Dear Monty: We are selling our home in 2024. We know of your involvement in PropBox. You state that selling a home with PropBox is easy. A real estate agent has argued that selling our home on our own is complicated and risky without a real estate agent. Having control and saving money sounds good, but what does the word “easy” mean? What makes PropBox easy?
Monty’s Answer: Selling a home has been complicated. There are many friction points in today’s home sale and virtually all the friction results in inefficiency, lost time, poor or misguided judgment, and miscommunications that lead to misunderstandings. The brokerage industry business models, rules, and regulations have exacerbated the friction over many decades. PropBox is a media advertising marketplace that allows a home seller to eliminate all the friction for themselves and their home buyer. The design of PropBox is based on common sense, transparency, and simplicity.
The features and benefits that make PropBox easy
- Asymmetry – This is when a service seller (agent) knows much about the product (brokerage service), the buyer knows little, and the agent takes advantage of the person(s) hiring the agent. Agents cause asymmetry. PropBox is a unique media advertising platform that removes all transaction asymmetry, including agents, unqualified buyers, and unmotivated sellers.
- Simple forms – Five items are necessary to create a binding contract. The seller and the buyer discuss their needs together and include only each party’s contract contingencies. The contract is plain language and easy to read and understand. Efficiency and clarity build trust and reduce errors.
- Superior process – All documents necessary to close are available to both seller and buyer before writing a contract. Currently, the industry furnishes the seller’s condition report and the home inspection after both parties sign the contract. The buyer is in the dark when they make an offer. This obsolete method is helpful for an agent but risky for both seller and buyer.
- Transparency – When the seller furnishes the condition report and the home inspection up-front, and the buyer provides a current pre-approval letter for the home being considered up-front, both parties gain trust.
- Standardization – The transaction works the same way every time. The seller and the buyer know what to expect throughout the transaction. Standardization eliminates the unknown and eases mistrust.
- Direct conversations and negotiations – The parties text message together in PropBox. With agents, the parties are not allowed to talk. Agents tend to defend one party; PropBox built equality into the platform.
- Written communications – The PropBox platform allows each party to write and review messages before sending them. This simple technique adds clarity to messages and reduces miscommunication.
- Technology – Algorithms and search engines will transform how homes are sold. Search engine optimization (SEO) identifies properties and qualified prospects faster and more efficiently than a multiple listing service.
- Rules and regulations are for agents – not FSBOs – PropBox built-in balanced, simple rules that uncomplicate the sale process.
When sellers choose PropBox, they eliminate the friction for themselves and their buyers. The nine factors above are individually significant but together represent a powerful brand an agent or an FSBO cannot replicate. These factors together make home selling easy.