Real estate firm promises to save homeowners big money
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Thinking of buying or selling a home soon? If you want to save money, keep this in mind.
The average real estate commission is about 6 percent, which could add up to thousands based on the price of the home.
But Door Real Estate is looking to change all of that by leaving more equity in homeowner's pockets.
The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind for the Smiths. After listing their house on a Monday, they had an offer that Friday.
Around the same time, they found a new home.
"We're closing this week and expecting a check for about $4,500," homebuyer Amy Smith said.
"The costs that you have to pay to sell your home or to buy a home are just really out of whack with the value that you receive," Door CEO Alex Doubet said.
Doubet started Door Real Estate two years ago after watching his mom pay the traditional 6 percent in real estate commission when she sold her home.
"And for her, that was over $53,000" Doubet said.
That gave him the idea for a different kind of real estate company.
"The idea initially was pretty simple. We charge a flat $5,000 regardless of the price of the home paid at close, and we sell your home. We stage it, we do a 3D model, and we do professional photographs" Doubet explained.
The home is also featured on multiple listing service sites like HAR here in Houston.
So how does this work? Say, for example, a home listed with Door sells for $300,000. Now a traditional selling agent would receive three percent of the sale, or $9,000 in this case. But Door charges a flat fee of $5,000, saving you $4,000.
"That was a selling point right there" Smith said.
Now this does not include any commission for the buyer's agent, the one representing those buying your home. This may be something you have to negotiate, but typically it's 3 percent of the home sale.
Now on the back end, if you use Door as your buyer's agent, you can receive money back.
"They split the commission with you. So if they get 3 percent, you get 1.5 percent back," Smith said.
That's how the Smiths got a check for $4,500 after closing on their new home.
