An iBuyer or instant buyer is a real estate company that buys and sells homes quickly. If you want to sell a home to an iBuyer, then you will get an instant cash offer, usually within 24 hours. Due to the instant cash offer, such companies are very famous among buyers who need immediate money and home deal closing. It also prevents the sellers to get involved in the hassles such as staging and showing the home.

You can also consider buying a home from an iBuyer if you are in hurry and need cash quickly. The company website lists all the available properties. As per iBuyer reviews, You can conveniently schedule tours and request details of a certain property. In the iBuyer concept, the closing happens more quickly and you need not bear with the usual timeline.

There are several iBuyers real estate companies with varied transaction volumes. While Opendoor has reportedly purchased more than 15,181 homes and sold 5,988 homes in the 2021 quarter 3, as per the Offerpad reviews, the company reported purchasing around 2,753 homes and selling 1,673 houses in 2021 Q3. Zillow Offers which has been functioning since 2018 has also become one of the biggest iBuyers. In the same time period, the company bought 9,680 homes and sold 3,032 homes.

Though iBuyers are a small part of the big real estate industry including all the iBuyers companies, they were able to purchase around 28,000 homes in the 2021 Q3, which means a share of around 1.6% of all U.S. homes bought as per Mike DelPrete, the real estate tech expert and scholar at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Top iBuyer Companies

If you are interested in hiring the iBuyer services, then here are the best names to trust upon.

Opendoor

This company has been on the market for a very long time now, much ahead of any of its competitors. Opendoor, the biggest and most popular iBuyer, uses an in-house AVM system to offer an instant quote to home sellers. You also need to know that the company charges the sellers about a 7% transaction fee when the sale is done. This amount is quite heavy as per various sellers and even the real estate experts say that the 7% transaction fee is more than the commissions charged by them in return for full services.

Other than the traditional selling services, Opendoor also offers a ‘soft’ iBuyer program. As per this program, the buyers can make cash offers on homes. Due to the partnership with Realtor.com, now they follow a better process of making offers.

Opendoor iBuyer serves a wide area including Phoenix, Dallas, Atlanta, and Raleigh. They are soon going to extend out to up to 30 more cities.

Zillow Offers

One of the new but big names in the market of the iBuyer segment is Zillow Offers. Zillow started in the iBuyer market in 2018. Since Zillow is already an established brand, it was well accepted by the real estate industry. Their service was adored and the company claimed that they are doing great. The company has also acquired a partnership with some well-known financial investors like Offerpad. You can check out Zillow reviews for more information.

Offerpad

Coming to another giant in the iBuyer market, Offerpad has seen decent growth like other iBuyers companies have seen. They currently operate in 25 markets in the south and the southeast United States. As per the Offerpad reviews, the homes sold through Offerpad took only 24 hours to sell.

The company also allows the sellers to have the option of choosing their closing date. This enhances the flexibility of the seller. Offerpad incurs moving expenses as well when you move within a radius of 50 miles of your present home.

Like other iBuyers, Offerpad also needs you to mention the details about your home online. Once you accept the initial cash offer made by the company, you will be able to schedule an inspection. Then, the company will calculate the repair costs and then, move ahead to closing and the final offer.

Offerpad reviews also state that the sellers find it difficult to back out as they sign a purchase agreement before knowing the final offer deducting the repair costs. Otherwise, Offerpad has good customer reviews and many customers have shared that they like the company’s speed and customized service.

Redfin Now

Redfin Now has also made a huge entry into the iBuyer market. The company started operating in this segment in 2017. They started with a few locations in California but today, Redfin boasts of having a significant presence in more than 80 real estate markets within the US.

Another thing that needs a mentioned here is that Redfin Now has a direct partnership with Opendoor. The iBuyer reviews state that the sellers that work with Redfin can see the correct market value of their homes online. They can also view Redfin’s pricing mechanism.  By using this method, you can save time and get to know how much Redfin Now can offer you for your property.

Redfin Now completes the home inspections in less than 30 minutes. Then, the sellers can expect an offer within 24 hours. If you don’t like the offers, you can get a 1% listing agent who can list your home.

Orchard

This company is also relatively a new entrant in the iBuyers market. The company started operating in 2017. Since then, Orchard has been helping the sellers get great offers. The company allows the, to more than 90% of their home value and keep the amount ready for their next home. As per the company’s website, Orchard offers additional services such as handling the cleaning of the home, listing the home, showing the seller’s previous home, managing the update, and ensuring that the home sells at the best value. Sellers need to pay Orchard a service fee in return for the services offered when their old home is sold.

Usually, the company charges a fee of 6% of your home sale price. This matches the fee charged by a real estate agent. Orchard operates in more than 10 markets including Austin, San Antonio, Raleigh-Durham, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Charlotte, Northern Virginia, Montgomery County or Maryland, and Denver.

Usually, the company claims to have a closing window of 30 to 45 days on average, as per the company website page.

It is worth considering working with iBuyer companies. iBuyers make fair-market-value offers and as per the recent trend, iBuyers have bought more houses at higher prices than ever before. As per iBuyer reviews, iBuyer companies have been paying well and more than the average purchase price.

Pranab Bhandari

Pranab Bhandari is an Editor of the Financial Blog “Financebuzz”. Apart from writing informative financial articles for his blog, he is a regular contributor to many national and international publications namely Tweak Your Biz, Growth Rocks ETC.