Real Estate Offers Platform - OfferBot

[Kristian Peter]

Really looking for feedback and comments, how do you submit offers? Probably email, right?  Do you hit 'send' and pray, or then text and call to find out if the offer was received and if you have a chance or getting a response? Does the property that you're interested in sometime go pending or sell without you ever receiving a response?

Real estate offer platforms are nothing new, and several institutions, like Fannie Mae's Homepath, have required buyers to submit their offers online so that the seller and agent are aware of the offer and can respond appropriately. Homepath only works for Fannie's REO properties, but there should be a platform that allows anyone, anywhere to submit an offer on any property and know that it was received, and it can responded to with the touch of a button.

Contracts can be drafted and signed after the offer is presented, negotiated, and agreed upon (like in almost all other types or sale), and many hours or days can be saved during the process. All parties to the offer can communicate, documents can be exchanged, and once everyone is in agreement, the closing terms can be communicated to escrow or a closing attorney, along with the contact information of the parties involved.

Is this something you would use, and if so, how can it provide everything to make the real estate transaction faster and easier?

Thanks for your comments and suggestions! #OfferBot

[Shannon Wright]

Depending on if you are using an agent or not, the answer to your question will vary. A lot of investors I work with have a deadline/offer expiration on their actual contract as a way to incite a quicker response. A lot of my investors (FSBO deals) also deliver their offer in person to the seller with the hopes of walking away in contract. Some of them do literal mail-away to absentee owners and let the cards fall where they may. The mail-away option also has a buyer opt out time on it, too, so they are not under contract for a ton of properties at once if everyone responded.

I think the large variety of sellers will not allow a universal platform to take off and become all-encompassing. It's a great theory, but in practice, I don't feel most sellers who have the "steal of a deal" properties want to deal with a website. We struggle to get sellers to execute and communicate for escrow through email...most of them want a person in front of them.