11 minute read
Changing The Ibuyer Game
Beat the Odds with The iReal Estate Pro Certification. Q&A with owner Dan Noma,Jr.
Confused about how to interact with ibuyers such as OpenDoor, Zillow, or Offerpad? I recently sat down with Dan Noma, Jr to discuss his new online training certification program designed to give real estate agents across the country new cutting-edge strategies and information about how to capitalize on this growing opportunity. Dan is the designated broker of Venture REI, a full-service real estate brokerage firm that specializes in commercial and residential investment properties. He is recognized as one of the state’s leading real estate brokers and is ranked among the top five residential agents in Arizona by the Phoenix Business Journal. In 2013 and 2014, he also was named “40 Under 40” by the Southeast Valley Regional Association of Realtors.
Advertisement
Russell Hathcock: What is the name of this certification?
Dan Noma, Jr: iReal Estate Pro™ Certification. You can learn more at www.irealestatepro.com.
Russell: Is iReal Estate Pro™ Certification qualified by any state regulatory agency or the National Association of Realtors?
Dan: No regulator. iReal Estate Pro is a ten module online training course. The mission of the of the iReal Estate Pro™ Certification program is to empower real estate agents with the tools they need to create a better consumer experience. You can learn more at www.irealestatepro.com cash to homeowners who visit their website and fill in information about their house. A cash offer is made with no fix up, listing, showings or hassle. Few Agents are equipped to help consumers navigate that process. As agents, we can complain or we can fill a genuine consumer need. iReal Estate Pro™ education teaches real estate agents to leverage the iBuyer and leverage their institutions so that they can bring those opportunities to consumers and come from a place of transparency. Southwest Airlines tagline is “Transparency;” we are the voice of transparency. The iREP training allows them to do is to get any and all available cash offers available to the consumer, bring them to the consumer’s attention to create credibility with that consumer.
just drove past five OpenDoor billboards. In Phoenix, 74% of the time the consumer already has their offer direct. We teach “bring Zillow and all the cash offers;” show the consumer all available option to them. Also show them what you make in writing; if it’s the best option for the consumer, recommend that option. Take the best option because it’s not self-serving. By agents not talking about OpenDoor, Zillow, Offerpad, Purple Bricks, we as agents segment ourselves against them. Whereas it doesn’t have to be that way. If Agents just answer the call and show up with all available options to our consumers, we actually can earn credibility which may be like the first time in our industry’s history that would be.
Russell: So I often, in some of the blogs and Facebook groups, I see it’s common to see an Agent say something to the effect of, ‘hey consumer you just lost twenty to thirty thousand dollars because they (iBuyers) lowballed you, you didn’t know any better, you sold your home for way undervalue, had you hired me I would have more than made up for that’. Does your program speak to agents in a way that helps them to bridge that gap?
Dan: iReal Estate Pro™ certainly does. We teach agents to not be the judge and jury to our consumer. If the consumer “cost of convenience” is $20,000, we are not to say that it wasn’t worth it for the consumer. We are not in their shoes; we don’t know what they lost in the cash offer discount to the retail price. They probably gained it on whatever they were trying to achieve. So, if the goal is to sell their house in a period of time and they were less concerned about the actual dollars then, they did what they wanted to do. Non-economic factors matter such as flexible closing dates, free local moves, no finance contingency; all those concerns the iBuyer answers. All of that stuff answers to whatever that consumer demand is. Consumer want fair and close to top dollar price. However, if they know what their other options are, and they know there is a cost to doing those, they may make that decision. We find 50% of the time they decline the cash offers to list the house with the Agent who brought them multiple offers.
Russell: So, with your program, what you’re saying is, “at least agents can bring all of that - all of the above to the table and help them make a wise decision or get informed to make an educated decision.
Dan: Right. So, if a consumer gets on Amazon, the analogy is all time is that, consumer gets on Amazon, Amazon doesn’t tell us that these are the best electronics in the world. Amazon gives us all available options and then we as a consumer get to read consumer reviews, see how they’ve done in different areas, maybe the pricing is something we can filter by or whatever is important to us. Real estate is the last industry where the industry in the world that is not designed for transparency. We are ushering in the future.
Dan: We have agents that are in Georgia, Idaho to California, completing the nearly four hour online video course divided into ten video modules to become certified.
Russell: Is this program something you are currently doing in your own business?
Dan: The course content, marketing material, resources, document templates are my exact toolbox
and that of Kenny Klaus. It contains what we did to sell 3500 homes last year. So, the only person that bought more assets than us was OpenDoor themselves. And it’s because we just came with a different message.
Russell: What differentiates Venture REI from iReal Estate Pro™?
Dan: Venture REI, where I am Broker/Owner, is unrelated to the iReal Estate Pro Certification program.
Russell: So, Venture REI is a traditional real estate brokerage?
Dan: Yes. An agent doesn’t need to do anything with Venture REI to get certified. The certification stands alone.
Russell: How does an agent interact with the iReal Estate Pro™ Certification program? Is it a web-based platform?
