Venkatesh Ganapathy

Delivering Value Throughout Every Phase of the Homeownership Journey

Commentary by Venkatesh Ganapathy

While the U.S. housing market has boomed over the past two years, client retention hasn’t, with just 12% of homeowners using the same agent again. The way people research, buy and sell homes has also changed—with many millennials buying their homes almost entirely online.

To keep up with the rapid changes in today’s hyper-competitive market, real estate agents have adopted a wide range of new technologies and strategies to help clients through the buying process, from real-time home valuation tools to 360-degree video and virtual home tours. But here’s the catch: These digital tools are now almost universally used by every real estate firm.

To truly stand out, real estate agents need to deliver value to clients throughout the entire homeownership journey, long after they’ve left the closing table. This requires anticipating clients’ needs across every phase of homeownership to make their lives easier and save them money.

Solving this challenge is the reason we founded MoveEasy and introduced our new homeowner dashboard, empowering real estate partners to offer clients timely reminders and exclusive savings on home improvements and service providers across a myriad of categories.

Following their initial move, many homeowners need help setting up their internet and cable, as well as securing their home insurance and home warranty. Some real estate firms provide clients with a concierge service or local vendor list to help with these services, but not all approaches are created equal. As the months pass, the vast majority of agents begin to lose touch with their past client base.

In the years that follow, relationship fatigue begins to set in. Homeowners often complete major home renovations without any input from their real estate partner. Before long, the agent has completely lost relevance with the client.

With the rise of smart home and real-time data, all of this is changing. The ability for agents to deliver consistent long-term value to past clients and their entire network is now possible with the right platform, regardless of how long that client or prospect has owned their home.

Available on a white-label basis to real estate firms, MoveEasy’s dashboard will automatically surface relevant offers and discounts for clients for any home improvement they have underway. In addition, using contextual insights available through the platform, agents can present exclusive discounts on related services. For example, if a client is installing a new roof or home security system, the platform will automatically surface discounts on home insurance.

By providing clients with a one-stop shop for all services involved in homeownership, and surfacing relevant discounts and savings in the moment, agents can truly stand out and stay top of mind—drastically increasing loyalty and referrals. RE

While the U.S. housing market has boomed over the past two years, client retention hasn’t, with just 12% of homeowners using the same agent again.

Venkatesh Ganapathy is CEO and cofounder of MoveEasy, a national, full-service homeowner concierge platform designed to help the 130 million homeowners in the U.S. with all of their moving and home management needs. For more information, visit www.moveeasy.com/ real-estate.