Get Ready to Sell with MOVE and Porch

There are a number of large real estate firms who have property management companies that do more than just collect rent checks. They help investors and homeowners manage the process of home maintenance.

For example, Hunt Realty has a program called The Realty Club. Every agent gives the seller suggestions on home improvements before the home is listed. The sellers first response is typically, “What’s that going to cost and who can do the work?” Hunt not only provides those answers, but they have a project coordinator to help the home seller. It is a great service, but a rare one.

The National Association of REALTORS® spearheaded a process to improve home values by partnering with Lowe’s to provide consumers with significant discounts on the cost of home improvement materials. The REALTOR® benefits by extending those savings to their customer.

Now, that program is being extended further with the announcement that MOVE is the exclusive partner of Porch.com to deliver a Neighborhood report. With Porch, consumers can keep a catalog of their home repairs and find qualified contractors to help with projects.

The Porch neighborhood report is compiled from 98 million projects to estimate the local costs of home improvement. It also provides a history of project work done on property to the extent available.

Additional information will include important information like who has worked on the home or in the neighborhood and how long people have lived in nearby homes. Moreover, they will include the cost of other homes in the neighborhood (sounds like a tax record).

The cool news is that the report will be free. I think that it will be an interesting place for agents and consumers to collaborate on needed repairs prior to selling. I think of this like CarFax for real estate. Aside from the obvious consumer benefits, it should also really help realtor.com® with enhancing their SEO, as this information is not available on other portals. Although, this is pure speculation.