Dan: Yes. Think about how Agent first thought about short sales. A lot of Agents got in the short sale game late in the belief, ‘oh I don’t want to do short sales they’re too much work and it doesn’t affect me’. Suddenly, it became a large segment. The iBuyer is the new short sale - the new version of how to do real estate and agents that don’t embrace it are going to be left behind. The certification is all encompassing. It’s everything they’re going to need to transact with iBuyers effectively. So, they’re getting all of our marketing tools, all of our scripts, they’re getting all of our videos. After they’ve gotten through all the training, they access the Resource Center and Lab Center, join our iREP Community for best practices with other iREPs and monthly updates.
Russell: Who are the instructors in the video training?
Dan: Kenny Klaus and me. We teach ten modules of three sections each from beginning to end. We shift their mindset to how to actually transact with the iBuyers. iREPs get all the tools they need to transact this way. That’s when they get downloadable material and scripts, tons of it. And then they also get to be a member of the Community and that’s where we find the biggest value for them. When they join the Community, iREPs keep up to date with that information to not be left behind. Kenny and I digest new developments to find opportunities for Agents.
Russell: What would you say differentiates your program to, say, going to the local Realtor Board and get their GRI or other education?
Dan: We are the only Certification in the country focused to the iBuyer and institutional funds.
Russell: With the web-based video tutorials, access to downloads, access to networks, etc; does this include access to mastermind groups that can help troubleshoot and problem solve if the agents have some issues in some scenario or another?
Dan: Correct.
Dan: Yes. So, iREPs get Net Sheet Aggregator tool for download. They get their own cash offer website so now they can they can play with iBuyers.
Russell: How does the pricing work, is there a monthly subscription?
Dan: It’s $499 for the course, certification. The continuing education and resources are $49 per month of $499 per year.
Russell: How often is the iReal Estate Pro™ information updated, what advantage is there for them to stay plugged into the system, and can they offer updates they may be seeing in their market?
Dan: We update the content almost daily like iBuyer Buy Box changes that are hard for Agents to get on their own. In the iREP Community, an Agent in San Diego shares a piece of marketing so an Agent an agent in Atlanta could use that same piece of marketing material and change it for their market.
Russell: How did this program get started?
Dan: In a recent event in Phoenix, 320 Agents attended; 250 Agents signed up for the course and Certification. Agents get it - the biggest impact on their business today. iREP Certification allows them to understand how to be relevant, not from a place of fear but from a place of opportunity, empowerment, and education. Russell: As I understand it, he’s at another brokerage Keller Williams. Is there direct competition between the two of you?
Dan: No competition. We are resolved that consumer choice be driven by Agents including options that are advantageous to them with a lower commission to us.
Russell: If agents aren’t showing iBuyer properties could there be a violation of fiduciary responsibility?
Dan: We’re just starting to see the rumblings of some of those first things. There’s a case where an agent didn’t get an offer from OpenDoor property to the seller and the property sat on the market for six months. The seller finally sold the house on the retail market. They found out later they could have sold their property to OpenDoor for the same price or better. And they said, ‘well had I known that I would have done that my agent didn’t tell me about it’. So, the agent didn’t tell him about it because the agent wasn’t going to get paid the same amount. Well guess what? They just violated their fiduciary responsibility.
Russell: In terms of commission splits are you able to enhance the agents experience or does that become a non-issue to them?
Dan: Our belief is that we don’t get to decide any-
more. Our consumers are going to pick the best option for them, and those options have varying degrees of what their fees are that are available to us and if we can put ourselves aside and let the consumer make the best choice available to them, now we’ve created raving fans for life. Those people will come back to us. People will send us referrals and word of mouth that will lead to success down the road. I can tell you that 60% of the time, with iREP, consumers still list their property traditionally. They just want to be able to make that decision on their own. They do it in every other aspect of their life. No one tells them what to do except in real estate. Agents say your property is worth this X and it’s listed for X. It’s the only industry in the world that does that. And, it shouldn’t. It doesn’t have to be that way.
We as agents have a really bad reputation with consumers that they think of us as just above used car salesmen. So, by leading with transparency there really isn’t anything they can argue with. We show everybody all of our fees, all available options, let the consumer drive, and now we’re just in an advisory type role and we can really win and create kind of lasting business. We not going to win if we’re trying to take advantage of people, our consumers have gotten way smarter. Consumer access to cash offers - and it is right – to be transparent. 40% of the properties that hit OpenDoors at API last month that went to the MLS, of them, 40 percent of the properties that actually got to the MLS, OpenDoor saw before they ever contacted an Agent. If we don’t do it our consumers are doing it without us anyways. By agents not bringing all cash offers and show all my fees, that consumer can make an educated decision. If I’m the agent and I’m deciding for my consumer what’s in the best interests of the consumer then I’ve done the consumer an injustice and I’m not saying the consumer is not going to pick them. Consumers are, 60 percent of time, still pick that agent traditionally because that will probably always yield the highest dollar volume. But it doesn’t work in every case. If we as agents aren’t bringing these iBuyers to the table then they’re going there without us.
Russell: In terms of your market reach with this certification. Where are you at or where are you going?
Dan: We have agents all across the country that have already taken the Certification typically in iBuyer markets, or are coming soon markets, or we know that I iBuyers are going there. The iREP course and Certification is available to Agents in all 50 states.
use code PRO2020
