Landian, a flat-fee and à la carte platform, provides $49 excursions and $199 for written provides to sellers, however the true bombshell could also be Sitzer’s involvement so quickly after the $5B Sitzer | Burnett verdict.
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Josh Sitzer, whose final identify grew to become well-known in the true property business due to his function as a plaintiff within the high-profile Sitzer | Burnett fee lawsuit, has adopted up his authorized victory by co-launching an à la carte actual property platform.
The mission known as Landian, and in keeping with its web site it’s “a platform that schedules and coordinates service contracts between homebuyers and licensed real estate agents.” The corporate lets would-be homebuyers schedule excursions and make provides, and consists of a number of completely different pricing tiers.
For shoppers paying solely à la carte, for instance, Landian prices $49 per dwelling tour. A suggestion written by an agent prices $199, however “AI-Powered Offers” are solely $99. The corporate additionally has an “exclusive agent package” that prices $1,799, paid at closing. The package deal provides consumers as much as 5 excursions and two provides.
Prospects utilizing the unique package deal who need extra excursions or to make extra provides are charged the à la carte value for these extra companies.
A la carte and flat-fee companies are not new to the business, and certainly have been among the many buzziest ideas in actual property over the previous few years.
However what could shock many within the business is Sitzer’s involvement. Although it’s unclear what particular function he has in Landian, TechCrunch reported on Thursday — the day the corporate got here out of stealth mode — that Sitzer had “teamed up with Bryce Galen and Neal Batra.” In keeping with the TechCrunch profile of Landian, the corporate is designed to “take advantage of the new landscape.”
That new panorama stems from the Nationwide Affiliation of Realtors’ landmark settlement that modified guidelines relating to agent pay. The settlement resolved a number of completely different antitrust lawsuits, one in every of which was generally known as Sitzer | Burnett — a reputation that comes from its lead plaintiffs, together with Josh Sitzer.
Inman reached out to Landian Thursday with a request for remark. An organization spokesperson provided to ship emailed inquiries to Galen, the CEO. Inman responded with a request for a cellphone interview and had not heard again by the point of publication. This story shall be up to date with any feedback the corporate supplies.
In any case, although, the corporate’s web site consists of an exhortation for shoppers to “join the real estate revolution,” adopted by a quote from Sitzer.
“After our hard-won settlement paved the way for a new era of fairness and transparency, I’m thrilled to help launch Landian’s revolutionary flat-fee model for home tours and offer submissions, liberating homebuyers from the excessive commissions they were previously forced to pay,” Sitzer says on the web site.
The corporate’s web site moreover argues that it could possibly save shoppers the “equivalent to a year of mortgage payments.” It additionally states that “sellers are increasingly declining to pay buyer agent commissions,” however that when sellers do provide buy-side commissions, consumers finally nonetheless “pay agent commissions through the purchase price, which is higher than what a seller would otherwise accept for the property to receive the same net proceeds after commissions are paid.”
Shoppers can schedule a tour or make a suggestion on a house by pasting a hyperlink to an inventory from one other web site, akin to Zillow, into Landian’s homepage.
Credit score: Landian
Along with working instantly with shoppers, Landian additionally consists of an agent signup choice. Landian shouldn’t be a brokerage, and brokers who work with the corporate nonetheless have to hold their shingle some place else. However the web site does promise that brokers can “unlock a new era of success” by working with Landian.
Registration for brokers is free, however Landian’s web site doesn’t say how a lot cash brokers will make in the event that they do dwelling excursions or write contracts with the corporate. The web site additionally doesn’t say what number of brokers have signed up thus far, or what sort of lag time shoppers would possibly face when connecting with an agent for a tour or to make a suggestion.
Brokers who write Landian provides will conduct “offer prep” periods with shoppers, in keeping with the corporate’s web site, throughout which they’ll focus on points akin to costs, phrases and contingencies.
“After the session, the agent will draft the offer and submit it to the seller (via a listing agent, if applicable) on your behalf,” Landian’s web site additional explains. The agent can even handle any counteroffers, offering steering and assist till the provide is accepted, rejected, or expires. This service is supplied for a flat charge, overlaying all elements of the provide course of.”
Among the many business adjustments that resulted from the settlement in Sitzer’s and different circumstances is a rule that vendor’s brokers can now not make provides of compensation to consumers’ brokers inside their NAR-affiliated a number of itemizing service. The rule has raised questions on how precisely consumers brokers would possibly receives a commission going ahead. One college of thought posits that they are going to receives a commission a lot as they’ve prior to now, with the caveat that brokers will merely have to speak privately to hash out commissions.
Nevertheless, one other college posits that sellers will — like Sitzer himself and different lawsuit plaintiffs — balk at paying consumers agent commissions and refuse to make provides of compensation. That will place the burden of paying for these brokers on the consumers themselves. Landian seems to be betting on this final result, and that consumers will consequently gravitate to lower-cost choices.
Replace: This story was up to date after publication with extra particulars about Landian.
