A Smarter Way to Buy

Congrats! You’ve decided to save time and money by buying with pocket. Or, maybe you’re just interested in learning more. Either way, you’ve made the right decision. Our transparent, real-time platform gives you the tools you need to successfully purchase your dream home.

Ready for a smarter way to buy? Let’s go!

What You’ll Learn:

How to sign up (in case you haven’t already)

and

The 4 steps to buying with pocket:

Signing Up

Signing up is easy and only takes a few minutes. To get started, create an account and answer a few basic questions about your home buying preferences (where, when, what price, etc.).

Next, you’ll qualify as a buyer (allowing you to place bids) by adding your financing information. If you are using a lender, you’ll upload your pre-approval letter. If you are a cash buyer, you’ll upload your proof of funds. Not only is this a buying requirement, whether or not you’re using pocket, but having these on file allows you to bid on the homes you want as soon as they hit the market and avoid missing out!

Note: these documents are used exclusively to qualify you as a buyer and for no other purpose. 

Lastly, you’ll enter your credit card information (powered by Stripe) in order to pay the buyer’s fee. It is important to note that your credit card will only be charged the 1% buyer’s fee if your bid is the winning bid at the end of the bidding period and the seller signs the Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA). In other words, after you’ve had your offer accepted. For more information check out our payment FAQs.

After signing up and qualifying as a buyer, you will receive notifications about new homes, exclusive previews, bidding and more.  And, now that you are a qualified buyer, let’s get you buying!

The 4 Steps to Buying With Pocket:

Before we start, it’s worth mentioning that throughout the process of buying with pocket, in addition to the watchlist and listing pages, you will also have access to a buyer dashboard that will keep you informed of all steps, stages, exclusive previews (open houses), bids, and action items in real-time.

Step 1: Finding Your Home

To find a home on pocket, you’ll start by searching the marketplace. When searching, you can sort homes by bidding open, bidding ending soon, bidding starting soon, or homes currently trending (based on bidding frequency). After finding a home you’re interested in, you’ll notice some very big differences between a pocket listing and the listing pages on other sites.

A Different Kind of Listing

Listings on other sites are simply advertisements for the listing broker with “contact me” as the only action that can be taken. pocket listings on the other hand provide buyers with the information they need upfront, instead of after their offer is accepted, so they can make an informed decision and an intelligent offer without having to use a broker.

Every home listed on pocket includes:

• Seller’s terms – the terms that the seller is willing to accept from the highest bidder when their reserve is met at the end of bidding.

• Due diligence documents – preliminary title report/title commitment, pre-inspection report, seller’s disclosure and Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA). 

• Neighborhood data – school ratings, crime rankings, and demographic information.

• Price Information – neighborhood and metro home value appreciation comparisons, historical sales price(s), average neighborhood home price, and estimated rental value compared to average neighborhood rent.

• Bid analytics – all bids, bidding trends over time, average bid increase, number of bidders and bidding frequency. 

• Direct access to the seller – live commenting and seller Q + A. No more games of telephone with brokers upon brokers! 
  

Now that you’ve found a home or homes that you are interested in it’s time to get ready to bid! 

Step 2: Getting Ready to Bid, the Pre-bid Period

The pre-bid period is the two weeks prior to the start of bidding that provides you with an opportunity to learn more about the homes that you are interested in bidding on. 

During pre-bid, you can:

1. Review – due diligence documents, neighborhood data, price information (everything listed above under “a different kind of listing”).
2. Ask the seller questions – about their home, the neighborhood, and any relevant property details.
3. Attend an exclusive preview – a single-day open house exclusively for qualified buyers on the last day of the pre-bid period.

After the pre-bid period, if everything checks out and this is the home for you, get ready because the fun is about to start. We’re off to bidding!

Step 3: Bidding Starts!

The bidding period lasts 7 days and provides all qualified buyers with an opportunity to bid on homes they are interested in purchasing.

Because you are already a qualified buyer, bidding on a home is as simple as:

1. Entering the amount you wish to bid in the bid box.
2. Clicking “Preview Bid”.
3. Confirming the bid amount is correct.
4. Clicking “Place Bid”.

Before placing a bid, here are a few important things you need to know:

• Bids are not legal offers. The final bid becomes a legal offer when it is added to the Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) as the purchase price and then signed by the winning bidder.
• By bidding, you are agreeing to the seller’s terms and the purchase price in the amount of your bid.
• Once a bid is placed, it cannot be canceled.
• If you are outbid, you can still re-bid. There is no limit to the number of times you can bid.
• If a new bid is placed within the last 5 minutes of the bidding period, 5 additional minutes are added to the bid clock. This gives all buyers the opportunity to bid or re-bid up to their highest bid.
• The buyer’s fee, 1% of your winning bid, is charged after your offer is accepted: when the seller signs the PSA. If the seller does not sign the PSA, you will not be charged the buyer’s fee.
• If you have the winning bid, you are not obligated to sign the PSA. However, in order to promote honest bidding, if you do not sign the PSA you will still be charged the buyer’s fee.

During bidding, the bid analytics section of the listing page will display information relevant to making a bid such as bidding trends, bid frequency, average bid increase and more. 

Also, during bidding, you will be notified via text and email if you are outbid and when the bidding period is 1 hour from ending. For more information about bidding, check out our bidding FAQs.

Step 4: Post-bid, Time to Sign Your Offer!

If you have the winning bid and the seller’s reserve price is met, congratulations! Your name, contact information and winning bid amount will automatically be added to the PSA for you to sign via DocuSign as a formal offer. You will also be provided with the seller’s contact information in anticipation of starting the closing process.

Post-bid involves:

1. You signing the PSA
2. The seller signing the PSA
3. Starting the closing process
   
   

Step 4.1: Signing the PSA

As soon as the bidding period ends, the PSA is immediately available for you to sign in your dashboard.

A few important things to know before signing:

• The terms in the PSA are the seller’s terms, the same terms you agreed to by placing a bid.
• The purchase price in the PSA is the amount of your winning bid.
• All PSAs are digitally signed by both you and the seller through DocuSign’s secure platform.
• When the seller signs the PSA, there is mutual acceptance and the PSA becomes a legally binding agreement between you and the seller.

After you sign, the PSA is sent directly to the seller to sign.

Step 4.2: The Seller Signs

As soon as the seller signs, congratulations, your offer has been accepted and you’re off to closing. You can now download the fully executed PSA in your dashboard.

Step 4.3 Start the Closing Process

All good things must come to an end and this is the final step in buying with pocket. pocket is not a title or escrow company and is not involved in the closing process. However, starting the closing process is as simple as notifying the pre-selected title and escrow company (or companies) that you and the seller have both signed the PSA. 

And, even though we are not involved in the closing process, we have partnered with Endpoint in order to provide continuity and world-class customer service through the closing process. If you and the buyer have chosen Endpoint as your title and escrow company, they will automatically be sent the required information to begin the closing process. 

Note: We do not monetize our partnerships. Our partners are selected based on their expertise and dedication to customer service.

For more information post-bid, check out our post-bid FAQs.

And That’s It!

Start to finish, buying with pocket is that easy. No more overbidding, no more missing out and no more brokers. We give you the tools and information you need upfront to succeed in purchasing a home, without wasting time and money! 

If you’re ready for a smarter way to buy, sign up and let’s get started!