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(WSPA) – How would you like to pay a lot less to buy or sell a home?
There’s a shakeup in the real estate industry that means more pricing options when it comes to realtor fees.
In this 7NEWS Exclusive, we look into the launch of a new business model that could save both sellers and buyers thousands.
To put everything in perspective we reached out to a Greenville man named Buddy Player who is trying to sell his luxury condo “for sale by owner.”
“I thought I knew everything about it. I don’t,” Player said with a chuckle.
Still, since Player has priced his property at $1.2 million, he wants to avoid paying $60,000 in total fees, 3% each for the seller and buyer agents.
Even for a home worth 500,000, the seller is often out $30,000 in fees alone.
How it uses A.I. to help homeowners, buyers and agents
Now, there’s a new middle-ground option for sellers and buyers thanks to a partnership between a long-standing Upstate brokerage firm and a high-tech tool that has just launched in South Carolina.
“And that’s going to revolutionize everything,” Spencer Wilkinson said.
Wilkinson is the founder of Flika, a new app that connects MLS, the platform where agents list all homes, to artificial intelligence.
Among its many features, the app offers ChatGPT-like responses to questions about the listings and area, plus by swiping left or right, it learns preferences.
“So when new properties come on it will feed them to you,” explained Wilkinson.
The app also helps sellers with paperwork walking them through the process.
Big cost savings
Flika may be a time-saving resource, but the cost savings is where Larry Durham comes in, the owner of Good Properties, a brokerage firm out of Taylors that has been around for more than two decades.
Durham and Wilkinson see emerging AI as a way to shake up the real estate market, by offering different price point packages.
The lowest tier for sellers: A flat $500 to list on the MLS.
The second tier: A 1% charge for a virtual agent which combines phone access to a real licensed professional and 24/7 AI.
The highest level: A full-service in-person agent for 2%.
If you’re a buyer, Durham said, “You’re going to get cashback. I mean that’s not being done.”
Good Properties will pass 2% of any seller’s 3% commission onto the buyer in the form of a credit.
What do other agents think?
Brokers like Joan Herlong, owner of Joan Herlong and Associates Sotheby’s International Realty in Greenville, are skeptical.
“When I look at this model my concern is, it’s one thing to be licensed, it’s another thing to be experienced. How many transactions are these folks doing? According to the NAR about half of the agents who did transactions last year, did only one. That’s not expertise, that’s dabbling,” Herlong said.
Wilkinson said that’s precisely why fees should be more flexible and transparent.
“If I just got my license last week and transacted it, did a terrible job of helping someone to buy a house, but they eventually bought a house, that person would still get 3%. It makes no sense at the moment that this commission fee is fixed. It’s Crazy. It completely destroys any competition in the market,” Wilkinson said.
While Herlong would argue no agent fee is “fixed” and all rates are negotiable, one thing is for sure, the Flika app that uses A.I. to hone your search is completely free.
Lawsuits challenging agent fees
As for the pricing options, local real estate agents are quick to point out, not all of those reduced agent fees are new. But what is new is a climate where more and more lawsuits are challenging commissions including here in the Upstate.
A Spartanburg law firm filed this suit against the National Association of Realtors claiming they illegally inflated commission rates.
In a similar case in Kansas, jurors just awarded $1.8 billion to 250,000 homeowners.
In a statement, the NAR defended the practice of what it calls “cooperative compensation” claiming sellers who agree to pay for both agents “can sell their home for more and have their home seen by more buyers while buyers have more choices of homes and can afford representation.”
Player doesn’t mind paying for a buyers agent, just not 3%, and he’s intrigued by the new 1% virtual seller’s agent option that could help him attract more buyers.
“It’s extremely interesting you know and I think with everything else that’s going on in the real estate market, it will probably catch on pretty fast.”
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This article was originally published by a www.wspa.com . Read the Original article here. .