When it comes to purchasing real estate, buying low is the critical. But how do you value what a home is worth effectively. BuyerPrice has is a new service that has you covered. The service computes the real worth of a property and if you pay any more using the service you receive the difference.
Today we sit down with CEO Tim Hammond to learn more about their service
Tell us about the product or service.
Algorithm Powers Tech-Enabled Homebuyer Negotiation Service
Founded by successful technology entrepreneurs and real estate industry experts, BuyerPrice.com is leveraging its proprietary algorithm and superior negotiating system in conjunction with a network of US real estate brokers to get guaranteed lower prices for homebuyers. (We handpick expert negotiators from local real estate brokers).
The company has developed an algorithm (patent pending) that fundamentally changes real estate pricing and puts the negotiating power in the hands of the buyer. BuyerPrice.com subscribers automatically see a Buyer PriceTM guaranteed price appear alongside the asking price of most homes online. If, using a BuyerPrice.com negotiator, the buyer pays any more than this, then BuyerPrice.com will cover the difference – up to the full asking price.
Buyers can source homes from places they know online like Zillow or Realtor.com, and the BuyerPrice web browser app (ios and android coming soon) overlays a ‘wiggling price tag’ which, when clicked, reveals our Guaranteed “Buyer Price”. This is calculated in real time taking into account many market factors including time on market, local supply and demand, and market sentiment. BuyerPrice.com accredited negotiators then personally swing into action to secure the lowest possible price, which is often even below the guaranteed BuyerPriceTM.
How is it different?
BuyerPrice.com is a refreshing gamechanger for the homebuyer that redefines how people buy homes and the price they pay. Our vision is that homebuyers will always pay less. Guaranteed.
BuyerPrice.com is the only company that supports their pricing estimate with a rock solid price guarantee for their customers. Our Guarantee:”We guarantee you’ll pay the BuyerPrice or less, or we’ll pay the difference up to the asking price”.
This is a fundamental shift in how the real estate industry currently works, and means that homebuyers ALWAYS win.
We combine our unique pricing algorithm with expert negotiators who only earn when homebuyers pay less. As BuyerPrice agents are financially incentivized to save homebuyers money, homebuyers are ALWAYS better off buying through BuyerPrice.com
What market are you attacking and how big is it?
It is well known that the American residential real estate market is huge, with over 5 million transactions annually and over $65 billion in real estate agency commissions generated. We believe the ultimate consumer, the buyer, has been relatively under-represented in terms of negotiating power and our business model takes advantage of this gap in the market, especially with digitally interested first, second and third third time homebuyers.
What is the business model?
The BuyerPrice business model is unique as, not only do we generate a new flow of buyer leads for real estate brokers/agents with an exclusive buyer agreement, but, for the first time as far as we are aware, we are also providing agents with a financial incentive to save homebuyers money. The buy-side agents (or negotiators) we engage ONLY get paid on results, namely when a homebuyer pays less. Their commission increases as the purchase price decreases. We automatically set a Buyer Price for every property, updated daily, and we guarantee homebuyers will pay this figure or ideally less. If they pay any more than the Buyer Price then we pay the difference between the price we negotiate and the asking price. We are extremely confident in the accuracy of our algorithm which we have tested extensively.
What inspired the business?
BuyerPrice.com was conceived in the UK for the American market. Unlike the US, the UK real estate market is largely unregulated, which has allowed for a particularly creative and entrepreneurial approach to agency-related services. We Brits don’t let convention get in the way of innovation. However, there is clearly an appetite for this in the USA and the availability of buy-side commission (which is not available in the UK) makes for a stunning business proposition.
