New markets require new approaches and new tactics. Experts and industry leaders will take the stage at Inman Connect New York in January to help you navigate the market shift — and prepare for the next one. Meet the moment and join us. Register here.
Zoodealio is a home offer marketplace that helps agents and their clients compare and respond to multiple types of offers on a listing. The web-based offer management solution delivers clarity through a clever user experience breaking down the finer points of open-market offers, power buyer deals and iBuyer offers.
The software collects offers from its network of cash-buying entities and non-traditional sales models and uses them to entice seller leads, and help seller clients make more sense of what the modern marketplace has to offer. It can go a long way to ensure clients are confident they received the highest and best offer.
Its solution includes a number of useful tools, communication channels and business functionality.
Zoodealio is based in Phoenix, Arizona.
Zoodealio was initially reviewed in July, 2021. Read the full review here.
What’s new?
Zoodealio wasn’t necessarily ahead of the game, but they were a better competitor than I realized at first. The software was set up to scale well with what today’s agents are working within, a market with a multitude of different ways to buy and sell.
In a recent news report on tech-first brokerage Prevu’s acquisition of what remained of Reali’s lending assets, Prevu co-founder Chase Marsh said, “Real estate brokerage and mortgage are colliding, as there is a developing super cycle of vertically-integrated offerings for consumers.”
Zoodealio clearly forecasted this trend’s emergence and created a tool for agents to help their clients — and themselves — get a handle on it. In brief, that’s where power buyers, iBuyers and anything else like them land, in a morass of tornadic industry evolution offering consumers all kinds of new ways to buy or sell a home.
I saw some of the new stuff Zoodealio has added to its feature suite, and it’s all designed to improve upon the good stuff it’s already doing, adjust to the new purchasing models being created by the mortgage hybrids and introduce a new offer model, Cash+ (Plus).
But also, a new mobile-first dashboard interface visually tightens up the entire user experience, better presents each offer’s information and makes it easier for the user to react to a number of new offer alternatives.
The listing onboarding process on the Offer Dashboard is improved, too. Under the Real Value module, users are given an image upload function to begin populating visual data on their home, which can be done from their phone, too. The Real Value scale dynamically shifts as images are uploaded, and the user can see how more information impacts the estimated market price.
Basically, the more data the user can submit, the better the chance of seeing a higher average offer.
On a side note, this would be a cool way for Zoodealio to entertain the idea of accepting inspections, or some form of an in-depth description of a home’s overall condition. Nester does this, and Inspectify is aiming to standardize the idea of pre-listing inspections. Plunk, too, offers valuation tools that could benefit an iBuyer environment.
Perhaps the most unique selling option users are given is the Cash+ offer. This allows a seller to get an immediate cash sale, minus an agreed upon “risk assessment” withholding by the buyer. That amount allows the buyer more time to analyze the investment, improve the home where needed, and basically, come up with their resale strategy.
Should the home sell for the agreed-upon amount, the sellers gets back that risk fee; if it sells for less, they get what’s remaining. And, if the home sells for more, the profit is included. The burden is ultimately on the buyers, as they’re carrying the holding costs and betting on their approach to the market. There’s no time frame, but an efficient turn is in the best interest of most investors.
Zoodealio’s Sell Now Move Later offers a cash deal and a 12-month lease-back so the seller can take more time to find the best place. They’ve also partnered with a couple of sharp proptechs, Revive and Curbio, to provide a “Fix It Then List It” program.
Revive is software for coordinating and managing home updates and understanding post-project values, and Curbio deploys a renovation assistance model targeted at pre-market fixes and offers a pay-at-closing agreement.
Users can still see all the details of each offer and when ready, quickly launch the full, legal process of getting it all done. There’s also a feedback mechanism for a user to provide more detail or pitch an argument for a better offer.
Zoodealio, so far, has indicated no negative reaction to the market, a rarity in the current real estate technology space.
It’s remained at a functional size, not scaled too quickly, and continues to engage the market in creative ways. That may change, but for now, it’s a company on track to help agents, assist consumers and support industry change.
Initially three-star rated, Zoodealio’s overall prescience and front-end experience team demands an upgrade to four.
