REX Real Estate is a California, Texas, Colorado, New Jersey, and New York real estate listing agent, offers consumers listing savings and buyer’s rebates for select areas. REX Real Estate does not offer Buyer's Agent Commission (2.5%-3%) split to buyer’s agents and does not list seller’s homes on the MLS.
MLS-less REX significantly lowers home's exposure to buyers working with their own agent and misrepresents many advantages of using MLS to sellers.
Further, REX Real Estate claims to save buyer's agent fee amount, but in reality, Buyer's Agent Commission is always defined by the seller and it is up to the seller how much she is willing to offer buyer's agent, not REX.
The listing rate of 2%, that the company offers, must be compared to a "traditional" listing fee of 3%. In this comparison, REX Real Estate listing savings are only 1% less than a "traditional" listing commission.
REX Real Estate offers savings to sellers with a commission set at 2%, and buyers a 50% commission rebate.
REX Real Estate is a consumer-focused real estate agent that, unfortunately, claims a lot more than what it actionably delivers. REX Real Estate service includes posting home on its own web site and MLS Aggregator services, professional photos and 3D images in addition to all typical services offered by a traditional real estate agent.
The key disadvantage of using REX Real Estate is that it does not use MLS to advertise a listing property to other brokers. Any buyer who is represented by their own agent must pay a buyer’s agent fees out-of-pocket. This proposition gives REX larger control of how company’s listing data is distributed and an excuse to claim additional savings against 6% commission, but the seller pays the real price with a highly limited pool of self-represented buyers.
The company claims that it saves the seller a Buyer’s Agent Commission, but this amount is typically defined by the seller and it is never mandatory. In reality, REX Real Estate actionably offers 1% in listing savings compared to a “traditional” listing rate of 3%.
REX Real Estate further misrepresents volume of total savings when it claims that other agents that use “antiquated MLS and is set up like a traditional agency, can’t get away from the 3% buy-side commission.” This is false. There are agents who choose to waive or drastically reduce this fee if the buyer is self-represented and this amount if not set in stone. The only reason 2.5% - 3% buy-side commission is often recommended by other real estate agents is because it significantly increases listing exposure to potential buyers.
When comparing listing rates, Buyer’s Agent Commission amount is irrelevant and should never be used to “prop-up” the appeal of a competitive listing rate. This systematic misinformation is quite damaging to consumers who may not be aware of drawbacks associated with not offering the buy-side commission.
Further, REX Real Estate operates alongside many highly competitive real estate agents that offer consumers much better savings, such as flat fees - when the company claims it offers the lowest fee, this is simply not true. When working with other agents, REX Real Estate hypocritically receives Buyer’s Agent Commission from other listing agents when it represents buyers; REX Real Estate refunds 50% of that amount back to the buyer, as a tax-free commission refund.
We find that REX Real Estate offers nothing new over most any real estate agent, it simply games a few pieces of the existing process in an effort to claim that it has a found a way to replace an outdated MLS.
A well-defined MLS Aggregation process is actually very helpful to consumers because this information, now widely available online, helps people find and shop for homes easily. The real problems in the real estate process are excessive fees and hidden kickbacks between agents and referral fee networks.
Despite the fact that REX Real Estate is a model that offers listing savings to sellers, it receives an average score due to the misleading advertising policy and lack of home exposure to the MLS. REX Real Estate is still a great option for buyers due to 50% buyer’s refund.
How to save when buying a home
Homie is a Utah-based broker, offers consumers flat fee listing savings and buyers refunds.
Homie offer listing savings ($199 advance, plus $1,299 at closing) and buyer’s refunds ($5,000 subtracted from Buyer’s Agent Commission) for select Utah properties.
Homie is a consumer-focused real estate agent that successfully represents consumers across Utah and offers sizeable savings. Homie agents are salaried client-service focused employees who are not motivated by commissions.
Homie service includes posting home on the MLS and MLS Aggregator services, professional photos and 3D images in addition to all typical services offered by a traditional real estate agent. If a seller accepts an offer from a buyer represented by Homie, a $1,299 buyer transaction fee is added, instead of the full buyer agent commission (2.5%-3%) amount advertised on the MLS.
Homie claims that Homie-to-Homie incentive favorably lowers overall transaction costs, but it also requires the buyer to accept the potential downside of dual representation.
For buyers, a flat $5,000 buyer’s refund savings may not work as well for higher-priced properties. For example, if there a 50% buyer’s refund offered by another local agent, the amount can reach $15,000 for a home valued at 1,000,000 USD; in this case, $5,000 is only third of the amount a buyer can potentially receive compared to a 50% refund savings. Still, $5,000 buyer’s refund offered by Homie is a substantial amount that results in legitimate savings to buyers.
Overall Homie offers an excellent proposition to Buyers and Sellers alike.