Fast-expanding real estate brokerage Compass is getting into the increasingly competitive concierge service game, offering homesellers pre-sale cleaning and improvements with no upfront costs, as well as no minimum listing price. All homesellers have to do is list exclusively with Compass.
In a Thursday press release, the real estate technology company said its new Compass Concierge product “will empower agents to better serve their clients, minimizing the seller’s short-term financial burden while maximizing the odds of an improved sale price.”
The new service will be offered in all 22 markets in which Compass currently operates.
With advice from their Compass agents, sellers will be guided through what home improvements would be the best options for their markets. Compass also said it would cover the costs for services like deep cleaning, painting, staging, decluttering, landscaping and “other cosmetic renovations.”
“This is another example of a great idea that came from one of our agents that we are excited to bring to life,” said founder and CEO Robert Reffkin in the emailed press release. “It’s an opportunity for Compass to use our capital to help our agents better serve their clients.”
Compass is far from the first brokerage to build out its own service options for homeseller clients. In November 2017, Redfin announced Redfin Concierge, its 2 percent listing fee service that coordinates, supervises, and covers the costs of deep cleaning, painting, staging and landscaping for listings worth at least $500,000.
Redfin Concierge’s 2 percent fee is just slightly higher than the brokerage’s typical 1 percent listing fee. It is only available presently in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
One group who has benefited are the contractors Redfin hires to do the repairs. Earlier this month, Inman spoke to contractor Imar Granados, working in a Washington D.C. home whose owners were using Redfin Concierge
“They keep me busy, buddy,” he said. “Busy, the whole year.” Granados told Inman that he’s fixed up 10 homes for Redfin Concierge users this year.
Similarly, free self-home selling platform Haus also includes recommendations and discounts for home photographers, staging and cleaning—all to make the process of selling a home that much simpler.
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