Go to the Home Search section of our website and enter a location, such as a city. You can also enter additional search criteria to narrow the search results, such as your price range or the minimum number of bedrooms needed. Then click on the Search button and we will show you all homes listed on the relevant multiple listing service (MLS), including photographs posted by the listing agent. If you find any homes that interest you, you can save them in your HouseTech account. You can also make notes on individual homes, get data on recent comparable home sales in the area, obtain a map of the area, and get information about the community.

Also, you can save your searches on our website. When you do this, your virtual agent will email you whenever a new listing meeting your criteria is added to the MLS. This way, you will be the first to know when new listings hit the market or there is a price change on an existing listing.

You’ll find that searching for homes on HouseTech is fast and convenient and you’ll have 24/7 access to every MLS listing plus other information you need to find a perfect home.

Once you register with HouseTech, we assign you a HouseTech real estate agent that can answer any questions you have regarding a property. To get the agent’s contact information, simply sign into the HouseTech website, click on My HouseTech Account, and select the My Agent option. You can also print out your agent’s business card from this section.

Except in rare circumstances, a real estate agent listing a home is obligated to place the listing on the relevant MLS. Therefore, conducting an online MLS search should provide you complete access to all homes on the market. However, there are rare instances where a home will not appear on the MLS, such as a for sale by owner (FSBO) situation. The best way to locate non-MLS listed homes is to drive through the neighborhood and look for signs indicating that an owner is selling a property without a real estate agent.

There are two ways to visit a home for sale: (1) go to an open house, or (2) schedule a private showing with your HouseTech agent.

1. Open Houses. An easy way to see a home is to attend an open house. Listing agents frequently schedule open houses for new listings on Saturday or Sunday afternoons. In a few hours, you can visit several homes, get a better idea of what you want, and get a good feel for prices. Open house schedules for a particular neighborhood are usually published each week in the local newspaper.
2. Private Showings. If there is no open house or the timing is inconvenient, HouseTech can arrange a private tour of homes for sale to accommodate your schedule. To arrange a private showing, simply call your agent or click on the “Visit Home” button on the Details page for the property and submit your request online.

It is quite common for home buyers to visit open houses without an agent. However, if you are visiting a home without a real estate agent and you are asked by a real estate professional whether you are “working with anybody,” this is often a way of inquiring whether you are interested in retaining that agent as your representative. If you plan to have HouseTech represent you as your real estate broker, then when another real estate professional inquires about this subject, you should always respond that you are working with a HouseTech agent in order to make it clear to all parties that HouseTech is acting as your real estate broker in the transaction. This is important because the real estate agent that represents you in the transaction is generally entitled to a commission and when HouseTech receives a real estate commission, it rebates this commission back to you (except where prohibited).

You do not need to be pre-approved through HouseTech to attend an open house. However, HouseTech will only schedule a private home tour for you after we have reviewed your pre-approval application and issued you a HouseTech Buyer Advantage Approval letter.

You can request a pre-approval letter from HouseTech by contacting your real estate agent or you may click here to be taken to our secure pre-approval application.

When working with HouseTech, you must be pre-approved prior to submitting an offer to purchase a home or scheduling a private home tour. However, many buyers prefer to get pre-approved earlier in the process. The reason is that pre-approval will tell you the maximum loan amount you qualify for and give you a good idea of your loan options. This way, you only spend your time looking at homes that you know you can afford.

HouseTech’s pre-approval process goes well beyond the typical pre-qualification letter that you obtain from a mortgage broker or lender. We will collect all information required for mortgage approval, conduct a full review of your file with an in house underwriter, and issue you a HouseTech Buyer Advantage Approval letter. When you are pre-approved by HouseTech, you will have confidence in your purchasing power and home sellers and their agents will know that you are a serious and qualified home buyer.

You can request a mortgage pre-approval letter from HouseTech by contacting your real estate agent or you may click here to be taken to our secure pre-approval application.

When you are ready to make an offer on a home, simply call your HouseTech agent to discuss the details and any questions you have. Your HouseTech agent will counsel you on how to structure the offer and the price to offer for the home. Your HouseTech agent will go through all of the offer terms with you and prepare the official offer documents. When the offer documents are ready, your agent will post them in your personal HouseTech document center for you to download, review and sign.

