Knock, knock: who is there? It’s Sean Black and Jamie Glenn and Karan Sakhuja. Do these names ring a bell to you? Well if you are a Realtor or a Real Estate Practitioner it should. If you are one of the big boys like the Z’s of this world you should be shaking in your booths.
How much did Z pay for T in their acquisition? Well let me answer it here so you do not need to search for it, Z paid $3.5 Billion to eliminate the competition and the year was 2014.
In 2015 Sean Black and company created Knock, I found it funny and ironic in the selection of the name. Play on words? Taunting the big Z and the rest of the Real Estate Platforms? Well if you did not know it Sean Black and Jamie Glenn were cofounders of T and they were a strong competitor of Z until the big Z bought them out.
If you go on LinkedIn you will be able to read up on their Bio and Mission in detail. Just to give you the short answer here:
At Knock, we’re on a mission to make trading in your home as easy as trading in your car. That’s important because over 70% of the 6 million home sellers each year are also buying their next home at the same time. Selling a house means months of stress, repairs, uncertainty, night and weekend showings, etc. Most importantly, the majority of Americans have their savings tied up in the equity in their current home and making that savings liquid means helping them move up into bigger houses, in better neighborhoods, with better schools — basically, move up in life!
Well, you might ask what is the big deal? If you are not sure, let me share with you, I just saw on Inman News that: Online homebuyer Knock picks up $400M in latest fundraising round !
Amy Feldman at Forbes had this to say:
"The deal that New York-based Knock offers homeowners is this: If you want to sell your home and buy a new one, it will set up a trade for you so that you can move into the new house before the old one goes up for sale. Knock will pay for the new home with cash, then sell the old one, and do a swap with the homeowner once it sells. Knock gets the standard 3% commission on each of those transactions, and any costs that Knock incurs to buy and maintain the new house until the old one sells can be rolled into the homeowner’s new mortgage. "
In other words, as Inman states: Consumers using the company’s trade-in program pay a traditional 6 percent commission to the company. Homeowners also have to pay closing costs and other expenses such as appraisals.
By now I am sure you have heard that Z has stepped into the online home buying and selling market in a few states. This should be an interesting Game Changer if you want my opinion. More battles for the Internet Real Estate Platforms. I suspect since they need local Realtors there will be a few that will be either getting referral fees or some other formula to get them local representation. So if you have any ideas or more information than I just provided please share your thoughts here in the comments.
If you are looking for a knowledgeable, focused and goal-oriented Realtor in the Beverly Hills area who will help you achieve your Real Estate goals, please reach out to me directly!
If you are looking for a pet friendly Beverly Hills Realtor who can handle and sell the most difficult properties that no one else could, please reach out to me directly!! If you are considering buying or selling a home, a luxury home, luxury investment real estate, luxury vacation homes, or luxury beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu, feel free to contact me at 310.486.1002 (m) or homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com I contribute a portion of my commission to local animal rescue organizations.
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