The disappointment of losing out on a home you love is something no one should have to deal with, yet most buyers will run into this situation in today’s market. Chances are, your homebuying clients are running into more competition than ever before.
Agent Arjun Nair from the Brokerage Product team at Flyhomes has studied the details of thousands of winning offers. In 2020, 53% of Flyhomes buyers who won bidding wars won despite not having the highest bid.
“Certainty is the best thing you can give a seller,” he says. “Our buyers win because we focus on eliminating doubt that the deal will go through. We see time and time again that certainty can be more important than a little more money. Many sellers will give up thousands of dollars when they know that their buyer will be able to close quickly and smoothly.”
What are the best tactics to help your buyer give the seller confidence to accept their offer? Here are the top three strategies that agents working with Flyhomes for Agents are using right now to win deals for their clients.
1. Provide financial certainty.
“Pre-approval isn’t enough,” Nair says. “Our buyers are underwritten as a first step so we have no doubt about what loan program and the amount they’re going to qualify for. Then, we can pass that certainty on to the seller.”
While underwriting is a more intensive process than pre-approval, it’s empowering for buyers to do it early on rather than waiting to underwrite the buyer and property at once. When they shop for a home with an underwriter’s input into their loan qualification, they shop with total confidence in their budget.
2. Make a cash offer backed by a short-term loan.
“Your client doesn’t need liquid cash to make a cash offer,” Nair says. “Our program provides a short-term loan that acts as a cash equivalent, closing in as few as eight to ten days. This program is now available for agents to offer their buying clients in Washington and California, with more states coming very soon. When buyers show up fully funded, sellers have no reason to say no.”
A cash offer allows your client to avoid financing and appraisal contingencies, giving the seller even less to worry about. It gives your buyer some welcome room to breathe, too. Once they buy their new home with a short-term loan, they have time to shop around for the best rate to finalize their long-term mortgage.
3. Guarantee your client’s purchase.
“Sellers fear having their deal fall through. If you can guarantee that won’t happen, you’ll have even better chances than with a cash offer alone,” says Nanda. “It’s how to beat a cash offer from another buyer. Agents using our cash offer program equip sellers with a contract that Flyhomes will buy the home in the rare instance that something happens that makes the buyer back out. There’s literally no risk to the seller.”
When the buyer is already underwritten and is able to make a cash-equivalent offer, very few circumstances prevent them from following through. A guarantee covers those rare instances where something unpredictable happens at the last minute, so the seller still gets to move on.
In 2021, there’s no reason for qualified buyers to struggle to prove themselves or to feel forced to raise their budgets because the next buyer is willing to pay more. These three strategies help buyers get homes they love with less stress so they can focus on what really matters: moving in and enjoying their new home.
If you’re not already taking advantage of these techniques, contact Flyhomes for Agents to get started.
Flyhomes is on a mission to build the world’s best homebuying experience. Launched in 2016 by Tushar Garg and Stephen Lane, Flyhomes has reinvented the homebuying process at every step. To date, we have helped thousands of people close on more than $2.6 billion worth of homes using the Flyhomes Cash Offer and the ability to buy a new home before selling the one they’re in. Learn more about how to help your clients with Flyhomes for Agents at flyhomes.com/agents.