Once you sign and return the offer documents to us, your HouseTech agent will submit the offer to the seller’s agent and contact him or her to discuss any special terms or competing offers. Your HouseTech agent will then enter into negotiations on your behalf. As soon as the seller accepts, rejects or counters your offer, your HouseTech agent will call you to discuss the details and post any documents to your personal HouseTech document center.

No. When you submit your offer to your HouseTech agent, he or she will prepare the offer documents and then provide them to you for review. Once you sign the offer and submit it to the seller, you are bound to its terms. However, most real estate offers includes a provision that allows you to inspect the property for a certain number of days and withdraw the offer if you are not satisfied with its condition.

No. If your offer is not accepted, you have no obligation to the seller or HouseTech.

The best way to ensure that you are paying a fair price for a property is to look at the selling prices of other houses in the neighborhood with similar characteristics. When you use our website to research homes, you will have access to publicly available data on past home sales and your agent should be able to provide you additional relevant data. When you are ready to make an offer, your HouseTech agent will help you estimate the home’s value and determine a fair offer price.

HouseTech will handle all of the paperwork and take all of the steps to ensure a smooth closing, including scheduling a professional inspection and appraisal of the property, securing mortgage and other closing documents, assisting you in obtaining a home insurance policy, ensuring that closing conditions have been satisfied, and coordinating with the escrow or closing agent chosen by the parties.

If you buy a property through HouseTech, we rebate back to you 100% of the commission that we receive from the seller or the seller’s agent.

When a home seller contracts with a listing agent to sell their home, they negotiate a commission that the seller will pay to the agent. Typically, this commission is between 4-6% and is split equally between the seller’s agent and the buyer’s agent. This means that HouseTech will generally earn a 2-3% commission on your purchase transaction. For example, if a seller has agreed to pay a 3% commission on an $800,000 home purchased by you, and the commission is split evenly between the seller’s agent and the buyer’s agent, then HouseTech will receive a $24,000 commission at closing and rebate this amount to you. Note that the rebate offer is void where prohibited by law, and subject to terms and conditions. Click here for details.

In lieu of retaining a commission, HouseTech will charge you a $2,995 success fee in the event that you successfully complete a home purchase transaction.

You can use HouseTech’s rebate calculator to estimate your rebate on a home purchase. The amount of the rebate is determined by the commission percentage paid to HouseTech and we are not permitted to publish this information on our website (although it is typically between 2% and 3% of the purchase price). Prior to submitting an offer, you can ask your HouseTech agent what commission percentage is being paid with respect to a particular home.

Generally, you will receive your rebate check from HouseTech within 14 days after closing.

HouseTech does not report commission refunds as taxable income due to a 2007 IRS ruling. In that matter, a real estate broker sought guidance as to whether a commission rebate to a home purchaser would constitute taxable income. The IRS ruled that the rebate was not taxable, stating: “A payment or credit at closing from [a real estate broker] represents an adjustment to the purchase price of the home and generally is not includable in a purchaser’s gross income.”

Nevertheless, HouseTech recommends that you consult with a tax advisor or accounting professional should you have any questions regarding the proper tax treatment of your rebate.

This depends on which agent is properly entitled to the buyer’s side commission because HouseTech can only rebate to you what it receives. If HouseTech is not entitled to a commission in the transaction, then there is no rebate. HouseTech will only receive a commission in a home purchase transaction if (a) you make it clear to all parties that HouseTech is representing you as your real estate broker, (b) you are not contractually obligated to work with another real estate broker on the transaction, and (c) HouseTech is deemed to be the “procuring cause” of the transaction.

Please note that HouseTech has no obligation to take any action to enforce, collect, or establish entitlement to a commission. Therefore, if there is any ambiguity in determining which broker represents you in a transaction or is the procuring cause thereof, this issue must be resolved prior to the submission of any purchase offers.

HouseTech is a real estate services firm licensed in multiple states. We provide a technology-enhanced real estate brokerage service that is designed to make buying, selling and financing a home easier and less stressful. By using our website, you will be able to search for all homes listed on the relevant multiple listing service (MLS), arrange a home tour, obtain information regarding recent home sales, research community statistics, and get pre-approved for home financing.

When you find a home and want to make an offer, your licensed HouseTech real estate agent handles all the negotiations and paperwork. Every detail of the transaction is available for review 24/7 in your personal HouseTech document center.

