Standing at the Cutting Edge of Real Estate Investing

Sundae’s new premium membership, Edge, puts our customers at the forefront of real estate investing. It offers a suite of first-in class features that give investors the tools to save money, spend less, and win more opportunities.

The real estate industry is ever-changing. This has been especially prevalent in recent years with the onset of a global pandemic and its lasting impact on housing. The National Association of Realtors reported that the gap between supply and demand is around 6.8 million homes. Given the limited inventory, investors are competing over what’s available. But for every property, there can only be one winner.

To stay ahead of the competition, you need to adapt. That means evaluating your current strategy, but it also means looking for an edge elsewhere. We’ve designed Edge, Sundae’s premium membership program, to do just that. With access to a host of exclusive features, you’ll be at the forefront of innovation.

Listening to our customers

At Sundae, we pride ourselves on being customer-focused and solution oriented. Our engineering and product teams worked closely with investors on Sundae’s Marketplace to identify the main pain points investors face. After many interviews and in-depth research, we compiled a list of major pain points for real estate investors. From there, we set out to address these pain points in an actionable way. We came up features found in Edge to do just that.

Real estate investors don’t want to overspend when placing offers

Real estate investors are constantly walking a tightrope when placing offers on a property. Investors who don’t offer enough risk losing the deal. On the other hand, those that win find themselves asking “what if I could’ve got this property for less?”In an environment where houses are being sold at or above the asking price, it’s easy to understand why this is such a common concern. Here are three different factors that contribute to this problem:

• You never know where you stand against the competition. In a semi-blind auction, you’re using the information at hand and your best judgment to win a deal. This doesn’t always account for how others value a property.
• Those who win feel like they might’ve been too aggressive. No one wants to spend an extra $10,000 to win if a far lower number would’ve worked.
• Investors use lots of trial and error to see what works and what doesn’t. Since the buyer pool varies from property to property, it’s difficult to find patterns.

Collectively, investors want to feel confident that they paid just the right amount to win.

AutoOffer

With Edge’s AutoOffer feature, you no longer have to worry about overpaying for properties. It also allows investors to harness the power of automation. Some of the main highlights include:

• Set your initial offer, maximum offer, and the increment of each increase. Much like placing an order for a stock, AutoOffer allows you to up your bid in increments and set price limits. Once your parameters are established, this truly is a “set it and forget it” feature.
• Hassle-free participation in the auction process. Instead of logging in countless times to make offers, AutoOffer will do so automatically. It frees up time for you to work on other parts of your business, while maximizing your efficiency.
• Save money on the front end and pad your bottom line. Many investors are operating with tight margins, so any money saved is money earned. AutoOffer helps pad these margins by protecting investors from overspending.

Real estate investors want to know where their offers stand

Even if you have a budget in mind, it’s still difficult to place offers without knowing where you stand against the competition. In many cases, you’re up against other investors who are just as knowledgeable and prepared as you are. This can make it hard to know how much to offer without overspending. Let’s put this into perspective.

• With low housing inventory, investors are spending more to win opportunities. That makes it more of a challenge to decide how much more to spend. Are you in second place or tenth? Do you need to spend $5,000 more or $20,000 more?
• Investors value houses differently based on their exit strategy. As a result, the average spread on a property is about $115,000.
• You don’t know where you stand against the competition until the listing is closed. This disincentivizes investors from adjusting their offers because it’s really just an educated guess.

Investors want to know where they stand in relation to the competition.

Offer Position

Knowing where you stand against the competition can be the difference between winning and losing a deal.

When investors place offers on Sundae’s Marketplace, they are semi-blind. That can make it difficult to know if you should keep your initial offer or adjust it. As a result, some investors may overbid when they’re already winning simply because they didn’t know. Others leave their offers as-is, leading to missed opportunities. Imagine if you knew where you stood in relation to other offers. Then, you’d be able to make informed decisions during the auction. Knowing you’re in last shows you that you’re way off the mark, while being in second could mean you’re only a few thousand dollars away from winning the deal.

We created Offer Position to demystify the bidding process. Edge members will be able to see where their offers rank in real time. Those without Edge will still be guessing. Consider the upper hand that gives someone in any given deal. Also think about what acquiring even one or two extra properties per year with this insight could mean for your business. Is it thousands of dollars? Tens of thousands?

Whether you do a few flips per year or dozens, Offer Position is a game-changer.

Real estate investors are busy, but don’t want miss opportunities

During investor interviews, we learned that the majority spend several hours a day going from project to project. And as you know, job sites don’t usually lend themselves to wifi or logging into a laptop. So by being present for one function of your business has the potential to take away from another essential part: landing deals. Investors have mentioned that they have trouble checking in on offers on site, so they have to wait until they’re at home.However, time is of the essence when competing for properties. 25 percent of sellers on Sundae’s Marketplace accept one of the first few offers they receive. When you’re on the road, you might forget to place an offer, lack the time to adjust it, or otherwise. These equate to missed opportunities and profit left on the table.

iOS App

Sundae Edge’s most dynamic feature is the iOS app. With the Sundae Edge app, you can access your investor portal from anywhere, anytime. It includes the same functionality as the desktop, so you can still:

• Place offers
• See ​​interior and exterior property photos
• Take 3D tours and see floor plans
• View home inspections, disclosures, and title reports
• Access educational resources

It also integrates things such as AutoOffer, Offer Position, and more exclusive features. For example, the app includes a map that populates properties based on your exact location. That way, you never miss an opportunity.

If you’re at a job site, all you have to do is check your phone. You’ll get push notifications about new opportunities, properties you’re bidding on, and be able to take action on the spot.

Putting it all together

The Aristotle quote “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” is especially true when it comes to integrating these features into your business. Using the features mentioned above, we can illustrate how this works.

Envision yourself scrolling through your texts when you notice a push notification from Sundae’s iOS app. It’s an update about the property you put an offer for that same morning. Offer Position informs you that you’re in fourth place, so you login to see what’s happening.Based on your analysis, you realize that you can offer up to $15,000 more and still see a sizable return. Rather than making a one time price adjustment, you take advantage of AutoOffer. You decide to set parameters that include offer adjustments of $1,500 per offer up to $15,000. Then, you go back to work at your job site and drive home.

The next morning you get another push notification from Sundae saying that your offer was accepted.

You moved up three places to get ahead of the competition by knowing your offer position and automating the offer process. All from your phone. That’s your competitive Edge to win more deals while saving time and money in the process.

Harness the power of Sundae Edge

Sundae is constantly evolving to keep our customers at the cutting edge of real estate investing. Our relentless customer focus and willingness to solve industry-wide problems led us to Edge.

Between Edge and other service offerings like Sundae Funding , we’ve created an entire ecosystem for real estate investors. These tools combine to help you succeed on Sundae’s Marketplace. With features like Offer Position, AutoOffer, and the iOS app, you have everything you need to win more often and make better investment decisions.