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To say that the industry has rejected iBuyers would be an understatement tantamount to saying Elon Musk is merely rich.
However, what the industry may not realize is that as more iBuyer providers and similar alternative transaction models emerge, the value of the real estate agent rises. If they choose to accept it.
At Inman Connect Las Vegas, RJ Jones of Keller Offers says the iBuyer sector can make the industry better, and it just requires a little more patience.
RJ Jones
Jones is Head of Keller Offers, and he posits that agents now have a golden opportunity to become a resource for informing sellers on what is now a multitude of options for selling a home.
Today, a traditional transaction is not a seller’s only option, and thus, agents who know how to talk about iBuyers can break through from being transactional to consultative. The industry isn’t changing, it’s already changed.
IBuying options, such as those part of national brokerages, like Keller Offers or Redfin Now, also help agents embrace their entrepreneurial aspirations.
“Our platform is one in which we support the success of entrepreneurs, or our agents, in our system,” Jones told host Katie Kosev in “The Future of iBuying” session. “We can create a business that is complementary of those [entrepreneurial] efforts that create great outcomes for clients.”
Jones encouraged viewers to see iBuyer offers as simply another market opportunity for their clients, to get over the stigma and use them to help sellers react to market conditions.
“We’re partnership and source agnostic. We want to help the agent offer great solutions. Is the seller driven by price and profit? Or timing and convenience? Sometimes it’s a traditional sale or sometimes it’s ‘what iBuyers can we work with?'”
To continue to drive the industry forward, agents need to be able to recognize what’s best for the consumer and apply every tool out there to solve their problem, whether that’s sell now and stay, or move now, sell later.
Jones said that while only 1 percent of sales today are from alternative models, that number is only going to grow and as a result, consumers are only going to get smarter about their options.
“More and more consumers will be exposed to them, through promotion first, then later education and experience,” Jones said.
Jones reminded Connect attendees that success breeds competition and “competitive forces draw more entrants, and draw more innovative models.”
Agents need to examine the iBuyer environment through the eyes of the homeseller. Regardless of how, Jones said, it’s the agent’s job to become the advisor to the sale.
IBuyers’ move into the marketplace is going to push agents to change for the better, Jones said.
“It’s driving professionalism, it’s the tide rising all boats on really great outcomes, and iBuying is one area of innovation. There are good things that are going to happen to all of us. There’s a lot to look forward to.”
Craig C. Rowe started in commercial real estate at the dawn of the dot-com boom, helping an array of commercial real estate companies fortify their online presence and analyze internal software decisions. He now helps agents with technology decisions and marketing through reviewing software and tech for Inman.
