Hey, welcome back to the Think Bigger Real Estate Show. I’m your host Justin Stoddart, here today to talk about iBuyers,. They’re no longer something of the future, something to be concerned about tomorrow. They’re here, they’re today and they’re eating up market share, and you need to be aware of how to deal with them, the true facts of what’s happening with buyers and how you can properly insulate your business and protect your database your consumers against misconceptions about what I buyers are and the value that they bring.
So we’re going to get to today’s guest who’s amazing Stacey Dearth, she’s a counterpart and a colleague of mine here at Old Republic. And she has some things to share, because she was once a Top Producing agent in Phoenix where I buyers were rampant and where she would go head to head against them and win. So what you need to know from her is going to be highly relevant to your business.
Before we do that, let me just remind you, that if you go to the website, think bigger dot real estate, you can get a summary every week and your inbox of the most important insights shared on this daily show as well as key action steps. So go Be sure and sign up for that. So with that, Stacey, thanks for coming on the show today. Super excited to have you here. We just had a team meeting. And it was all about how do we act as consultants to help our real estate agents better consult and better act as consultants and helping their buyers and sellers get the you know, the best outcome. And sometimes some of you may not like that, I’m gonna say this, sometimes that outcome may very well come from and I buy it right. There’s some people in some, I would say extreme circumstances where they have to get out of a house like today, and you spending the time and effort to get that home properly staged and set up. It’s not going to be in your best interest nor in theirs. And so know that I buyers, I believe and I believe Stacy as well play a certain part in this real estate landscape. Here’s what you need to know, though. Right? Would you agree with that statement?
Yes, absolutely.
Here’s some things that you need to know. In fact, let me just share this stat. And I’m going to ask Stacy to share her strategy when she would sit down an agent and there her potential listing was talking about I buyers and maybe they already had an offer from open door maybe they already had an from Zillow. Right and how she combated that, but here’s an interesting stat. This was from a gentleman who wrote a report, a collateral CEO, Dr. Michael squirts and Dr. Norman Miller there CI, Senior Vice President of Research and Development with with the firm collateral, they said in all, the typical cost to a seller seller appears to be in the range of 13 to 15%. Depending on the buyer vendor today, we use example of car Max, you can absolutely sell your car to car Max, you’re not going to get top dollar for it, will it be convenient? Absolutely right? they’ll decide if they want to make an offer. Once they do, they’ll take it off your hands immediately, however, you’re going to pay a premium to them or lose a premium in order to do that. So with all of that long intro, Stacey, let’s get to kind of the meat here. You would sit down with people in a listing presentation, they had one of these I buyer offers or we’re talking about it, what would you say? How would you help consumers and truly be an advisor, a consultant in helping walk them through that process.
You know, typically I’m having the conversation prior to maybe over the phone, prior to our listing presentation, or even the follow up presentation. And they’re generally bringing up the buyer. I heard about open door I heard about Zillow, I heard about offer pad. And they’re kind of bringing that to light. And I always encourage them to go ahead and get the offer from them. What I would do with that is once they have the offer,
I think there’s kind of three options for sellers. And that’s going to be you know, your buyer, you’re going to have an investor, and then you’re going to have your retail sale. And so what I would generally do is sit down with them and really go through the contract that they’re getting from the buyer, and all of the fees that are associated with that, because there are a lot of fees in there that people don’t really see
it’s the 13 to 15%. Right, some of stuffs hidden, they’re not calling it right,
Correct. And then and then I would go go through and you know, I would contact some of my investors, hey, what would you What would you pay for this property. And then I’m pulling comps, right? And now you’ve got the retail price. And so I literally would sit down with my my sellers and say, here are your three options. Here are the pros, here are the cons. And this is, you know, what’s more important to you is convenience moving out, you know, in a few days and not having anyone through your home, more convenient than getting more money. And like you’re saying 13 to 15%, sometimes more money, if they’re selling at retail. And for some people it was it was that middle road, you know?
Yeah, I love it. So I think as as real estate agents move forward, right? Gary Keller actually predicted that two years from now there will be half as many real estate agents as there are now I think part of that’s going to be because we have a demographic that’s retiring, I think, you know, I just read this morning that all signs like all flashing lights are saying that a recession is coming, I don’t know what that’s gonna look like, I do not think we’re going come into the 2008. Again, I think it’ll be a slower recession, and one that isn’t as dramatic on our industry. That’s my prediction. But I do think the recession is is overdue and coming, I think that will have an impact on agents that came into this business thinking it was going to be easy. Nevertheless, there’s going to be a weeding out. And I believe that those that stay and remain well paid, right, that aren’t just a functionary performing a task for for open door. But those that are well paid are going to be stepping into an advisor role. And they’re gonna be able to have the bold conversations to say, let’s look at all your options, I’m looking out for you, the consumer, and it looks like in this situation, I buyer is going to be the best option for you, I wish you the best go for it right, and having the guts and the abundant mindset to be okay with that and realize that in certain situations, that may be the best option for them. And other situations that may be to help them with an investor, or the third one, right, which is actually to say, let’s get top dollar for your home here, the comps and I’m going to spend the marketing and resources, the efforts to get this done for maximum dollar for you. And I think agents that can open their mindset to be okay with that and have those conversations gonna be the ones that are going to thrive. Because at the end of the day, the consumers matter, right? They mattered the most. And I don’t even know that it’s been that way forever. But right now, the consumers vote matters the most. And so if you’re going to truly be an advisor, acting as a fiduciary, you have to have that mindset is whatever’s best for the consumer is going to win. And those agents that are willing to do that are the ones that are going to win as well.Any additional thoughts?
I agree, no, you’re absolutely right. You know, I think just having having the consumer in your best interest is always obviously your your, your best route to go there. And, you know, like I said, if if they don’t care about the money, then you know, maybe it is the buyer option. Obviously, you’re not trying to sell yourself out of a job. But at the same time, your your truthfulness and your honesty and your you looking out for them is going to get you further, much further than trying to say I buyers are terrible and trying to bash them. Right.
They’ve they serve a purpose. But we also need to be fiduciary in the sense that we’re educating consumers. For them to know that it’s it’s not a great solution for I would say most, it may be an option for some but giving people the facts as to how much they’re giving up to go through and I buyer is what really needs to be known so that people can make an educated decision. And I think that’s where great real estate agents are really going to thrive far to the future. So, Stacy, thank you for coming in for having me, Justin, she is a superstar just for those of you that got a taste of her expertise on Instagram, I broadcast to my group, the Think Bigger Real Estate Group, a broadcast that we had some technical difficulties about partway through. So she is going to be coming on the show August 29th. To talk all about Instagram she is, in my opinion, the expert in our industry on helping real estate agents succeed at a high level with Instagram. She’s helping me up my game there and that she can help you up your game. So be sure and stay tuned, mark your calendar for August 29th. We’re going to be going deep and Instagram and this lady right here is going to be giving her expertise to all of you who watch so thank you again for tuning in to this episode.
Keep in mind my goal and my aim is to put big thinkers in front of you so that you can expand your own possibilities. That’s my passion and I thank you for joining today. And thanks again Stacey for being here we look for to catch you on the next episode.