William Pitt – Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty has announced that the company has partnered with Final Offer to launch the real estate buying and selling platform in Connecticut, New York and Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Final Offer, which provides an online offer and negotiation platform for residential real estate including real-time offer alerts for homebuyers, sellers and agents, said the partnership will equip William Pitt – Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty agents with a set of features to elevate the relationship between agents and clients.
According to a release, the product was designed to empower licensed real estate agents to provide a more transparent offer and negotiation experience for the consumer. For every property that leverages Final Offer’s negotiation technology to bring about a sale, agents work with their sellers to determine the publicly disclosed terms, conditions and pricing for their homes. Then, all offers from buyers are presented by their agents directly through the platform, triggering immediate text notifications to all interested parties actively following the property, the release noted.
These notifications can consist of alerts on any action on a property including details such as the purchase price and terms of the offer, or simply the fact that an offer was made, which the company says in itself signals greater transparency than buyers in the market have previously experienced. Final Offer provides flexibility, empowering sellers with the ability to choose to reveal offers and terms, and to allow their agents to handle negotiations directly through the platform.
Final Offer has already seen traction among the firm’s agents, the company said, with many of the first new listings to utilize the platform experiencing success.
“We are excited to take the lead in our territories with the introduction of this revolutionary platform, and we are confident the market will embrace the change,” said Paul Breunich, chairman and chief executive officer of William Pitt – Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty. “This innovative technology creates the potential for buyers to see all bids, providing a fair chance to make competitive offers. Property owners benefit from a truly competitive selling environment where all bids potentially can be made visible. This is a solution for every seller who ever felt they were leaving money on the table, and for every buyer who wasn’t given the opportunity to beat a winning bid with a better offer.”
New Canaan, Connecticut-based agent Jared Kuehner secured an accepted offer on the platform for a center hall Colonial listed for $2,550,000, less than two days after posting on finaloffer.com a slightly lower initial bid. “Once buyers could see that we had an offer submitted, it started their internal clocks,” Kuehner said. “They could see there was real competition and didn’t have to guess. This platform provides a much more transparent way for buyers and sellers to agree on the value of real estate.”
Danbury, Connecticut-based agent Lorraine Amaral placed two listings in Northern Fairfield County on Final Offer, both of which had been on the market for a month or more without offers. Within days, the company said both properties collected multiple bids, with one going to contract at the asking price and the other yielding an accepted offer higher than the ask.
In addition, Amaral credited Final Offer with creating a sense of urgency among interested buyers who were closely watching the property. “Everyone involved—from my sellers to the buyers and their agents—has been very impressed,” Amaral said. “They love the transparency, efficiency and ability for buyers and sellers to follow offers in real time.”
The company noted that consumers can follow properties and receive real-time offer alerts by scanning property-specific QR codes, included on signs displayed on properties, at open houses or through other marketing vehicles. Prospective buyers submit pre-approval or proof of funds to agents prior to submitting offers.
“We have set out to enhance the way agents, sellers and buyers collaborate in the offer process by creating greater transparency and visibility,” said Judd Hoffman, co-CEO of Final Offer. “By empowering all parties to make more informed decisions during the complex real estate transaction process, we will help to build trust and bring greater fairness and efficiency to housing markets across Connecticut, New York and the Berkshires, Massachusetts. We’re thrilled to partner with one of the most iconic real estate brands to elevate the home buying and selling experience in these key markets.”
To learn more about Final Offer, click here.
