Finding the appropriate real estate agent is critical whether you are a first-time homebuyer or want to sell your house. The greatest real estate brokers can make the process of purchasing or selling a house as quick, inexpensive, and, most importantly, stress-free as possible.
The main question is…
How and where do you locate real estate agents who are professional, trustworthy, and most importantly, dependable?
Today’s subject of discussion is all about Home Light, and how, many people (including you) may have missed the thorns sticking beneath those beautiful rose petals like reviews.
Read more to find out…
HomeLight? What’s that?
Many of you know and many of you don’t. If you’ve never heard of HomeLight, the first thing you need to know is what it is and how it works.
HomeLight is an online real estate company that assists house buyers, sellers, and real estate brokers with a variety of services. Its main service is an agent matching service that connects buyers and sellers with local realtors within minutes of signing up on their website.
You can schedule interviews, compare possibilities, and pick the best fit — or you may ignore its recommendations if you don’t like them. HomeLight’s service, like all other agent matching services, is free and without obligation.
Finding an agent on your own is more difficult and more consuming than using HomeLight’s service. And, thanks to its large network, it has more options and better coverage than many of its competitors, especially in smaller towns and rural areas.
Apart from speed and convenience, HomeLight offers no other significant advantages. Most significantly, there are no pre-built savings!
Other companies offer the same free-agent matching service as Houzeo, Ideal Agent and UpNest, but they also negotiate large discounts on your behalf.
How does it work?
The process is actually quite simple. All you have to do is fill out a form and you’re good to go.
Let’s dive deeper to understand this better.
Signing Up As a Seller
- Your complete address
- What type of property you’re attempting to sell (options range from a single-family home to a vacant plot of land )
- Your property’s estimated worth
- The estimated time period you’re looking to sell your property.
- Details of your contact information
Signing Up As a Buyer
- The preferred area you’re interested in
- Which stage of the buying process are you currently in
- The type of property you’re looking to buy
- Your preferred budget for buying a property
- Whether or not you have a lender’s pre-approval
- Details of your contact information
After you’ve entered this information, HomeLight will take you to a client dashboard where you may see agent matches right away. These matches appear on their own, based entirely on the company’s algorithm.
In the dashboard, you can quickly view crucial information about your agent matches, such as the number of properties they’ve sold in your area, where those homes are situated (via an interactive map), how long the agent has been in business, and any significant successes or specialty.
A HomeLight representative contacts you through phone, email, and a message on your dashboard a few minutes after you receive your agent matches. Your agent matches will start calling you as well.
If you don’t like the first three agent matches HomeLight suggests, you can request more agents by clicking a button on your client dashboard and you’ll be immediately presented with two more agents.
You can also request more options from your HomeLight representative. Since a chat can provide more complex information about your personal circumstances, the representative may be able to connect you with more qualified agents based on their expertise and your specific needs.
You can opt to work with one of your agent matches after reviewing and interviewing them, or you can simply walk away. There’s no obligation to work with a HomeLight agent whatsoever.
Hit and Misses of HomeLight
The majority of HomeLight reviews are good, with an average customer rating of 4.7 out of 1,012 total reviews.
Their agent matching process is totally automated and you may use it whenever it’s most convenient for you – not just during business hours.
Many of HomeLight’s rivals would only provide a match after speaking with a customer care representative over the phone. That implies that if you start the procedure outside of typical business hours, you might not hear back until the next morning.
Matches from HomeLight are delivered promptly. You can also request additional matches with a single click of a button, which will be delivered immediately.
Psst…
Did you know that there are many public complaints about HomeLight which suggest that the company sells consumer data to third parties since users have reported an increase in spam and unwanted phone calls after signing up for the service?
It seems all is not rosy. Nonetheless, let’s see what are the hits and misses of HomeLight.
Hits
A variety of agents
Right away, HomeLight pairs you with three agents. When looking for a real estate agent, you can easily interview and compare numerous possibilities, which we encourage. If you don’t like the initial matches, the service makes it simple to get more – all you have to do is push a button, and two additional agent matches emerge.
HomeLight also makes comparison shopping easier by providing information about each agent’s specializations, sales records, and qualifications in its dashboard.
Better coverage
In comparison to some of its competitors, HomeLight appears to have stronger coverage in smaller towns and rural areas. This is most likely due to the network’s vast size.
Given the large number of matches provided by HomeLight, you can usually sift out the agents from outside your area if you prefer to work with someone who is familiar with your neighborhood and market dynamics.
User-friendly interface
The dashboard on HomeLight is simple to use and useful for comparing choices. It includes a list of your matches as well as background information on each agent to assist you in deciding which the greatest match is. The dashboard, which also logs all communication between you, the agent, and HomeLight, allows you to contact the company or one of your matches directly.
Misses
Poor quality matches
Relying on technology can lead to poor-quality matches, technical difficulties, and delays.
Most competitors’ services employ algorithms to make matches, but may additionally have a person hand-picking the ideal agent based on the information clients submit and their personal expertise of the network’s agents. Computers might make mistakes, so the results of your search might not be exactly what you’re looking for.
If you want, HomeLight offers a concierge service with whom you can communicate over the phone as they rarely react to texts as pointed out by some customers.
You don’t save anything
The agent matching service provided by HomeLight is free, but it will not save you money. HomeLight does not offer built-in savings for buyers or sellers, unlike some of its competitors.
Most of the time, you’ll pay your realtor the full listing charge, which is normally 2.5-3% of the sale price, depending on your local market. That’s the same price you’d pay if you went out on your own and got an agent.
The BitterSweet Pill about HomeLight
There’s no reason not to give HomeLight a shot.
HomeLight is a free service for buyers and sellers with no strings attached. You can sign up and then cancel if you don’t like any of the agent matches it suggests.
HomeLight is quick and simple to use, and it offers various area matches to assist you to choose the perfect agent for your needs.
But, keeping the negative points in mind is it really worth giving it a shot?
Why would you choose a firm that charges more for the same service and not provide you with any saving opportunity?
The solution?
Check out these alternatives.
Houzeo
Houzeo, one of America’s most popular real estate websites, charges a small fee for the FSBO option. There are numerous packages available, starting at $199, depending on your needs.
You will have greater control over your listing if you choose FSBO as a home selling option, since you will not be reliant on your agent to update or alter even the tiniest of details, and it is also favorable for first-time home buyers and sellers. Houzeo lists your home on numerous other major MLSs across the country, with an intent-based viewership of millions of users per month, in addition to covering important states in the United States. The more people who see your listing, the more likely it is to sell quickly.
Houzeo representatives respect your privacy, do not spam you unnecessarily and don’t give sell your information to anyone. To corroborate this, feel free to check out the various Houzeo reviews various buyers and sellers have written.
Ideal Agent
Ideal Agent would sell your home for an overall commission rate of 4.5%, as compared to the customary 5-6%. Ideal Agent differs from HomeLight in that it only matches you with one agent. However, it takes pride in dealing with just the top 1% of agents in each market, as determined by sales data.
UpNest
UpNest is similar to HomeLight in that it matches you with an agent, but instead of utilizing an algorithm, it uses a “real estate agent marketplace” where local realtors submit bids to compete for your business. UpNest encourages customers to save money by promoting competition. To make their proposition more appealing, some agents may charge you a lower commission rate.
