How Homiy would make money

Fee

$5,000, flat

When you’d pay it

At closing

If you don’t buy

$0

If the price is higher

Still $5,000

The fee would be written into the buyer agreement you’d sign before your first tour, with a 60-day term and how to end it. It would cover your broker, one named person; the licensed agents from the same firm who’d meet you at homes; and every draft your broker would review. Because it wouldn’t grow with the price, nobody on your side would earn more when you pay more.

As your broker, Homiy would receive no more than $5,000 from any source for your purchase. Compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable.

Since August 17, 2024, sellers’ offers to pay a buyer’s broker can’t be posted on the MLS, the listing system agents share. A seller can still offer to pay, or agree to when you ask, so whether one will is unknown until your broker asks. Homiy’s cost estimates don’t assume a seller will pay.

• If the seller pays nothing, you’d pay the $5,000 at closing. Homiy’s cash estimates include it.
• If the seller pays less than the fee, that money would pay part of it, and you’d pay the rest.
• If the seller pays more than the fee, the fee would be paid first, and the rest would be credited to you at closing, where your state and your lender allow.

In these states, the law doesn’t let a broker pass part of its pay to a buyer as a credit. There, if a seller offered more than the fee, your broker would ask for a lower price for you instead.

• Missouri (Kansas City): RSMo §339.100.2(13) inducements conditioned on a purchase (effective 2026-08-28, retrieved 2026-09-27)
• Oklahoma (Oklahoma City and Tulsa): Oklahoma Real Estate License Code and Rules (59 O.S. §858-312) (as of 2023-11-01)
• Oregon (Portland): ORS ch. 696 (696.290 fee sharing and rebates; 696.810 buyer agreements) (2025 edition, retrieved 2026-09-27)
• Tennessee (Memphis and Nashville): Tennessee Real Estate Commission: cash and gift-card rebate prohibition (Summer 2025; TCA §62-13-302(b))

These states set rules for how a seller’s payment is written down:

• Wisconsin (Milwaukee): From January 1, 2027, a seller's agreement to pay your broker must be written into the offer you and the seller sign, and a broker may not take pay from another brokerage on a 1–4 unit home. (2025 Wisconsin Act 69, Wis. Stat. §452.19(3)–(4) (in effect Jan 1, 2027))

In the other states Homiy covers, our research found no ban on the credit, but some of those findings still need a lawyer’s review. Each state’s rule and its source are in “How buying works” on its cities’ Prices pages. Research as of September 2026; not legal advice.

Since August 17, 2024, under the National Association of Realtors’ settlement rules, a buyer working with an agent who uses the MLS signs a written agreement before touring a home, in person or live online. It states what the agent will be paid, as an amount or rate, and can’t be open-ended; the agent can’t receive more than that from any source; and it says that broker fees are fully negotiable and not set by law (NAR, “What the NAR Settlement Means for Home Buyers and Sellers”, updated May 24, 2024). Some states add their own rules, such as how long an agreement can last; each state’s are in “How buying works” on its cities’ Prices pages.

Who pays is up to you and the seller: you, the seller, or both. For context, the average U.S. buyer’s agent commission was 2.42% in Q3 2025, according to Redfin.

Homiy would accept nothing of value from anyone (no fee, credit, discount or free service) for recommending or listing a lender, title or escrow company, inspector, insurer or other provider; it hasn't decided whether it would pay referral fees to, or accept them from, other brokerages, and would disclose any to you in dollars.

No lender, title or escrow company, inspector, insurer or other provider could pay to be listed or shown first, and you could use any licensed provider you like.

Federal law already bans most of this. For purchases with most mortgages, RESPA section 8 (12 U.S.C. §2607) bars giving or accepting anything of value for referring business such as the loan itself, title insurance, escrow and closing, appraisals, inspections or home insurance. Homiy’s pledge would apply whether or not you borrow, and to any provider. The same law allows referral fees between real estate brokerages: that’s the part of the policy above Homiy hasn’t decided yet.

A plan, not an offer of services, and not legal advice. The fee and policies are what Homiy’s buyer agreement would say; the laws and industry rules are as researched in September 2026, with links. How we know explains how Homiy labels every number. Questions: About lists who is building Homiy and how to reach him.