Realogy announced Monday a new cash-back benefits program for AARP members, expected to launch some time early in 2020.
Through the program, AARP members will earn either cash-back or a bonus at closing, when they buy or sell a home with an agent at one of the companies brands, including Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Corcoran, ERA and Sotheby’s International Realty.
“With millions of adults over 50 buying and selling homes each year, we are excited to develop a unique benefits program that guides and rewards AARP members during another important milestone in their lives,” Realogy CEO and President Ryan Schneider said in a statement. “This is a great example of Realogy leveraging our tremendous scale, world-class brands and deep market expertise to forge new relationships to drive more high-quality leads for our affiliated agents and franchisees and to benefit AARP members.”
Americans over the age of 50 still represent a large portion of the homebuying and selling population, according to Realogy, citing the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) generational trends report, published in August 2019. Americans over the age of 50 made up nearly 40 percent of homebuyers and still represent the largest group of home sellers at 55 percent.
“For many older Americans, relocating to a new home is part of a major life stage transition, such as retiring, downsizing, or changing jobs,” said John Larew, senior vice president of Branded Products at AARP Services Inc. “The real estate program from Realogy is designed to help AARP members successfully navigate that transition, while saving money in the process. It’s part of AARP’s commitment to empowering people to choose how they live as they age.”
In certain states that don’t allow a cashback bonus, Realogy will offer either a gift card or a commission reduction.
The introduction of the new program is another lead generation platform for Realogy, which also introduced a rewards program in partnership with online retail giant Amazon this year.
The new rewards program also follows on the heels of Realogy and the United States Automobile Association discontinuing a similar cash-back reward program for veterans and active-duty service members and their families. Realogy, in place of that program, is currently launching a new military rewards program through Cartus, the company’s relocation services arm.
