Frequently Asked Questions

Urbanic is built to support savvy home buyers who are not already working with an agent. Find a property on any site or app and buy it with Urbanic partner agent, saving you thousands of your hard earned dollars. We can even help you save on new construction and off-market properties. We partner with a team of real estate agents who provide all the expert support you need. These licensed can answer any questions you have, create custom neighborhood and property analytics, provide a list of comparable homes, contact a listing agent on your behalf—anything a traditional agent could do and more. Here are some of our frequently asked questions. If your question is still unanswered, please contact us via email, text or telephone.

What is Urbanic and who is it for?

Urbanic is a new kind of real estate technology company that helps home buyers save 2-3% on their purchase price. Most home buyers are savvy and are able to find their dream homes by researching MLS and visiting open houses without a real estate agent. Since they have already done most of the hard work, Urbanic partner agents reward them by giving them back most of the agent's commission.

How does Urbanic partner agents differ from a traditional real estate agent?

Glad you asked! Urbanic partners with real estate agents who will do everything that your real estate agent can do - send you new property alerts, perform comparative market analysis and submit and negotiate your offer with the seller. To help you save money, we encourage you to view homes at your convenience either by visiting open house or scheduling a showing with the listing agent. If neither works, contact our partner agent and they will try to help you out with the showing. They can only help you if you have not signed a Buyer Representation Agreement with another agent.

What should I do before house hunting?

If you plan to get a mortgage, you should get a pre-approval from a bank or mortgage broker. A pre-approval determines your maximum offer amount and helps you understand financing options and monthly payments. Getting pre-approved is free, easy and temporary. If you do not have a mortgage broker, we can help you find the best rates and pre-approval.

Avoiding representation

As a buyer, you have to right to use any real estate agent you’d like, including Urbanic's partner agents. One thing to be careful to avoid while you are house hunting without a real estate agent is something called a Buyer's Representation Agreement. When you are buying your home, a real estate broker or salesperson may ask you to sign a representation agreement. A representation agreement defines the nature of the relationship between you and the brokerage, including the broker or salesperson. This is when the agent claims that they helped you find or buy a home and are thus entitled to your buyer’s agent commission. If you’d like to buy with Urbanic partner agent instead of another agent, clearly communicate to all other agents that you are already working with an agent.

What If I already have an agent?

If you are unhappy with your current agent, we would love to help. As stated above, if you have signed a Buyer’s Representation Agreement with another agent, it is important to communicate your intentions with them to avoid the possibility of confusion over the relationship. You would first be responsible for signing a mutually-acceptable written agreement with your current agent/broker to terminate your representation agreement. If your agreement is not terminated, our agents will not be able to provide you with cash back, as that money will still be owed to the agent you are in the signed agreement with. We can provide support along the way to help make the transition as smooth as possible.

How can Urbanic help me house hunt?

Great question! We believe that the best way to shop is to monitor new properties the moment they are listed. Our partner agents provide a free, personalized feed that delivers new listings the moment they come onto the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Tell us about the area and price range and our partner agents will send you daily emails of newly listed properties. You can then visit these properties during open house or schedule a showing with the listing agent/broker. Most of the time, you do not have to sign any agreements with the listing agent to view the property. If all fails, let our agent know what property you'd like to view and they will do their best to schedule a showing for you.

What should I do when I am ready to create an offer?

Urbanic gives you the power to craft the perfect offer online. You can do it on your own or we can help guide you through the process and answer any questions that you have. Once your offer is complete, one of our partner real estate agent's will call you with further details and guide you through the next steps. Click here to get started

My offer is accepted, what happens next?

Once your offer is accepted, our partner agent will work with you in fulfilling any conditions on the offer. These may include home inspection or financing.

What about home inspections?

If you have a home inspection condition on your offer, you'd have to schedule a home inspection within the given timeframe. If you do not have a home inspector, we will help you find and schedule one.

What about a mortgage?

If your offer is conditional upon financing, your next step is to ensure that your financial institution or mortgage broker provides you with a mortgage approval letter so you can waive the financing condition on your offer. Don't worry, we will guide you through this phase once you get there.

How will the closing process work?

Once the sale is firm (all conditions have been fulfilled or waived), you will have to ensure your lawyer has all the paperwork to process the transaction on closing date. If you do not have a lawyer, we can help you find one. Again, we will work with you though this process.

How much money can I save?

Urbanic partner agents refund you the entire agent's commission (typically 2.5% or 3%) minus a $5,000 flat fee (fee is $8,000 for homes over $1,000,000). The exact amount you'll get back depends on the commission amount offered by the seller for the specific property you purchase. You can use the calculator below to get the approximate savings. This is refunded to you by our partner agent upon closing:

Purchase Price ($) Agent's Commission (%) Less fees   Total Savings ($)

($5,000)

Can I search properties on Urbanic?

We are currently working on adding search tool on our website and a mobile app. For now you can visit MLS or visit the search page to setup email alerts for newly listed properties.

How does the purchase process work?

Once you have found your dream home, create an offer on our website http://bit.ly/1CMv61b. Once submitted, one of our partner licensed real estate agents will call you and go through the offer in details and guide you through the process. They will do their due diligence, submit your offer to the seller, negotiate on your behalf and provide you full support and guidance throughout the process. This is the same service you'd receive if you went through any other real estate agent, except you get to keep most of the buyer's agent commission.

Questions?

Contact us at 1-289-351-5555 or send us an email. We're happy to help in any way that we can.