In recent years, the intense competition amongst REALTORS® across the U.S. has resulted in many agents and brokerages upping their service offerings, forcing others to follow suit or fall out of favor. One of the more common services being added to brokerages and agents’ suite of services (and my personal favorite) is “concierge.”
Depending on who you ask, concierge can have a few different definitions. While there’s not a current real estate industry standard, concierge is generally understood to be a pre-listing solution or package to help sellers get to market and get their homes sold faster. It usually includes financial assistance for some level of home improvement or staging to help the property sell faster by appealing to a broad set of buyers.
Why did concierge services emerge?
iBuyers entered the market to solve for some sellers’ need for a quick and easy sale. But that’s not what every seller needs. Some sellers want to do whatever it takes to maximize their profit regardless of how long it takes them to get to market. Others need something somewhere in between.
Updating homes to help them sell faster and for more money isn’t a novel concept. In fact, many high-performing agents have been suggesting repairs, paint and staging (at a minimum) for years. Offering these services at a large scale so they’re available for every seller, however, is a more recent breakthrough. But much like a brand-new video game or an iOS update, there are some bugs that need squashing.
The problem with most concierge programs.
Most concierge programs were created with the seller in mind, and the creators seemed to ignore the effects they’d have on agents. In fact, the Keller Offers website states agents “handle all the complexity of working with different vendors.”
This is the case for most concierge programs. Agents who choose to make use of their brokerage concierges are ultimately sacrificing hours of their time managing pre-listing projects with added responsibilities including:
– Finding, vetting and managing (sometimes chasing down) contractors
– Picking out materials
– Trekking to hardware stores or waiting for material deliveries
– Driving back and forth between project sites
But as home sellers’ expectations for a pre-listing home improvement solution grow, agents are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Do you sacrifice your time to provide a concierge program that helps sellers achieve their selling goals? Or do you avoid the hassle and lose listings to your competition?
How agents can keep up.
In our recent survey, we found that many agents at brokerages without a concierge program are hoping their brokerage establishes one. But, as we pointed out above, a standard concierge program can help you win listings, but often at the expense of your time.
And that’s why we’re here. Curbio is the all-in-one pre-listing home improvement solution built for agents.
Our process was created to save you time and help grow your business—both by raising your average listing price and by helping you win more listings. The entire process has been completely streamlined to minimize project timelines and time on market. Like many brokerage concierge programs, we offer a pay-at-closing model (with no fees, interest, maximums or time limits). The best part for you: You won’t need to take time out of your day to manage home improvement projects for sellers. Our Curbio Project Managers are full-time employees who value the trust we’ve built with over 500 agents. They’ll save you hours of project management time and help you maximize your sellers’ happiness and profit.
We often hear that this sounds too good to be true, but we promise it’s not! See for yourself.
Learn more about how Curbio works.
Olivia Mariani is the director of Marketing at Curbio. To learn more about Curbio’s pre-listing home improvement solution and how it can help you grow your business, visit curbio.com.
