Traditional Brokerage vs. Instant Offers: How to Choose the Best Way to Sell Your Home

Traditional Brokerage vs. Instant Offers: How to Choose the Best Way to Sell Your Home

The average American buys a new house and moves every 7-9 years; and in order to buy that house, we need to sell the one we were living in before. The process of putting your house on the market can be overwhelming, and nowadays it’s also confusing because new players have entered the real estate game. Not only are we hearing a lot of talk about how the market is set to turn in the next few months, but there’s also new ways to sell a house.

Investor-buyers, institutional buyers or instant offer platforms have come into the real estate industry and introduced sweeping changes to the traditional Realtor model. These entities offer homeowners the opportunity to sell their home faster and they suit people who are looking to simplify the process. But if you’re facing this decision does this mean you should just do away with the traditional model? It isn’t that simple, and in this article, we will help demystify instant cash buyers and help you choose which route is right for you.

How Instant Offers Work

In this kind of transaction, you either submit your home to a platform or get approached for an instant buy deal. They will use details like neighbourhood data, specs of the house and the comparables in the area. Instant offer sites like Opendoor are doing searches for homes the way the average buyer is but they are actually able to make an all-cash offer immediately, and close quickly.

There are areas that are highly desirable to both families and investor-buyers, because of the high-value attractions. Many parts of Florida, for example are extremely desirable. Beacon Lake is one such community. According to the community’s website, it is ripe for investing, and investor-buyers are actively searching for homes for sale in St. johns County FL. “The area is anchored by an expansive 43-acre lake set amidst 358-acres of pristine nature preserve. Residents get resort style community amenities, architecturally distinctive homes that are great financial and lifestyle investments.”

This kind of set up would suit someone who doesn’t want to go through the process of finding a Realtor, having to host open houses and waiting out a buyer on the MLS. If you’re someone who has to get out of your home quickly, get the money to buy your next home, this is perfect for you. If you can also get the same amount of money with an Instant offer as you would on the MLS, this is a quicker and more convenient way to get your home sold. Instant cash offers, can also give you the advantage to get your hands on money faster, and whether you’re looking for a financial fresh start or get into your new home, that will help a lot.

The Advantages of a Traditional Real Estate Transaction 

How about a traditional real estate transaction? Why would you still favor it over an instant cash offer? If your house does not fit into what instant cash buyers call their “buy box”, which is the house spec and price point they stay within to make a profit. If you would prefer to wait it out on the MLS and get a great deal there, and if you have a really skilled Realtor you trust, you can be sure that you’ll get a good deal going the traditional route. It’s also worth mentioning that if you have the right Realtor, they will guide you through all types of real estate transaction options, and determine whether you need to sell to a normal buyer or more of an investor. If you’re working with the right people, they will steer you towards the best strategy, and this is important.

In Conclusion…

Instant cash buyers are just another path to selling your home that you can take. They offer more speed, more convenience; it allows you to circumvent some of the common struggles sellers have in the process of putting their homes on the market. Having more options is a good thing, it means you can find an approach that suits your lifestyle, your family and the move you’re looking to make. It’s important to get educated on the different home buying and selling options so that we can make the most informed decision. Cash offer buyers aren’t all bad, and not all traditional real estate transactions are good either. Ultimately, real estate is a vehicle for us to get what we want, and if we find the right model, that’s more power to us, and more power to our pockets!