Sold it in a Snap: Building innovative programs for a specific market

I’ve been in the real estate market long enough to have seen a lot of ups and downs. When you’ve seen market crashes, exponential growth, and everything in between, it’s easy to get a sense of where things need to change. One of the benefits of being a leader is that you can use your knowledge and capabilities to make a massive difference in your field. It doesn’t matter if you’re in real estate, tech, education, or food service. There will be ways you can use your leadership role to bring about change.

I am proud to say that The Jim Allen Group recognized a unique opportunity to help people in the real estate market, and we decided to take action. Our new program, Sold it in a Snap, answers specific needs within our market. While this program is specific to real estate, my hope is that you can evaluate what we’re doing to see how to emulate something substantial in your own industry. Here’s what we did.

The Triangle real estate market has been the strongest it’s ever been for quite some time. Despite the fact that it’s been a seller’s market for several years now, that doesn’t always mean that it’s easy for people to sell their homes. For some, selling might have a time, money, or both investment required that they may just not have. They’re stuck in a home that’s too big, too small, or just not the right fit anymore, and the hurdle of preparing to sell a home is keeping them from doing it. They may not have the funds to make repairs. They may need to move quickly because they’re moving out of state. Maybe they’re going through a divorce and just want the process to be done. There are any number of reasons why people might have put off selling their home. We saw that there was a gap in the market and wanted to help, so we chose to launch a program called Sold It in a Snap.

We lined up investors as part of this program. Those investors work with us so that when a person contacts us about a home they need to sell fast, they can get a cash offer from our team. We don’t require inspections or repairs, and sellers get to choose their move-out date. We ensured the entire process could be done in as little as two weeks. It’s helping so many sellers with numerous types of problems get their needs met.

We took the approach of making this a simple program. If a seller chooses to accept an offer, they move forward quickly, based upon their move-out plans. There is no obligation to sell, so even if they get an offer, sellers don’t have to accept it unless they feel good about it.

Once they move out, they just take their things, leave their appliances, and upload move-out photos to a dashboard that shows they’re officially out. They’ll leave the keys in our dropbox, and that’s it. Our sellers have cash in their hands, and a low-stress way to sell. It’s important to know that we don’t recommend this program for everyone. But for those who need it, it’s a relief knowing they can walk away quickly and easily. Can you imagine if this type of program existed in the 2008 market crash?

Are there solutions you can bring to the table within your own industry? This program was a great way to do something innovative for a market that has a particular need that must be met. And it hasn’t taken a lot to set up. We found partners to work with. We started marketing it. We made sure we had agents who were trained to explain its benefits and present it in a way that helps people trust we’ve got their best interests in mind. And so far, it’s been a success for the people who needed it. I’m pretty proud of that fact.

All it takes is being curious and keeping a pulse on your market. It takes listening to what is being said and meeting them where they are to understand what they’re experiencing. Chances are, once you start looking for things you can help solve, you’ll start finding things that need to be solved. And you’ll be the one in the unique position to solve it for them.

I’d love to know what ideas you’ve had that are working, or if you’ve been inspired to look for some ways to better your own business. Do you have a story to share or an idea you would like to implement? Share it in the comments below so we can all find ways to better our business.

Jim Allen is a business leader and entrepreneur who has built one of the top-producing real estate groups in the Triangle. He is President of The Jim Allen Group, which is consistently named one of the top real estate teams in North Carolina and even North America.