Here is our HomeLight evaluate.
Value – 10
Buyer Service – 5
Ease of Use – 10
Agent Choices – 9
Assets – 8
How Does HomeLight Work?
The method to discover a realtor is straightforward. Go to the web site and some screens pop up so you possibly can fill in what you’re on the lookout for. Patrons are given a menu of questions asking what sort of residence you are on the lookout for, your worth vary, a normal location, and the way quickly you wish to purchase. With that fundamental info, HomeLight makes use of an algorithm to immediately populate a number of native, vetted brokers who’re prepared to help you.
Every agent suggestion will embrace essential info that will help you select — the variety of properties they’ve offered in your space, their years of expertise, their brokerage, the whole variety of HomeLight purchasers they’ve helped, and any achievement awards they’ve acquired and reported to HomeLight.
Inside a number of hours of receiving your referred brokers, you’ll get an electronic mail or telephone name from HomeLight concierge providers to debate your outcomes. You’ll be able to inform the concierge extra about your scenario, preferences, and targets they usually can assist you choose the perfect match for you.
HomeLight Options
Kinds of Providers Supplied | Residence loans; Actual property agent referrals |
Areas Supported | All 50 states and Washington, D.C. |
Variety of Brokers | Round 110,000 |
Buyer Service | Cellphone; Electronic mail |
Value | Most providers are free, though some providers like Money Provide incur a 1% to five% payment. |
What Does HomeLight Provide?
HomeLight’s core enterprise is matching householders (these fascinated with promoting) and residential patrons (these on the lookout for the precise residence) with pre-vetted brokers who’ve accomplished important enterprise within the space the place the shopper needs to purchase or promote. HomeLight’s on-line platform is free and really simple to make use of. HomeLight additionally provides a number of different providers together with:
HomeLight Residence Loans
Most homebuyers want to make use of financing to buy a house. HomeLight provides mortgage providers, promising to save lots of patrons cash on lending charges and streamline each the mortgage utility and underwriting processes.
Conventional lenders give homebuyers a financing pre-approval letter indicating that it’s possible they are going to be permitted for a mortgage of a certain quantity. What’s totally different about HomeLight’s mortgage providers is that they full your entire underwriting course of upfront. By guaranteeing that the mortgage is already permitted, homebuyers are in a stronger place when making a suggestion to buy the house they need.
HomeLight Commerce-in Providers
Owners who wish to transfer typically face a number of challenges.
- They should promote their residence with the intention to have the cash to purchase a brand new residence.
- Additionally they must coordinate the transfer out of their present residence and into their new residence — or discover a short-term dwelling scenario after they’ve offered their residence — and basically transfer twice.
HomeLight’s Commerce-In Service can clear up these issues when each transactions are coordinated by means of them.
HomeLight buys your property for present market worth releasing up the money to buy your new residence. They then get your property prepared for market (paint, clear and make repairs) and promote it. And, if your property sells for greater than HomeLight’s assured worth, they pay you the distinction, minus promoting prices and HomeLight’s charges.
HomeLight Money Provide
When you’ve got discovered the right residence however haven’t discovered the financing but, then HomeLight Money Provide would possibly have the ability to assist.
With this service, HomeLight could make a money supply to the house, which they declare makes it thrice extra more likely to be accepted. You’ll additionally doubtlessly lower your expenses, as money provides are likely to go under the provided worth as they’re extra handy for sellers than coping with getting the cash from a financial institution.
When you get your financing sorted, HomeLight sells the house to you for a similar worth they purchased it for, minus a 1% to five% payment.
Easy Sale
This service helps householders promote on to a money purchaser. Whereas a money supply (somewhat than going by means of the normal promoting course of) sounds nice, the money supply will possible be a lot decrease than what you would possibly in any other case get in your residence. Nevertheless, it’s a really quick course of, so it might be possibility if it’s worthwhile to promote your property immediately.
A money purchaser often buys properties in “as is” situation, makes mandatory repairs and updates after which resells your property to a retail purchaser. The money purchaser is taking up the associated fee and complications of the rehab work, a whole lot of monetary dangers, and must make a revenue. You’ll be able to anticipate to get a money supply that’s 30%-50% under market worth, relying on your property’s situation. However in trade, you don’t must do something. No showings. No repairs. No hassles.
Who Is HomeLight For?
HomeLight is for patrons and sellers who don’t know the place to start out. Their agent referral service makes use of a data-driven algorithm to pair you with an area, licensed skilled who has the experience and a monitor document of success. That agent can help and advocate for you within the course of of shopping for or promoting actual property.
HomeLight Pricing and Charges
HomeLight is a free service for patrons and sellers. The price of their service is paid by the brokers they refer as soon as the transaction closes. It’s common for brokers to pay for leads and referrals as an promoting price of doing enterprise.
Many different providers, like Zillow, cost brokers a hefty payment for leads which can or could not pan out. HomeLight’s mannequin — of accumulating a referral payment solely after the transaction closes — is extra more likely to entice high brokers who wish to get certified for referral enterprise and wish to carry out nicely, which advantages the person.
How Do I Open an Account?
It’s very simple! The portal is extraordinarily user-friendly, strolling you thru screens of multiple-choice questions to determine what you’re on the lookout for. It shortly matches you with a number of brokers who may be match for you.
