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New real estate service revolutionizes home buying

TheRedPin.com has agents on staff who are on salary and only paid commission tied to customer satisfaction

A Canadian web-based realty service is revolutionizing how people buy homes by having salaried agents and offering extras such as floor plans from pre-build condominium projects and information about local school rankings and stores.

TheRedPin.com was started in 2010 by four Toronto-area men. It has since become the largest database of residential homes in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is now offering services in other Ontario cities such as Kitchener, Oshawa, Barrie and King City.

It founders say they will be taking their service nation-wide within a year.

TheRedPin.com has about 100 staff employees who are paid a salary and have a benefits plan. In addition, agents are paid a commission based on customer satisfaction.

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Two of the company's founders, Rockham Fard and Tarik Gidamy, spoke with CBC News about their service and how it has differentiated itself from the pack.

They say their service differs from the how people have bought properties in the past. Typically, agents get a commission after each sale, putting pressure on prospective buyers. As well, most agents are individuals who sell homes on a part-time basis, say Fard and Gidamy, whereas TheRedPin.com's agents are considered fully-employed with the company even paying for their real estate association dues.

Customers are also offered a 25 per cent rebate on broker's fees, unheard of in the industry.

The company's varied services include:

Data on schools in the neighbourhood as well as grocery stores, services and restaurants, offered free of charge.

Full transparency on every home such as: how long the property has been on the market, what the taxes were the year before and what the occupancy date is.

Agents are focused 100 per cent on service compared to the 40 per cent real estate agents typically spend on their customers.

Fard says his company is not a discount broker but a "full-service brockerage" offering a wide range of services including analysis, property valuation and negotiations.

Customers are offered a type of concierge service — representatives called "Angels" — who guide them through the process, matching them with an agent.

TheRedPin.com has interactive features allowing customers to filter by type (i.e. two-story, triplex, finished basement) with pop-up maps.

There are plans to offer charts and graphs showing how prices have changed in that neighbourhood over time.