Rich Estes is the CEO of PunchList, a home repair company exclusively for real estate agents. They specialize in helping agents get their repairs quoted quickly so they can close the transaction.

In his Inman segment, he discusses how PunchList makes the process faster and easier.

The tedious process

Getting repairs and estimates done quickly is a huge problem for many agents. When you want to get repairs done, you’ve got to get a quote and you need to get that quote approved by the owner of the property. And that whole process can take weeks.

PunchList automates that process for the agent. All they have to do is upload a home inspection to the app, and an estimate will be with them as soon as possible. If need be, the company also has a repair crew that can go out and does all the work.

After all. there’s not a lot of time during transactions. Everybody is trying to close the deal. The hotter the market, the less time you have to do repairs for the property owner or your client. So for the longest time, the market has not innovated and agents just deal with pickup truck contractors.

However, as contractors are busy people, they don’t have much time for communication. Agents needed a faster, easier, and more streamlined communication pathway to get repairs done.

The PunchList model

There are two sides to PunchList. Supply, which comes from their contractor network, and demand, which comes from the agents. The contractors are part of PunchList’s team, so they know them and trust them to get the job done well.

As Rich says, they don’t have the luxury of not performing. Agents are viral, things are great when your company is doing a good job, but it’s horrible when your company doesn’t.

But let’s say an agent already has a contractor they trust and like working with, can they be contacted through PunchList?

Yes. In fact, the company has recently launched a new dashboard where an agent can do everything from order home inspection just by clicking a button all the way through. It can also be automated to be a part of MLS, so things can just happen automatically in the background.

Their job is not to look at houses as an inspector. Their job is to get it ready to market. So, for example, an inspector wouldn’t find chewed up the moulding on the door a problem, but potential sellers and owners definitely will. PunchList looks at the big things: they consult with the customer and make recommendations. They can also do the work within a couple of days, so they’re not slowing things down.

They tell the agent, “Don’t slow it down, don’t wait for us to put the house on the market. Because by the time you’re going to see it, the job will be done.”

Learn more on their website: https://punchlistusa.com/