How Is the Buyer Service?
HomeLight is an internet service. There are telephone numbers listed however they don’t have any electronic mail addresses linked to any of the workers. There are a whole lot of useful articles and movies which are readily accessible if in case you have a query, and there’s a “contact us” kind you possibly can fill out. In researching this text, I crammed out the shape and requested somebody name me. Maybe I’m simply old style however when I’ve a query, I’d favor to speak with somebody somewhat than fill out a kind and look ahead to a response.
Ought to I Belief HomeLight’s Suggestions?
HomeLight is a well-established firm with optimistic on-line evaluations and an A+ ranking with the Higher Enterprise Bureau (BBB). HomeLight’s agent suggestions are impartial, performance-based and data-driven. Brokers can’t pay to be part of HomeLight. The one approach an actual property agent can affect their rating and be advisable on HomeLight is to deal with extra transactions and enhance their stats. Nevertheless, any licensed agent can be part of HomeLight so in a geographic location the place there may be little market exercise and few brokers, it’s potential to get matched with an agent with much less expertise than you would possibly favor.
For those who’re on the lookout for a reliable agent with a whole lot of related expertise, HomeLight is one useful resource to think about. You also needs to contemplate asking family and friends for a direct referral of an agent with whom they’d a optimistic private expertise. You may also discover out who the neighborhood specialists are and attain out to them — most brokers work in restricted geographic areas and turn out to be intimately conversant in residence values and market exercise in particular areas. That related, native expertise is commonly the distinction between getting a deal and paying an excessive amount of.
Is the Web site Safe?
As a person on the lookout for agent suggestions, you’re offering normal details about what you’re on the lookout for and your contact particulars. You’re not offering any monetary particulars that want particular safety safety. Even so, HomeLight takes safety critically and doesn’t promote your identify and data to exterior advertisers. As a person, you authorize HomeLight to share this info with their vetted actual property brokers.
Execs and Cons
Execs
- Free: The service is free for customers. Whenever you do a transaction with an agent you chose on HomeLight, that agent pays a referral payment again to HomeLight.
- Quick and simple to make use of: It couldn’t be less complicated. Reply a number of questions on what you’re on the lookout for and also you’re matched with skilled brokers who’re prepared and motivated that will help you. You don’t should name round to totally different brokerages and hope you discover a good agent.
- Information-driven agent suggestions: As an alternative of looking out the Web, pestering family and friends for a referral, or taking an opportunity on simply any agent whose image you want, HomeLight vets brokers for you utilizing verified knowledge in regards to the particular offers they’ve efficiently accomplished the place you reside or wish to transfer.
- Giant community of high quality brokers: HomeLight boasts 28,000 brokers. When making a match, HomeLight’s algorithm considers agent efficiency components equivalent to their variety of transactions, common residence worth, geographic space, common gross sales worth vs. common itemizing worth, and the variety of days a property is on market. Which means you get paired with an agent who’s close by and has closed many transactions in your space.
Cons
- You’ll get calls: After you join, brokers will name you. HomeLight limits the referred brokers to a few, although all three will possible name you. You’ll be able to interview each and select one, or go along with the primary advisable agent and inform the others you have already got an agent once they name. Some prospects have complained about unsolicited calls and emails.
Options to HomeLight
There are a number of comparable platforms to HomeLight.
Intelligent Actual Property
Intelligent has a nationwide community of pre-vetted full-service brokers. For those who’re a vendor, going by means of Intelligent advertises a reduced itemizing fee construction of 1% with a minimal payment of $3,000.
UpNest
An agent referral service with a big agent community. In contrast to Intelligent or HomeLight, UpNest serves up a number of brokers who compete for your corporation and also you get to decide on which one makes the perfect supply. This mannequin can result in reductions on the itemizing payment however there’s no assure.
Best Agent
Their pre-vetting requirements are very strict and also you get matched with one extremely skilled agent. Nevertheless, their agent community is way smaller than HomeLight. Best Agent pre-negotiates a reduced price of two% with the itemizing agent so that’s what you’ll pay as an alternative of two.5% to three% which is the standard market price for sellers.
The Backside Line: Is HomeLight Value It?
You do not have a lot to lose when utilizing HomeLight. It’s a free service that does a few of the mandatory legwork behind discovering a realtor. Like several career, there are actually good brokers, common brokers, and some less-than-competent brokers. Who you belief to work with could make an enormous distinction in your expertise, each financially and emotionally.
HomeLight’s payment construction is enticing to brokers as nicely. Brokers are capable of break even—and perhaps do higher—paying a 25% to 30% referral payment. Some brokers will likely be eager to simply break even as a result of, in the event that they do an amazing job, they may possible get a referral.
Against this, I used to be approached by Intelligent to join referral enterprise as a result of my stats present I’m a high agent in my space. I declined. A 1% fee is charity work. Except it’s an costly residence, 1% won’t even cowl my bills of doing enterprise.
As a shopper, HomeLight is an effective place to start out your seek for a licensed and competent actual property agent. Reply a number of questions on-line, and also you’ll be immediately paired with a number of vetted brokers who’re prepared that will help you.