We are deeply involved in the real estate industry with a heritage of developing distinctive lead-generation services for real estate agents. We conduct extensive research and analytics in the housing market and identified a clear shortage of buyer-focused technology – plenty of real estate process software and online search portal facilities (focused almost exclusively on sellers), but little for the buyer. We recognized that buyers now regard a purchase as an investment as much as it is a home. Yet there was nothing on the market that easily helped them negotiate the best terms, as the current compensation structure awards buyer agents a higher commission the higher the closing price. Just because people say it’s a sellers’ market, this doesn’t mean that you can’t negotiate in most instances.
Some buyers know they should negotiate hard but most don’t, can’t, or they do it badly. They follow their heart rather than their head and the emotional nature of a home purchase means they can struggle to be objective. Not so with BuyerPrice. We can check the price of millions of homes instantly, and our BuyerPrice is calculated in real time taking into account a variety of interrelated market factors. Any other “commodity” has a “sell” price and a “buy” price. We have now introduced the “buy price” under the BuyerPrice.com brand.
Additionally, consumers are increasingly using online price comparison sites and apps to search out deals and save money. We’ve now brought this concept to home buying so that buyers are not only better off buying their chosen home through BuyerPrice.com, but they can easily check the Buyer Price of any property before making a move.
There’s been a lot of talk about ‘disrupting real estate’, yet most commentators focus on increasing house prices. We believe the real game changer is to help bring down the cost of buying a home using the latest technology combined with the skills of a trained and properly incentivized real estate professional.
Its rare for something to fundamentally change how a whole industry can work – but BuyerPrice has the potential to do just that, by tipping the balance of ‘power’ in favor of the homebuyer. Why should sellers set prices when in other markets it is the demand of consumers and market forces that sets the price? Most asking prices are set by the seller, but the ‘old adage’ that something is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it is fundamental to the BuyerPrice.com ethos.
If your software is accurate, wouldn’t there be instances where the ‘BuyerPrice’ is actually above the asking price in cases of undervalued assets?
Undervalued homes are unlikely to even appear on the radar as they will sell within hours of becoming available for sale. If not, then they are by their nature not undervalued. In seeking the best deal for the buyer, one of the aspects we consider is the current asking price for the home and the Buyer Price will never exceed this. Nevertheless, should there be several buyers chasing the same home, then our negotiators would use their skills to help present our buyer in the best light so that their offer is attractive to the seller (e.g. we seek pre-verification and even mortgage approval in advance wherever possible). In such an instance, we may indeed manually recommend an above asking price offer if the case merits it, although this would not be reflected in the automated Buyer Price. Where a purchase is concluded in excess of the asking price, we provide the buyer with a subsidy of the difference between the Buyer Price and the Asking Price. So once again, the buyer is always better off with BuyerPrice.com.
What are the milestones that you plan to achieve within six months?
Every buyer who saves money will be a milestone, but we do have some very ambitious plans that are currently under wraps. In the meantime, we’re launching in New Jersey this week, where ninety percent of the agents we have approached have agreed to work with us. We are already advancing our plans to establish a network of real estate brokers across twenty key states in the US.
What is the one piece of startup advice that I’d recommend?
Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you. Also think bigger and act faster than you ever thought you would have to.
If you could be put in touch with anyone in the New York community who would it be and why?
Someone who would love to buy a home but thought they could not afford to buy, so we could help them realize the dream of home ownership.
Why did you launch in New York?
We love our offices in Broad Street, right at the tip of Manhattan. This gives us easy access to our launch State of New Jersey but remains in the heart of the action. It’s easy to conduct business meetings with the right people there. Also we find New Yorkers are progressive with a great “anything is possible” attitude to life whilst having a good understanding of grown-up business attitudes – we love that they won’t just tell you what you want to hear and that has been very constructive for us. There is plenty of relevant talent in New York that can help us deliver scalable results quickly. And where better to be than a New York hub in terms of access to the other East Coast cities? We love it here!
We have chosen New Jersey as our launch State as it is a highly regulated market for real estate, and if it works here it should work anywhere in the US.
What’s your favorite rooftop bar in NYC to unwind?
Soho House rooftop swimming pool bar.