HouseTech offers a unique rebate program when serving as a buyer’s agent. Under this program, you receive 100% of the commission paid to us in the transaction. To get an idea of the commission rebate you'll receive by working with HouseTech, visit our rebate calculator.

You can use our website to search the MLS and obtain information about properties for sale, past sales in the neighborhood, community statistics and other relevant data. In order to save your searches, set up email alerts on new listings, and have access to all levels of the site, you will need to register with us.

The HouseTech registration process is quick and easy to do. Once you have registered, you will be able to save your searches, receive email updates on new listings, schedule home tours, and get pre-approved for a mortgage. Also, you will also have access to a licensed real estate agent who can answer questions about specific homes for sale or the home buying process.

There is no cost to register and no one will call you. When you are ready, you can speak to a HouseTech representative by calling us at 888-525-HOUSE.

There is no cost to use the HouseTech website to search for homes. If you choose to retain HouseTech as your real estate broker in a transaction, you must be pre-approved through the company’s Buyer Advantage Program and pay a pre-approval fee (which is only charged if you are approved). Your pre-approval fee is refunded to you upon the closing of your home purchase or if you choose not to utilize HouseTech’s services. Click here for an explanation of the pre-approval process.

If you are successful in purchasing a home with HouseTech as your broker, you will pay a success fee to HouseTech, which can be deducted from the commission rebate received by you.

A seller's agent is a licensed real estate agent hired by the seller to market and sell his or her home. A buyer's agent is a licensed real estate agent hired by the buyer to assist him or her in locating a home and negotiating the purchase. If the buyer does not retain an agent. the seller's agent may end up acting on behalf of both the seller and buyer (this is known as dual agency). However, because the principal goal of the seller’s agent is to sell the home at the highest price possible, there is often a conflict of interest involved in dual agency. For this reason, it is generally a good idea for a buyer to work with a buyer's agent. As a buyer, this will ensure that your agent is working for you and your best interests.

HouseTech currently offers mortgage lending services in most states and real estate brokerage services in California. However, HouseTech is licensed as a real estate broker in multiple states and plans to expand its real estate brokerage service into additional areas. Homebuyers can request to be alerted when HouseTech launches real estate brokerage operations in their state by clicking here.

If you entered into an exclusive agreement with another agent, then HouseTech cannot represent you in your home purchase transaction. Also, if another broker has introduced you to a particular home and provided you counseling regarding it, then this broker may be considered the procuring cause of the transaction even if HouseTech submits the purchase offer for you. If another broker is the procuring cause for the transaction, then HouseTech will not earn a commission and you will not receive a rebate. In order to clear up any ambiguity, when dealing with other real estate agents, you should make it clear that HouseTech is acting as your real estate broker or that you plan to retain HouseTech.

Generally, you will work with a single HouseTech real estate agent who will be your main point of contact throughout the transaction. However, when you schedule a home tour, it is possible that another agent will be assigned to conduct the tour if your agent is unavailable. If at any time you are dissatisfied with your agent’s level of customer service, you can contact the agent’s manager (who is also a real estate professional).

When you engage HouseTech as your real estate broker, you are not obligated to continue working with us. If you want to discontinue your engagement with us and retain another real estate broker, you are free to do so at any time.

Absolutely. However, note that in some cases, FSBO homeowners do not offer a commission to the buyer’s agent. If this is the case, then you will not earn a rebate on the transaction.

Absolutely. Although it is unusual, there are instances when a home is for sale but is not included in the MLS database (particularly when a seller has not engaged a real estate agent to market the home). If you find a home for sale that does not appear on our website, simply contact your HouseTech agent to discuss the situation. However, you should note that when a home is not listed on the MLS, the homeowner may not want to offer a commission to the buyer’s agent. If this is the case, then you will not earn a rebate on the transaction.

No. Although we always act in your best interests in a transaction, we retain the right to terminate the agency relationship when necessary. For instance, if you want to offer a price that is far below the apparent market value of a property, we will ask you to explain your reasoning. Without a suitable rationale, we may ask that you modify your offer or retain another real estate broker. In order to best serve our clients, we must ensure that we only ask our agents, as well as sellers and their listing agents, to invest their time on serious offers from qualified buyers.

HouseTech uses your personal information only in connection with the services offered by it. We will never sell your personal information or disclose any of your personal information without your prior authorization. For our official privacy policy, please click here.

HouseTech was incorporated in 2000 and launched its real estate services division in 2006.