Updated Revision July 25, 2019:
In response to this email:
ALINA PTASZYNSKI | REDFIN | SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST
I want to make this clear RedfinNow presently does not operate in Boston. RedfinDirect does. These are two separate concepts
Real estate giant Redfin started RedfinNow. RedfinNow does not operate or is buying any Boston condos for sale directly from homeowners in the Boston downtown real estate market.
Through the trend known as instant offers is in other parts of the country, ibuyers, RedfinNow customers can fill out a quick online form and get an offer on their home in one or two business days.
Should it come to this area, Boston downtown real estate home owners may be tempted to request an “instant offer” and cash out their home the digital way? RedfinNow is quick to point out the advantages: Not only will home owners supposedly save time in waiting for a traditional buyer to make a serious offer on a Boston condos for sale, but they will also save the hassle of showing the home. So what’s there to lose?
Well, to get an answer, we can look at other buy direct platforms such as iBuyer customers in other cities have been saying. Not all these services are in Boston downtown real estate, but they’re bringing a reputation with them. Here are the top customer complains about Opendoor and Zillow Offers:
Bait and Switch. The iBuyer offer drops before close.
Final offers end up being lower than initial offers. A property investor on BiggerPockets.com, a real estate investment-advice forum, shared his experience with Zillow Offers. Although the company delivered an initial offer in two days as promised, after sending over an inspector they followed up with a second offer that was tens of thousands of dollars less than the first. This experience seems to be a common one among Zillow Offers customers, and similar complaints exist about Opendoor on the Better Business Bureau’s website.
iBuyer offers can take a long time to close.
They may not be so instant. Because the iBuyer still wants to do an inspection and request repairs just like a traditional buyer would, the process of agreeing on a price can take weeks. Of course, this is how real estate is traditionally sold, but if convenience and time savings are the goal, so-called instant offers don’t seem like the best option.
Sellers are losing money hand over fist.
Even the “high” initial offer put forward by an iBuyer is usually going to be less than what the home will sell for on the open market. Customers who are satisfied with the iBuyer experience usually say that they don’t mind forgoing several thousand dollars in home value if they can get out of their home fast. But know this and here is the bottom line: Zillow and Opendoor will only buy your home if they can turn around and sell it with a real estate agent for more. You read that right.
iBuyers are not required to represent your best interests.
One of my favorite things about being a licensed real estate agent is that I’m required, and all of my co-workers in the industry are required, to put our client’s interests above our own. Zillow and Opendoor and any other iBuyer out there has only one interest – making as much money off the homeowner as possible.
iBuyers are trying to hide their terrible reviews.
The open real estate market is your best bet to sell a home.
If you ran an auction and had one person come, would you get a good price for the item your selling? What if you had a hundred people come to the auction, what if it was ten thousand, how about a hundred thousand people at the auction? This is what a top real estate agent does for you, we reach thousands upon thousands of potential buyers for every home. We do a lot more than simply listing the home on our local MLS (thought of course we do that too) to reach the highest amount of buyers with the best possible presentation of your home. Selling your Boston downtown real estate, presenting and promoting it well on the open real estate market will always be the best way to get the highest price for your home.
Update: Corrections
View these Boston condos for sale before they go Under Agreement
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Boston Downtown real estate for sale under $2,000,000
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