Beycome review: What you need to know

Buying or selling a home can be an arduous process. Sellers need to find an agent, prep their property, deal with open houses, then field offers from buyers and negotiate the terms of the deal. For buyers, it can take weeks or months to find a suitable home, and there’s no guarantee that the seller will accept their offer. Beycome is an online real estate company that aims to make it easy to buy or sell a home, without an agent, while also saving money. Here’s what to know about how it works.

What does Beycome do?

Beycome is a Miami-based real estate company. Its website serves as a platform for DIY real estate services, helping homeowners list their properties for sale and helping buyers find and tour properties in their area, all without hiring a professional real estate agent.

Beycome for sellers

Beycome works similarly to a flat fee MLS service for homeowners who want a “for sale by owner” transaction. You sign up for the website and list your home for sale. There are three tiers of FSBO packages, with fees ranging from $99 for Basic to $399 for Enhanced to $599 for Concierge.

The Basic tier lists your home on the local MLS, helps you schedule open houses and other services. The Enhanced package includes everything in the Basic plus professional photos, flyers and other promotional items, a yard sign and more. The Concierge service includes everything in Basic and Enhanced, plus a 3D tour, marketing and negotiation support, a closing coordinator, a comparative market analysis and more.

One of Beycome’s top value propositions is that you don’t need to hire an agent to help sell your home; it helps you do everything yourself. That means you can avoid paying an agent’s commission.

Beycome for buyers

Beycome’s platform also allows users to buy a home without using a buyer’s agent. As a buyer, you can view homes on their website or other listing services, such as Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, or Realtor.com. You can then use Beycome to schedule in-person tours of homes you’re interested in and submit offers online.

When you close on a home you purchased via Beycome, the company takes the typical 3 percent commission an agent would receive — but they only keep 1 percent of it. The remaining 2 percent gets refunded to the buyer, either as a credit applied to closing costs or directly as a check. This refund, according to the website, “is dependent on a minimum commission of $999 and lender approval.” The company claims that the average buyer gets a credit of $12,000.

How does Beycome make money?

Beycome makes money in two primary ways: one from buyers, one from sellers.

The first way is through seller packages. When a seller lists their home for sale with Beycome, the three levels of service options cost $99, $399 or $599. The company also makes a commission of 1 percent of the sale price when a buyer uses its service to purchase a home. So the more the home sells for, the more money the company earns. (For example, a 1 percent commission on a $350,000 house is $3,500.)

The company also operates a title service, Beycome Title, which offers a $399 flat-fee service.

Beycome service areas

One drawback of Beycome is that it is not available everywhere in the country. It operates in the following 10 states:

Beycome pros and cons

If you’re thinking about buying or selling your home through Beycome, it’s key to consider the pros and cons.

Pros

• Low cost for sellers: Sellers can list their home for as little as $99.
• Only pay for what you want: Sellers can choose between three tiered packages, so they don’t have to pay for services they don’t need.
• Closing rebate: Buyers get 2 percent of the typical 3 percent commission back as a refund or credit.

Cons

• Limited service area: Beycome is only available in 10 states.
• Heavily DIY: The idea behind Beycome is that buyers and sellers can save money by doing everything themselves. This may be true, but it’s a lot of work to manage on your own.
• Limited help: Some of the most useful features only come with the most costly service package. For example, if a seller wants help with negotiations, paperwork or figuring out how much their house is worth, they have to pay for the top-end, $599 service.

Beycome competitors

Beycome isn’t the only company that helps home buyers and sellers with DIY real estate transactions. Here are a few other options that provide similar services:

• Houzeo: Houzeo offers MLS listing services with four pricing tiers ranging from $329+ to $399+.
• Isoldmyhouse.com: This site offers flat-fee listing service starting at $299, and also has an option to sell with one of their “partner agents.”
• FSBO.com: FSBO is a common acronym that stands for For Sale By Owner. This site lets you list on FSBO.com for $99.95 or add your home to the MLS for $399.95.

You might also consider hiring a low-commission agent. There are many websites that help match buyers and sellers with these agents, who do not charge the full commission that a traditional agent would. These include Clever, Ideal Agent, Upnest and the highly popular Redfin.

Sellers looking for a quick sale may also want to look into an iBuyer. If any of these online companies operate in your area, you might be able to get a cash offer in 24 hours, with a quick closing as well. But keep in mind that they don’t usually pay top-dollar.

Beycome vs. real estate agents

An agent is a licensed professional who is familiar with the ins and outs of real estate and the local market. They act as your guide and offer expert advice throughout the process, and in exchange, they earn a commission on your sale or purchase.

Beycome’s platform helps users complete real estate transactions without an agent. Buying or selling with them, by design, requires much more DIY elbow grease than working with a traditional real estate agent. However, it can get your deal done more inexpensively.

Bottom line: Should you use Beycome?

Beycome can be a good choice for buyers or sellers who don’t mind putting in the time and effort to save some money on real estate commissions. However, given that Beycome requires more hands-on work from buyers and sellers — in effect, you are doing the agent’s work yourself — it may not be a great option for inexperienced or first-time buyers and sellers. If you think you would benefit from hands-on assistance or expertise, consider working with an agent who can provide more personalized service.

FAQs

• How much does Beycome cost?

  Beycome offers three levels of service to home sellers, with prices of $99, $399 and $599. Buyers pay the traditional 3 percent commission on the price of the home, but they get 2 percent of that back after closing, resulting in a net cost of 1 percent of the home’s value.
  

• Is Beycome a flat fee MLS company?

  Yes, Beycome charges a flat fee to help sellers list their homes on the MLS. It also offers other tiers that provide more services than that (and cost more), and it offers homebuyer services as well.
  

• Is Beycome a legitimate real estate company?

  Yes, Beycome is legit. It is based in Miami and holds brokerage licenses in 10 states. It was founded in 2017 by Nico Jodin, who also serves as the company’s CEO.