Real estate platform Hyyve has officially launched in Toronto, introducing its out-of-the-box approach to matching Realtors with sellers.
With Hyyve, Realtors bid on residential listings, competing with other agents in what’s essentially a bidding war to get clients.
The platform is free for sellers to use, enabling them to receive upfront cash and compare side-by-side proposals from agents competing to earn their listing.
The game-changing model sees agents pay upfront for the right to list a property.
Hyyve only earns a success fee from the winning agent’s bid.
Exclusive launch
Hyyve launches with 500 select, invite-only Realtors and home sellers.
The platform’s advisory board includes former Re/Max Canada president Christopher Alexander, Right at Home Realty co-founder Howard Drukarsh, and Luxe Listings Toronto star Peter Torkan.
Finer details
Sellers can now create MLS-style pre-listings with photos, videos, and property details, which can be enhanced by AI-powered virtual staging from Hyyve’s partner, AI HomeDesign.
Secure ID verification with Stripe also ensures trust for both sellers and agents.
Sellers receive bids that highlight agent credentials, regulator board compliance, ratings, and value propositions, then sign a standard listing agreement with their chosen agent.
The agent’s bid is held in trust until the home sells or the listing expires, with full refunds if the seller breaches the listing agreement.
Through Hyyve’s partnership with iCommission, agents can access commission advances on both signed listings and sales, empowering them to bid upfront without impacting cash flow.
KISS
The twist is the hook to the consumer is a promise to buy their listing.
Some sellers may be taken in until they realize they’re paying themselves from the very commission they agree to pay to the successful bidder (who has taken that discount into consideration) after having done all the prep and marketing work to sell their listing to the agent so it can be placed on the mls.
All will be well until the complaints to RECO start flowing with claims of, complicated agreements not being explained properly, or unfair practices where they had to agree to accept any offer or be in breach of the listing agreement.
Then there is talk of tied selling – a combined listing agreement with a buyer representation agreement.
Meanwhile, the moneymakers here are Hyyve which is taking 30% off the listing purchase fee plus the monthly subscription fee along with icommission advances which is being promoted as the backstop for the bidding agent’s listing fee. Both front-loaded arrangements. Whereas, this is already a loss leader for an agent whose deal doesn’t close through no fault of their client, now a new complication arises in the purchased listing in order to protect that purchase fee.
From what I can gather from the unclear faqs, both companies were birthed and owned by agents some of which already own brokerages that collect fees from these agents.
By the time a listing agent has paid all the upfront fees, they’ve parted with between 5 and 20% or more, of commission not yet collected and before expenses and taxes. And so the need to forever be chasing an increase in clients. No wonder so many work into their 70s and 80s.
This industry does not have a good reputation in the eyes of the consumer yet keeps finding more ways to stay that way.
I give this new ‘disruption’ two years.
It seems messy. In most markets a commission conscious seller could simply invite 3 or 4 agents to tour their home and make a pitch. If the agents knew they were competing on commission, low rate offers seem certain. Why use a middle man and risk video and deficiency disclosures getting to the wrong people? The traditional way gives the seller much more control over the process.
And what’s in its for agents? Paying $300/month or more for the potential chance to shell out thousands of dollars up front to some third party to hold until a sale closes seems like an expensive and risky approach. I’m sure there are still some markets where a rapid sale is virtually guaranteed once the sign goes on the lawn, but most of Canada no longer works that way. These days most agents need to work very hard to sell their listings. Trying to buying a commission seems like a fool’s errand.
This isn’t anything new. Many have tried it. This is in essential a referral service but HYVVE isn’t a brokerage so they have to structure it as bidding/advertising fee. In essence, they are “trading” in real estate without being a registrant. This is going to be a problem with RECO.
Also, according to this “*Hyyve is free for home sellers, with no obligation to choose an agent. A 30% success fee is only deducted from the winning agent’s bid if your home sells. For example, if an agent bids $5,000, Hyyve takes $1,500, and you receive $3,500—completely risk-free.”.
What a RED Flag, how is the platform going to stop unscrupulous PRETEND Sellers from posting up an attractive listing, to get agents to bid on it, and collect the $3,500 without having to hire that agent.
No good agents in their right mind will pay $5,000 for a potential to be hired. NONE.
I give this site 6 months unless they have deep pockets to ride it out. Stop playing this referral website game.
Everyone is trying to make money out of thin air these days. If this “disruptor” was created by licensed Realtors, they must have lost their way. Try door-knocking.
Not new – sites where so-called agents could buy (bid) listings are not new in Canada. Feeduck is just another one.