What Exactly is iBuying?
A look at this trend in real estate, what it means, who the major players are, and some of the risks.
The term iBuying has been a hot topic in the world of proptech and has started to become more of a “household” term….but what is it?
iBuying or iBuyers are companies that use technology to buy and sell houses on demand. Their goal is to minimize the pain points for sellers, while significantly shortening the home selling timeline and eliminating the need for a broker.
In the traditional home selling process, there are many steps which includes hiring a broker, making any necessary repairs, possibly staging your home, holding open houses, taking offers, going back and forth with buyers, and dealing with paperwork. According to Redfin, all of this takes an average of 70 days.
In the iBuyer model, you fill out a few questions about your house on their website, then you typically receive a cash offer within 24 hours. So in this model you’re removing a lot of the steps, but at the same time you could be leaving money on the table.
In theory, the iBuyer is purchasing the home at a discount in exchange for eliminating some of the burdens for the seller, while charging a service fee. And in the model, the iBuyer is aiming to make money by…
