First Things First: What’s An “iBuyer”?
Essentially, an iBuyer is a company like one of those “we buy ugly homes” groups. The difference is that an iBuyer is generally going to focus on any property someone lists—with an emphasis on good quality homes—over just those that are in decline, or otherwise hard to sell.
Essentially, when you list with an iBuyer, they’re going to distribute the details of your property sale through multiple online networks to facilitate visibility. Generally, there will be some sort of MLS involved. MLS stands for Multiple Listing Service. Essentially, these groups put your property on multiple online real estate markets so it gets the most visibility.
While a traditional realtor may feature your property on varying online outlets, their emphasis is going to be more localized. An iBuyer’s purpose is to expand visibility, and subsequently, how swiftly a given property sells. Also, they expedite sales.
Options For Buyers And Sellers
Essentially, the iBuyer in question will make instant offers on properties. You can buy a property or sell one through the auspices of a solid iBuyer. You jump through a few hoops and the iBuyer assesses associated value, making a strategic estimate. If you like the result they bring to the table, they’ll buy the property, market it, and resell it.
You’ll be virtually guaranteed a very swift return on your property. The term to look for is “all-cash offer”. Granted, once you submit, that’s going to put a moratorium on refurbishment efforts that may be in the works—for the most part; in all situations there are outliers.
That means you want to have your property at a level where its sale is something that makes sense. Before getting appraised by an iBuyer, you want to clean all the carpets. If they can’t be cleaned, either replace them with other carpets or put down something like a tile; maybe even LVP.
Have you put any attention on landscaping recently? Curb appeal is huge in moving a property. If you can maximize that property’s curb appeal before listing with an iBuyer, you’re going to get more money upfront than you would if you put no time into the effort. On that note, you also want to fix up all the little issues like burnt-out lightbulbs or holes in the wall as well.
Do You Have To Accept The Offer Of An iBuyer?
The short answer is: no. However, it can be difficult to get a second offer from an iBuyer once you’re entered into their system. That will, of course, depend on the iBuyer in question. What some home sellers do is use the iBuyer as a means of establishing an estimate. Keep in mind, like those who purchase “as-is” properties, iBuyers must sell at a markup.
Essentially, even if they don’t have to lift a finger to augment the property they’re acquiring, for the operational infrastructure involved, it’s necessary to sell that property at a level allowing the iBuyer to make a profit. So say you’ve got a home worth $300k. The iBuyer might pitch you $250k; but you get it immediately, rather than at the end of one to six months as is the average.
This isn’t always a perfect rule of thumb for the proper appraisal, but this is a tactic that can be useful, and about which you should be careful. Remember, though iBuyers are convenient, they are for-profit industries, and they’re not going to go back and forth with you too long. The convenience they offer is worth the slight reduction in profit on your property in most cases.
There are a variety of iBuyers out there who will make varying offers. You can explore the website at the following hyperlink for a strong iBuyer review. This can provide a lot more in-depth information about how iBuyer’s work. That sort of data will help you determine if iBuyers are right to you, and how best to work with them.
Using The Tools At Hand
With iBuyers, you have the opportunity to reduce the difficulty and overall complication involved in the process of selling your property. Make sure you get your property to a peak of marketability before you get an offer from such an organization. Alternatively, don’t rule out iBuyers when you’re searching for a property to buy.