Readers shared their piping hot takes on iBuyers for 2022: Pulse

After a momentous year for iBuyers , where do instant offer companies like Offerpad, Opendoor and Redfin Now go from here? All February, Inman will dig into iBuyers to determine what the new year has in store, where opportunities lie for real estate agents and what brokerages should expect. It’s iBuyer Month at Inman.

Pulse is a recurring column where we ask for readers’ takes on varying topics in a weekly survey and report back with our findings.

After the end of Zillow Offers, there was a rush by some to pronounce iBuyers a failed experiment — even as iBuyers doubled down on the potential in the market while learning from the mistakes of Zillow’s strategy.

At the same time, there are individual agents, team leaders and brokerages looking for their own piece of the iBuyer pie. They’re taking advantage of tech tools to facilitate instant offers coupled with their boots-on-the-ground market insights.

Last week we asked you for your hot takes on iBuyers, including how you’re incorporating their strategies into your business. Here’s what you had to say:

• iBuyers might not enjoy record appreciation in home values this year, but they’re going to keep pushing into more markets and beefing up their services, particularly when it comes to helping buyers get more leverage in competitive markets by becoming cash buyers (power buying).
• Wholesale commodification of homes by multinationals and keeping homeownership out of the hands of the middle class should be seen as high treason. We should be throwing iBuying company execs onto feces stained punji stakes.
• The market wants the iBuyers. The convenience, the knowledge it is a cash sale, with the reduction that is equivalent to the broker’s commission and a rapid sale.

Do you agree? Disagree? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.