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Rayse, an app backed by a group of real estate heavy-hitters that shows buyer and seller clients what their agent is doing for them in real time, is rolling out to 200 brokerages, the company announced Wednesday.
James Dwiggins, co-founder and CEO of NextHome and also Rayse’s co-founder and Co-CEO, registered the company in California in March 2021 under the name Commission Facts, Inc. The Dublin, California-based company changed its name to Rayse, Inc. in December 2022.
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“The amount of agent work and tasks involved in a real estate transaction is often misunderstood by clients,” Dwiggins said in a statement.
James Dwiggins
“Rayse addresses the need for greater transparency and communication in buyer agency by providing a detailed journey of agent activities, showcasing the value they bring to the transaction.”
The company cited research from WAV Group that found 25 percent of homebuyers believe their agent spends 10 hours or less representing them in a real estate purchase, and 46 percent believe it’s less than 15 hours. The reality is that buyer agents spend an average of 80 to 100 hours per purchase — “87 hours average to be precise,” Ashley Terrell-Kayiran, Rayse’s chief revenue officer, told Inman via email. She said the company would release data regarding listing agents in 2025.
The Rayse app lays out step-by-step what an agent will do and is doing for a client in real time, including exactly how long the agent spent on a particular task for that specific client.
Rayse screenshot
Ashley Terrell-Kayiran
“Example: We’re tracking how much time the agent spends on a listing that one buyer is looking at — from drive time, time at the listing, and time on the phone with the listing agent,” Terrell-Kayiran said. “Each unique to that buyer/property.”
“Each client experiences unparalleled clarity where milestones and outcomes are celebrated, and next steps are always clear; reducing client anxiety and those ‘what’s happening with …?’ phone calls,” the company added.
Rayse’s overarching goal is for agents to get credit for their work, according to Terrell-Kayiran.
“Agents are having to complete over 110 different activities to successfully get their buyers into a home, and each activity creates over 200 outcomes that the agent is navigating through to make the purchase a success,” she said.
“For brokers, we want to provide them with not only a solution for their agents, but insights into what’s happening in their brokerage — all of which can be used for compliance, coaching and more.”
Prominent brokerages and multiple listing services are already investors in the company, including the California Association of Realtors, the Indiana Association of Realtors, California Regional MLS, Venture MLS, MLS PIN, Howard Hanna Real Estate, Stellar MLS, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Drysdale Properties, RE/MAX Advantage, Coldwell Banker Community Realtors, HomeSmart, Tom Ferry, NorthstarMLS, NextHome, Canopy MLS, Benchmark Realty, Nest Realty, Darryl Davis, Red Oak Realty, Abio Properties, REsides, WAV Group, REALM Real Estate Professionals, EQ1 Real Estate, Parks, and ENRG Realty.
Howard “Hoby” Hanna
“We believe in shared ownership of technology solutions to benefit both real estate professionals and their clients,” said Howard W. “Hoby” Hanna IV, CEO of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, in a statement.
Founding investors in Rayse completed more than 1.1 million transactions in 2023 and investing brokers and MLSs have a combined agent count of more than 470,000, Rayse said, citing data provided by T3 Sixty.
The company touts that “Rayse makes real estate compensation simple.” When asked how, Terrell-Kayiran told Inman, “It takes the guesswork for both the agent and the buyer on what the agent is going to do to represent that buyer — so now it’s a clearer conversation on the cost related to the service the buyer will receive.
“Today it’s hard for both agents and buyers understand that, but we help them understand and thus simplify it.”
The platform offers client services presentations with process and timelines laid out and closing reports with the agent’s performance data, which the company says help build trust with clients.
“As buyers shop for agents, they want the right representation for the right cost,” the company said.
“Rayse makes it crystal clear why they should pick you, and pay you. The Rayse platform strengthens agent value propositions and client relationships.”
It’s that transparency the company says is “pushing back against the settlements,” referring to the deals the National Association of Realtors, major real estate franchisors, and dozens of large brokerages have reached to resolve antitrust claims against them. Several of Rayse’s investors have been defendants or alleged co-conspirators in those commission lawsuits.
“Rayse is helping brokerages and their agents overcome the negative perception created by the settlements,” Terrell-Kayiran said.
“There has been a lot of bad press against the industry, and not a lot of voices combating that to share what value agents and brokers do provide. So Rayse is helping them have that voice by making transparent to both buyers and agents what is actually happening in a home purchase transaction. To the surprise of most, agents actually do a lot more than even they know they do, and Rayse helps them see that along with their buyers.”
Rayse has integrated with dozens of MLSs since its launch in August so that buyers can see property details for homes they’ve toured with their agent and is also partnering with MLSs such as CRMLS, according to Terrell-Kayiran.
Asked whether Rayse’s goals include incentivizing agents to keep using MLSs rather than turning to pocket listings, or to protect buyer agents commissions after NAR’s settlement, she said, “Our goal is to give buyers transparency, clarity, and collaboration through the largest purchase they are likely going to make in their life. They deserve to understand how their agent is going to represent them and decide on what that representation is worth.
“Today there is a major disconnect between what consumers think is happening vs what actually happens during a home purchase. We want to bring the facts forward. The changes resulting from the recent settlement have created a world that agents need to learn how to articulate what they actually do, and Rayse helps them do that with real-life data from their previous buyers.”
Most agents are likely not used to documenting each task they are doing and exactly how long it takes, but Rayse says it’s addressing that through automation, such as phone app integrations and location services.
“Today with the product at about 40 percent automation, agents spend about 5-10 minutes per day updating the tool,” Terrell-Kayiran said.
“Surprising, because of the pressure from the settlement, we found agents don’t mind doing it, and it’s actually replacing the time they’re spending calling/texting/emailing buyers updates anyways. We will grow to 85 percent automation in the coming months with several major product enhancements coming in Q4.”
For the 200 brokerages rolling out Rayse, all of their agents will have access to the app, according to the company.
“If they are transacting with buyers or not will impact how many are using it,” Terrell-Kayiran said.
“The brokerages have just started onboarding this month, so we’re still early to see adoption metrics. Especially given the average buyer journey is at least 60 days — we’re in a game of waiting for the agent to get the buyer then the buyer to close before we can really see those full metrics. Early adopters have been very positive.”
Because most agents are independent contractors, brokers often have trouble getting agents to adopt specific tools or processes. Asked how Rayse will overcome this hurdle, Terrell-Kayiran told Inman, “In the early months of launch, we’re seeing that agents want Rayse for their buyers. The demand has been very high. Overtime, we’re going to see brokers integrating this into their transaction processes more and more due to the compliance and data capture aspects.”
Regarding cost, Rayse charges a one-time set-up fee to brokers based on the brokerage’s agent count and the amount of MLS memberships they hold and also a success fee of $75 to $150 for each buyer that successfully closes a sale.
Rayse wholesales the platform to brokers, so the brokers then decide how they want to charge their agents, according to the company. There are no minimums or per-agent fees, the company added.
Email Andrea V. Brambila.
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