There was a time not too long ago when almost all residential real estate transactions required face-to-face customer interaction with a real estate agent/broker and ancillary services such as title, escrow, mortgage and home inspection. Gone are the days of buyers and sellers walking into a real estate office to pore over books filled with the latest MLS listings, review typed contracts in triplicate and take in the smell of singed facsimile paper in the air.
Rolodex! What’s a Rolodex?!
At the same time, consumer behaviors have changed significantly in recent decades – particularly since the stay-at-home pandemic. People are more savvy, well-read and prepared when considering a purchase of products and services. Now they can buy virtually everything online from toy cars (for kids) to car toys (for kids at heart).
Thanks to ecommerce, people can shop for just about anything from the comfort of home – including the home.
Convenience. Efficiency. Certainty. Consumers want to enjoy the home-buying and -selling experience in a modern, tech-friendly, transparent way. Call it the Bezos Effect – enjoying a painless, seamless, (mostly) stress-less consumer experience.
By some accounts, about $30 billion has been invested in real estate tech in the last five years, helping to improve many aspects of our industry. And nowhere better than in Seattle/King County – a leading tech research and development hub – is residential real estate delivering on the promise of a consumer-first experience.
Traditional brokerages recognize the need to evolve their businesses and provide new solutions for today’s buyers and sellers. John L. Scott, for one, has been recognized in the industry as a leader in both technological and consumer-friendly services for many years.
The third-generation real estate brokerage offers a variety of forward-thinking programs with the customer always top of mind. For instance, John L. Scott has an iBuyer program geared toward informing homeowners of their selling options – either through an instant-buyer offer or traditional open-market listing – while providing sellers with the added measure of a broker as their trusted representative in the transaction.
Wishing to make home upgrades before listing the home on the open market but short on funds? No problem! John L. Scott has a popular program that can advance money to complete pre-listing upgrades. Save the receipts, complete some paperwork with your broker, and sellers simply repay the costs to John L. Scott at closing – with no fees or interest. (An optional cash-advance program with a John L. Scott-endorsed, third-party provider includes a financing component.)
Sellers looking for a contractor to paint the home’s interior, switch out kitchen cabinets or replace a heat pump are now turning to John L. Scott brokers (like me) for access to great resources, including a variety of qualified vendors to help simplify life and prepare the home for its shining moment on the market. (Contractors are typically recommended based on past performance but not formally endorsed by either John L. Scott or their brokers.)
John L. Scott also partners with Old Republic Home Protection to deliver one of the best home warranty contracts in the Pacific Northwest. Concerned the hot-water heater may be on its last leg? Old Republic can protect new owners with a service contract that covers a wide variety of mechanical, electrical and structural aspects of the home. Sellers or buyers (or sometimes their real estate professionals) can purchase the contract for a minimum one year – a huge relief for buyers who often waive the home inspection in this competitive housing market.
Teaming with Priority Home Lending, John L. Scott now offers a series of loan programs to help qualified buyers bridge the gap between selling one home and purchasing the next. The “buy before you sell” option gives buyers a huge edge when competing with others for the same dream home.
Quite simply, consumers – perhaps spoiled by the wonders of Amazon, Uber, Grubhub and Airbnb – have a renewed set of expectations when choosing how to prepare for their next home sale or purchase. And the tech breakthroughs across other industries are helping consumer-facing aspects of residential real estate to recalibrate and thrive.
Let’s be honest, whether we are buying a bagel and coffee across the street or a farmhouse and vineyard across the state, consumers want to have a positive experience. They will ask: “Was it easy or difficult to accomplish?” and “Was it fair?”
As your John L. Scott broker representative, I vow to deliver on the real estate needs of my clients and always aim to exceed expectations. We are in-tune with today’s modern buyer and seller to deliver efficient, convenient and stress-free service throughout the experience. Contact me to learn more.