Raleigh, North Carolina is Knock’s newest market
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Knock Home Swap™ is a timely solution for home sellers who are also home buyers to bid competitively in today’s market. By using Knock Home Swap homeowners can buy their new home before selling their old home knowing with approved Knock financing, they are essentially cash buyers.
In August Matt Thedford of Grapevine, Texas, and his wife decided to look for a new home with a swimming pool. A suburb of Forth Worth the Grapevine market is very competitive. “When we started looking for a new house, we spoke with our agent about how it would work since we had to sell our old house to move forward,” Thedford recalls.
Knock solves that stressful situation. “We were told about Knock then got pre-approved for a bridge loan and new mortgage at the same time. Then we could essentially make an all-cash offer on a new home,” Thedford explains. “We found the perfect house and put in an offer which was accepted immediately. I believe the ability to make a cash offer made all the difference,” he adds.
Knock now a mortgage lender recently announced its expansion into the North Carolina markets of Charlotte and Raleigh. Since the company’s 2015 launch by founding team members of Trulia.com Knock has expanded to 11 markets in six states. In addition to Charlotte and Raleigh, Home Swap is currently in Phoenix, Denver, Atlanta, Orlando, Tampa, Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio working through more than 40 brokerage firms with more than 27,000 agents.
Knock enables home sellers who are also home buyers make a non-contingent offer on a new home and move before preparing and listing their old house for sale for the highest possible price. “The economics make good sense today. We have been able to double the markets we are in over the last year,” explains Sean Black Knock’s co-founder and CEO. “By the end of 2020 we will have expanded to Jacksonville and Colorado Springs. Using Knock allows our consumers to win bidding wars because they are essentially cash buyers,” Black adds.
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Look for Knock in San Diego, in 2021
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Here’s how Knock Home Swap works. A network of local real estate professionals in various markets become Knock Certified Agents. Clients of those agents get pre-qualified through Knock for an integrated competitively priced mortgage, an interest-free six-month bridge loan to cover the down payment on the new home as well as mortgage payments and up to $25,000 for home prep and repairs on the old house.
Once escrow closes on the new property those Knock consumers immediately take ownership and move out of their old home. Then they can make necessary repairs and renovations to their old house with that $25,000 to get the best sale price and not leave money on the table.
As part of its Home Prep Concierge, Knock provides access to its approved contractor network and manages the payment of all bills upon client-approved completion of work. Additionally, Knock provides a backup offer on the old house if it doesn’t sell within six months. Ninety percent of Knock homes sell in 90 days or less.
Making an offer on a new home while still needing to sell your old home is a deal-breaker in today’s climate of multiple offers, bidding wars, and contingency free contracts. Listen to Carl Hawthorne leader of the 19-member Carl Hawthorne team at Atlanta Communities in Atlanta. “We started with Knock in mid-2020. This program makes it so convenient for buyers who need to be sellers before they can buy their new home. On the selling side when we go on a listing presentation we explain how we can sell your home for potentially a higher price since when we put it on the market it is essentially move-in ready,” explains Hawthorne. “It’s amazing how much more people will pay just for new paint and granite,” he laughs.
Look for Knock’s 2021 expansion to include Southern California (San Diego and Orange County), Minneapolis, and Asheville, North Carolina. The company plans to expand to at least 21 markets by mid-2021.
That’s good news for home buyers and sellers