National real estate referral network Ideal Agent has struck an exclusive partnership with Incenter, a financial operations and advisory organization, the company announced in a press release.
Incenter offers a range of consulting services through separate companies to providers of mortgages, title services, and specialty finance, among other related products.
The partnership intends to offer customers of Ideal Agent a more streamlined process for finding and leveraging professional service providers when buying and selling a home, similar to most brokerages’ list of preferred vendors or a software company’s marketplace and available integrations.
The press release also said Incenter had made a financial investment in Ideal Agent, but did not disclose the terms.
Ideal Agent aims to connect real estate consumers with “the top 1 percent of their local market — who sell houses for top dollar, for commissions of as little as 2 percent.”
It uses a web-based interface to match clients with a single agent instead of a preferred list.
In a 2018 Inman report, Ideal Agent defined the top 1 percent of agents and teams as those with a sales license in good standing, a track record of 50 sales in the past year, five years experience, and a 5-star Zillow or realtor.com rating.
“The 6 percent commission has been around forever,” said Ideal Agent founder and CEO Steve Johntson in 2018. “It’s high, and technology has made everything less expensive, so there’s room to get great service for a lower commission.”
Buyers and sellers don’t pay for the Ideal Agent service. Its revenue comes from agent referral fees.
Ideal Agent is a Florida-based real estate brokerage. Incenter is based in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, and it employs 1,600 people.
In the press release, Johnston said the collaboration is all about providing homesellers with easy access to needed services.
“Incenter’s ability to conceptualize new solutions and accelerate them into the market is second to none. I’m excited about what this synergy means for our industry and consumers.”
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