Offerpad debuts home-listing service

Offerpad on Monday launched a real estate solutions division that lets clients list their homes for sale with Offerpad employees and use its concierge services to get those homes ready for market, Inman reported.

The process begins with a seller providing details on the home and uploading recent pictures of it or scheduling a virtual tour, according to Redfin. Offerpad’s real estate experts and platform then evaluate the property and give the owner a cash offer within 24 hours.

The seller can either accept this or work with Offerpad to list the home, in which case the tech company would essentially work as the listing agent. If the seller decides to list with Offerpad, it can still decide to accept the initial cash offer at any time.

The listing fee will be between 5.5 percent and 6 percent, and Offerpad will provide a free home preparation service to get the properties ready for showings. This includes carpet and house cleaning, landscaping work and handyman services. Offerpad will front homeowners money for renovations as well.

Offerpad has been working on its initiative to offer listing services for months, although the pandemic forced the company to suspend its homebuying operations for a time. They resumed last month.

It will continue a partnership in which Keller Williams steers sellers looking for all-cash offers to Offerpad, which then enlist Keller agents to market the properties.

The move could raise concerns among agents who have long worried that technology companies like Offerpad will start to take over their space. CEO Brian Bair tried to downplay that.

“I’m a real estate agent at heart, and I have a lot of respect for the real estate community and a lot of friends in the real estate community,” he said to Inman. “We partner and try to work very closely with the real estate community.” [Inman] — Eddie Small