In this video, I will share how to best compete with professional home buyers.
There are a lot of investors out there these days and they are getting pretty creative in how they market themselves. Ultimately, their goal is to get their offer presented to a home seller before an agent gets involved.
They have 2 reasons for wanting to do this:
1. Avoid paying a commission, and
2. Keep the home seller in the dark about what their home is actually worth.
Why are longtime homeowners and some older adults at risk of losing a portion of their home equity to investors?
First, they want simple and investors are offering simple – cash, close in 30 days (or stay as long as you like) and they will pay the closing costs and take care of dealing with any stuff left in the house. Just leave and they will deal with it.
Second, they are often not as aware of what their home is worth and they are also unaware of what the true closing costs add up to be. For sellers, closing costs are overall pretty minimal when you exclude the commission (but sellers don’t know this and investors bank on it).
EDUCATE. EDUCATE. EDUCATE.
As an agent, it is your job to educate and advocate for homeowners. Help them determine if selling to an investor makes sense. If they are doing it for simplicity, then you also have to make the process simple in order to compete.
Always offer to provide a 2nd opinion that is honest and transparent. Compare the two scenarios and let the owner decide. You don’t get to control the outcome, just the message.
Educate Senior Living Communities.
Unfortunately, senior living operators and marketing teams are being “sold” by these investors too. They take what they tell them at face value and aren’t aware of the high costs to the client when they sell to an investor.
It’s your JOB to inform your clients, education partners, and referral partners about the industry practices. If they understand the cost to their prospective resident and simply don’t care, then you may need to decide if you are a fit for them as a partner.
________________
Want to learn more about better serving seniors and growing a successful mature market niche?
Click HERE to learn three areas to focus on to truly master senior real estate.