Realogy Holdings Corp. and Home Partners of America, have joined forces to launch RealSure, a new home-buying and -selling program that caters to the iBuyer crowd with two segments: RealSure Sell and RealSure Mortgage.
RealSure is the latest program tackling the emergence of iBuyer companies, which often eliminate the agent from real estate transactions. With RealSure, sellers have the option of going either with the convenience of a cash offer or the value of a traditional transaction, all while keeping agents involved. Additionally, it addresses the chief complaint that today’s home sellers have: how to buy a new home if they don’t yet have the funds from their existing property, and without holding two mortgages.
According to the two companies, RealSure Sell keeps the consumer’s best interests in mind by offering both a cash offer (contingent upon a property inspection) while still allowing agents to list the home during a 45-day time frame to gauge the best value. If the home does not receive a higher offer while on the market during this time frame, sellers can either accept the cash offer or reject it and continue with the traditional listing methods. RealSure Mortgage allows consumers to leverage their RealSure Sell cash offer to make an offer on their next home even before their existing property is sold.
“Today is an exciting day for home sellers as Realogy and Home Partners of America launch RealSure, which offers two new programs for consumers to sell and buy their home with the guidance of one of our great affiliated real estate agents,” said Ryan Schneider, Realogy’s president and CEO, in a statement. “It is also an exciting day for Realogy-affiliated agents and franchisees as we continue to arm them with unique programs to better serve their clients.”
“We’re delighted to partner with Realogy and their affiliated real estate agents, helping more people sell their homes with more choice and control, all while being able to close with greater confidence and less risk,” said Bill Young, CEO of Home Partners of America, in a statement. “Today’s residential market is being transformed by technology, so sellers and their agents need new tools in order to move forward with both certainty and flexibility.”
The program is currently available in Dallas and Denver; however, sellers must have a qualified property and meet title-related requirements—as well as work with a Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, ERA or Sotheby’s International Realty agent—to participate. Additionally, each market has a certain price threshold for the program. In Dallas and Denver, for example, it limits eligible properties to those valued between $100,000-$525,000.
RealSure will expand to eight additional markets over the next month: Chicago; Houston and Austin, Texas; Orlando, Sarasota and Fort Myers, Fla.; and Sacramento, Calif.—with plans for further expansion in the long term. All brand-affiliated agents can participate in the program, but they must first be certified, according to a source at Realogy.
For more information, please visit www.realogy.com.
Liz Dominguez is RISMedia’s associate content editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at ldominguez@rismedia.com.
