One Stop Shopping
I have read numerous articles over the years that proclaim consumers are wanting the convenience of one stop shopping in their real estate transaction. That's easy enough to believe - everyone likes convenience. But, I don't think you can stop there - what is it that consumers like about one stop shopping, other than convenience. What do they want? Fewer phone calls? More phone calls with status updates and progress reports? More certainty about closing costs? Would they pay extra for the convenience? Do they want a discount if they use the "preferred provider"? How does RESPA fit in? A lot of questions to be answered. I'll start with offering my perspective.
Some people have compared this convenience to the success of Kroger selling gas or Walmart selling groceries - I think that is a totally different kind of convenience - you're already in the store. In real estate, consumers aren't "in our store" very frequently and they can price shop easily on the web or with a few phone calls. But, most consumers can easily become baffled by the maze of pricing (especially loans - who compares APRs?) so they are slightly handicapped in that regard. Nonetheless, I think there is a tremendous opportunity to offer one stop shopping (realty, closing, loan, insurance, moving service, inspections and more) if you can offer a guarantee of low prices or some other incentives that could be gained when multiple services are bundled together. HUD has been paying some lip service to bundling but nothing of substance has happened in RESPA reform in decades.
Some people have compared this convenience to the success of Kroger selling gas or Walmart selling groceries - I think that is a totally different kind of convenience - you're already in the store. In real estate, consumers aren't "in our store" very frequently and they can price shop easily on the web or with a few phone calls. But, most consumers can easily become baffled by the maze of pricing (especially loans - who compares APRs?) so they are slightly handicapped in that regard. Nonetheless, I think there is a tremendous opportunity to offer one stop shopping (realty, closing, loan, insurance, moving service, inspections and more) if you can offer a guarantee of low prices or some other incentives that could be gained when multiple services are bundled together. HUD has been paying some lip service to bundling but nothing of substance has happened in RESPA reform in decades.
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