buyers who are just starting, they’re in for a wake-up call, especially if they’re going to be buying with a contingency.
“Every house has multiple offers,” says Realtor Lindsey Haas of Atlanta Communities in Georgia. “And I tell my clients if I got multiple offers on my listing, and you have a contingency and haven’t sold your house nor have it on the market, we aren’t even going to look at your offer.” It’s a lot of setting expectations and snapping them into reality.”
Agents are grappling with disappointed clients. Many are losing out on the homes they want and settling for less than second best, leaving for some unhappy customers. And for those who do get the home they want, it was probably a matter of luck and preparedness.
But what can you do to help your clients?
Fortunately, agents can now offer their clients the ability to buy their new home before selling their existing one, contingency-free, when they partner with Knock. Through the Knock Home Swap™, qualifying clients get pre-approved for a new mortgage based on their current equity, so they can actually go out shopping for a home quickly, buy it and move in, and sell their old one after.
“It sounds too good to be true,” say many agents and customers upon first listen, but Realtors certified with Knock and their existing customers are singing a different tune. Realtor Anthony Brown of JP & Associates Realtors says his clients love the program. “We [as Realtors] can put them [our clients] at ease knowing that they can get into a new house because they’ve been approved. Isn’t that amazing?”
After clients get into their new home, they can also get up to $25,000 to fix up their old house to sell it for top dollar on the open market. The program is free for agents to use, and they get the commission from both the buy and sell sides of the transaction. Additionally, agents get access to Knock’s easy-to-use technology, custom marketing materials, and a team of experts from start to finish.
Thousands of agents are getting certified
Currently, Knock is available to thousands of agents in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Houston, Phoenix, San Antonio, Orlando, and Tampa, with many more markets on the way in the next couple of months to a year. Agents go through a brief training and knowledge check, and then they’re all set. “I promise that you’re going to rave about this program when it’s all done,” says Lindsey Haas. Interested agents can learn more about Knock on Inman here.