Houzeo review: What it is and how it works

Want to sell your home without having to pay a hefty commission to a real estate agent? A “for sale by owner” (FSBO) transaction can be confusing and time-consuming, which is why there are many companies out there that aim to facilitate the process. One such company is Houzeo, an online platform that lists your house on your local multiple listing service (MLS) — a database of homes on the market used by real estate agents — for a flat fee, without an agent. Here’s a review of Houzeo and how it works.

What is Houzeo?

Headquartered in New York City but operating nationwide, Houzeo is a home-selling platform that lets homeowners list their homes for sale without needing a listing agent to do it for them.

Like many other for-sale-by-owner websites, it offers several plans at different price points for different tiers of service. The highest and priciest tier is $449 — significantly less than the 2.5 to 3 percent of the sale price you might pay for a listing agent’s commission — though there are other fees involved.

Besides charging a flat fee to list your home on the MLS, Houzeo also offers sellers access to its proprietary online tools. These include:

• IntelliList Listing Management System, which helps you list your home and make changes to your listing
• Houzeo Offers, to evaluate buyer offers and make counter-offers or request “highest and best” offers
• Houzeo Showings, to manage showing requests from buyers and their agents

How does Houzeo work?

Houzeo offers four pricing plans:

1. Bronze: This entry-level package, starting at $399, offers a six-month MLS listing accompanied by 24 listing images. Your listing will appear on Houzeo’s website as well as Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com and other sites that syndicate listings from the MLS. You can make unlimited listing changes.
2. Silver: The next step-up is this package, also priced from $399, which includes everything in the Bronze package as well as “maximum” photos (no number is specified), access to the Houzeo mobile app and seller disclosures.
3. Gold: Starting at $429, this option includes everything in the Silver plan plus (among other things) access to Houzeo Offers and a personal concierge, and assistance from a licensed broker who can review the contract, provide real estate forms and offer pricing guidance.
4. Platinum: Houzeo’s top-of-the-line package starts at $449 and provides all the Gold services along with the full (virtual) services of a licensed broker. In addition, the MLS listing extends to 12 months and other services are available upon request.

A few things to note about Houzeo’s pricing:

• While the company offers a free listing option on its own site, this only grants visibility on Houzeo.com. To gain access to the MLS and its syndicators, you must pay for a listing package.
• Package prices can vary from state to state. You must click on your state to reveal the pricing for your location, which may be different from what first appears on the site.
• You will still be responsible for paying all your closing costs, and also your buyer’s agent’s commission.
• Read the fine print here very carefully. While Houzeo bills itself as a “flat fee” service, there are in fact many additional fees beyond the stated package prices. And some are considerably more expensive than the package price itself: For example, if you opt for the Silver or Gold plan you’ll also owe 0.5 percent at closing — presumably 0.5 percent of the home’s sale price, although that is not specified. And with the Platinum package, it’s a full 1 percent due at closing. For a $350,000 home, that’s $3,500.
• Beneath the listing of tiers is the following wording: “On Silver, Gold and Platinum plans, a minimum commission of $999 is applicable.” It does not say whether that is in addition to the percentage due at closing or not.
• They even charge you for a yard sign — the $49 is refundable if you provide them with a selfie that includes you, the sign and the house.

Where does Houzeo operate?

Houzeo is available nationwide, in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Its website says coverage automation is strong in 45 states and more limited in Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and West Virginia.

Is Houzeo worth it?

The prospect of bypassing the need for a real estate agent and saving big on commission fees is certainly attractive to many home sellers. The Houzeo website touts savings of between $6,125 and $14,700, though it’s unclear how it arrived at those numbers, considering that traditional commission structures are based on a home’s sale price, and prices vary widely. Elsewhere on the site it states that users save an average of $15,000.

But Houzeo’s pricing structure comes with many fees, too, so you won’t be avoiding them altogether. The higher tiers of service may not be worth it if you’re looking to save money, or to keep as much money from the sale as possible without paying a percentage to anyone else. If you don’t need all the bells and whistles, though, and you just want a basic MLS listing, the Bronze plan may be worth it. It’s the only one of the company’s four service plans that does not charge a percentage at closing, though it may still charge the minimum $999 commission.

Houzeo alternatives

Houzeo isn’t the sole route available for selling your home; here are a few alternatives worth considering:

• Check out other online flat-fee MLS platforms, such as Homecoin, ISoldMyHouse.com, ListWithFreedom.com or ForSaleByOwner.com (owned by Rocket).
• Look into sites that help you find or sell through real estate agents, like Clever, UpNest or Redfin.
• Explore selling directly to an iBuyer or cash-homebuying company that operates in your area.

Next steps

If you’d like to work with Houzeo, all you have to do to get started is enter your address online or schedule a consultation call with a representative (the call can be scheduled via the website). Before you commit to anything, though, make sure you understand all the details, and read all terms, conditions and contracts very carefully.

If you don’t think Houzeo is right for you, your next step would be to reach out to another online company or a local real estate agent in your area. Many agents are willing to negotiate their commission rates, so be sure to ask.

FAQs

• Is Houzeo a legitimate company?

  Yes, Houzeo is a legitimate real estate company based in New York City. It was founded in 2017 by CEO Amit Dhameja, who was previously a vice president and executive director for J.P. Morgan. The service is available in all 50 states and Washington D.C.

• Is Houzeo a good option to sell my house?

  Houzeo is mainly for sellers who want to go the for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) route. It lists your home on the local MLS for a fee — there are four different tiers of service, each for a different fee — which means you don’t need to hire a real estate agent to do that for you. However, three of the four service plans require a small percentage of the home’s price to be paid at closing, and there are other fees involved as well. If you want to sell on your own with minimal fees, the basic Gold plan could be a good option for you. But if you need more help or advice, listing with a traditional agent might be a better option.

• Should I sell my house by owner or hire a real estate agent?

  The answer depends on a lot of factors specific to your situation. When you hire a listing agent to sell your house, you pay them a commission for their services, typically somewhere around 2.5 or 3 percent of the home’s sale price. Choosing the for-sale-by-owner path saves you from having to pay that commission, but it costs you in other ways. FSBO owners are responsible for everything an agent would normally do, including crafting the listing, scheduling and hosting showings, negotiating with buyers, coordinating closing paperwork and more. That is time-consuming, and there’s a lot of money on the line, so a mistake can be costly. For this reason, FSBO sales are not usually the best route for real estate novices.