Toronto startup Commission Pitch wants to revolutionize real estate by letting agents compete for your business. The new website democratizes the agent selection process by equipping homebuyers and sellers with all the information they need to make agents easier to choose between and negotiate with.

Co-founded by startup veterans, Chris Silvestre and Paul Sobocinski, Commission Pitch has over 350 agents signed up after having just officially launching last month.

What inspired the launch of Commission Pitch?

Real estate agents are an incredibly valuable resource when buying or selling a home. But finding the right agent is a not always an easy process. And there isn't really a place to find objective data based on their actual performance and prior transactions that you can contrast and compare.

Most people don't even bother interviewing multiple agents, and pricing negotiation is rare. In fact, 66% of homebuyers and sellers signed a contract with the first real estate agent they talked to, and 45% of homebuyers and sellers used a friend or family member.

We created Commission Pitch to help homebuyers and sellers find trusted agents while saving on commissions and fees.

Agent information is online already. How does Commission Pitch differ from going to a brokerage or agent website?

Not all agents have up-to-date transactional data on their website for one. But beyond that our process is completely anonymous for the homebuyer and seller making it safe and easy to find, vet and solicit business from real estate agents.

With homebuyers equipped with more information and negotiating power, how does Commission Pitch help real estate agents succeed?

Commission Pitch lets agents compete based on a number of factors including price and experience. If you are new to the market, you can offer better rates while those that are experienced will use their transactional history as part of their competitive edge. In this way, agents can put their best foot forward depending on the situation.

How do you ensure that the agent information displayed on Commission Pitch is accurate and reliable?

Agents are able to create their profile page but they do not have access to update their statistical data. In order to update this valuable area, agents send over their historical sale information which our team then validates and inputs on their behalf.

For the seller, this ensures that the agent data they are using as part of their decision making process is accurate. For the agent, sending over their data to our team to input rather than spending time filling out a series of forms reduces the effort required to get them setup and started.

What sets you apart from your competition?

Many of our competitors present curated agent results based on their discretion. We empower our buyers and sellers with all available choices that allows them to make decisions for themselves.

In addition, we are the only website which facilitates the entire agent selection process 100% online. Once you have found the agent that you want to work with, you contact them directly from the site.

What is your business model?

Unlike some of our competitors, we do not work on a percentage of the commission as part of a referral fee. Commission Pitch uses a Software as a Service (SaaS) model, charging the agents a flat monthly fee for unlimited access. Agents can try out Commission Pitch for free trial now and pay only when they are ready to send offers to leads.

Commission Pitch is completely free for homebuyers and home sellers.

What is on the roadmap for Commission Pitch?

We are working on updating the website to make it even easier for homebuyers and sellers to find real estate agents nearby with the use of geo-location. Once implemented, our website should be able to identify the city and even the neighbourhood you are searching from and pre-fill that information into the search box.