We recently sat down with successful real estate investor Erik Hatch from Hatch Realty to get his thoughts on the state of the industry, specifically about how Coronavirus is changing our industry. As a hybrid real estate agent-investor who’s leading the pack, he had some great insights. Enough so, that we decided to write a completely separate article on it.
Who’s Erik Hatch? And why you should care about his thoughts…
Erik Hatch is the owner of Hatch Realty and Snap Offers and a leader in our industry. His brokerage helps the people in the Fargo-Moorhead area of North Dakota. He’s a multi-award winning real estate agent and his brokerage has also brought home multiple “industry best” awards. Their motto is:
“We are in the business of helping people: We just happen to sell real estate.”
Hatch Realty is unique because they offer a menu of options to their sellers instead of simply offering traditional listing services. Here’s a few of the options sellers can pick from with them:
- A traditional listing.
- A traditional listing, plus an interest free loan of up to $10,000 for upgrades to maximize the seller’s home value.
- A snap offer— Sellers get a cash offer within 96 hours. It’s a more aggressive offer, but sellers get the benefits of both convenience and certainty. Something we can all use a lot of right now…
Why sellers need your offer more than ever right now.
Erik shares about the temperature of clients right now. He says they’re fearful, riddled with anxiety, and uncertainty is plaguing them. With so much change and multiple economic issues stemming from the Coronavirus, they’re clinging to any certainty they can get ahold of. This means that real estate investor’s offers are more attractive than ever before! Especially offers coming from real estate agents they trust…
“Money is no longer the biggest pain point for sellers. Actually, money has never really been their biggest pain point. It’s uncertainty and interruptions that are their two biggest plagues at the moment.
That Uncertainty has now been amplified ten-fold! Whether the coronavirus blows over next week, or it sits here for months, we need to be offering options. I also think we need to get more aggressive with our offers unfortunately—for the sellers—because we need to buy for what the real estate market is going to present itself tomorrow, and not what it is today.”
Buy for what the real estate market is going to be tomorrow…
When we spoke to Erik he mentioned that his instant Offers and iBuyer Offers are getting more aggressive. While it’s unfortunately not going to be as financially lucrative for sellers, real estate investors assume risk when they make offers.
To protect their investment and keep themselves from being upside down, real estate investors have to be looking at what the market will present itself like tomorrow, and not just where it’s at today. The offers real estate investors might have made in January of 2020 could differ greatly today.
This is an unprecedented time, and unlike previous recessions, this potential post-coronavirus recession hit with little to now forewarning. With that said, a seller might have gotten an offer in January 2020 for $100,000, but if they didn’t accept it back then, that offer could have dropped to $70,000 today, just two months later.
Erik urges real estate investors to be forward thinking when investing. This can be a very lucrative time if investors go about business the smart way and if they’re intentional in their actions. Especially since we don’t know the speed of which this virus will pass through, nor the final economic toll it will have on our nation.
Agents who haven’t had the time to become iBuyers should use their time at home wisely.
These past few years have been rewarding for agents and brokerages with robust business. Because of this, a lot of real estate agents simply haven’t had the time to truly focus on whether they should or shouldn’t embrace the new iBuyer movement. According to Erik Hatch, if there ever was a time to do so, now is the time.
Large iBuyers like Zillow, OpenDoor, and RedFin who typically buy real estate in bulk have suspended their iBuyer movement for the moment. Erik says this is a huge sign of these two things:
- There’s an opportunity that presents itself today for real estate investors and hybrid agent-investors who have to compete against these large Wall Street backed companies in the future.
- And, those iBuyer corporations are probably waiting until the market stabilizes so they can jump back in. This will likely drop prices even more, making it a lucrative market for all of us.
Here’s how he thinks real estate agents should use their time while remaining safer at home:
Why real estate agents will have an advantage in the iBuyer movement…
“If you don’t have your ducks in order, if you haven’t lined up your strategy, or gotten your financing options in order, then you’re going to be that much further behind when the market opens back up. You need to use this time to do your prep work, due diligence, get that financing in order, and get your relationships in order. The time to do this is now! Get ready to go and start curating those relationships yesterday.”
Real estate agents who choose to go hybrid and offer options to their sellers like Hatch Realty offers will likely see a highly lucrative future over the next few years.
Why is that?
Because most real estate agents already have curated relationships!
Real estate agents have been building a brand under their name for years. This will help them when it comes time to help sellers in their community who are riddled with uncertainty and fear. They’re going to be looking for someone they can trust during this time. Agents are a great place to start.
Advice for real estate agents who are new to hybrid agent-investing:
“Hopefully you’ve already built a brand that people know, like, and trust. This is why realtors will be able to easily jump in as investors during this time. They’ve developed mind share and market share in a traditional setting! Their relationships are already curated, giving them a leg up on the competition.”
What about real estate investors or hybrid agent-investors already in the game?
Now is the time to go through your backlist of clients. We’re seeing a trend where sellers who were contacted upwards to a year ago are starting to raise their hands now. This is the time to make sure you’re staying in contact with those agents and developing a re-engagement strategy like the one we have for our members at RealEstateInvestor.com.
Your marketing and re-engagement strategy today could lead to dozens of closings down the road.
Final thoughts from Erik Hatch on the real estate market after the coronavirus:
“Understanding what sellers are feeling in tomorrow’s market should dictate the marketing that you do today. The market today is riddled with uncertainty, and it’s riddled with fear, and anxiety. We need to stand apart from the crowd and the competition with the message we have and the marketing we do. The most successful real estate entrepreneurs will give their sellers a choice that includes certainty, while their competition doesn’t offer this.
Our Snap Offer isn’t a gimmick and it’s not a catchphrase. Our value proposition is at such a higher level than what anybody else is able to offer right now on a traditional real estate deal because we provide options. And we can offer sellers certainty…”
What do we think about Erik’s advice to real estate entrepreneurs?
He’s spot on!
We’ve been shouting it from the rooftops over on our REI Beacon Facebook Group. Now is the time to work on getting your business prepared and getting ready to hit the ground running when the market opens its floodgates. We’re facing an unprecedented opportunity that those who start preparing now will reap the greatest reward.
We’re ready to help you get started.
We can help you start reaching out to sellers now so you can get those curated relationships started. Plus, we offer products and services that scale with you as your business scales, so that once you’re with us you can grow, grow, grow!
Let us guide you through this time… For FREE:
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Stay safe everyone!
