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Edited by Galina Velgach
Written by Jon Stubbs
Edited by Galina Velgach
Reali customer reviews | What is Reali? | Who should use Reali? | Buy before you sell | Cash offer | Reali Loans | FAQs
Editor’s note: Reali has shut its operations
On August 24, 2022, Reali announced plans to shut down permanently. Read more.
If you’re looking for a way to buy or sell your home:
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- Read about the top low-commission real estate companies
- Explore the top iBuyers
- Compare offers from iBuyers, home trade-in services, and more through the free service Clever Offers
We recommend starting with Clever Offers, which helps you compare up to 10 offers from leading cash home buyers to the sale price you’d get with an agent.
Reali is a California-based company providing buy-before-you-sell services, cash offers, and home loans. It offers home loans in several states, but its other services are only available in California.
Buy-before-you-sell services (sometimes called trade-in programs) can help you make an offer on a new home before you sell your old one. Cash offers let you make a competitive bid to beat out other buyers.
Reali falls short of its competition because of many bad reviews and hidden fees. Instead of Reali, we recommend other companies that offer the same services, such as Flyhomes and Knock, which operate in California and other states.
Trade-in services are convenient for moving first, but service fees will eat into the profit from the sale of your original home. The best way to maximize the profits from selling your home is to work with a local agent. Our team can match you with an agent who will help you sell your home for 1.5% commission.
What is Reali?
Reali was founded in 2015 as a discount brokerage. For its first few years, Reali’s main business model was providing listing agents for 1% commission.
In 2019, Reali changed its approach and made their agents salaried. Its agents no longer work for commission, but Reali still charges a 2.5% fee to use their agents, which is close to the average rate. Later in 2019, Reali bought mortgage company Lenda and rebranded it as Reali Loans.
The company raised $250 million in funding in 2021 for a total of $300 million overall since its founding.
Reali now offers three services:
Reali Home Trade-Ins | Reali Cash Offers | Reali Loans
Who should use Reali?
A buy-before-you-sell service is convenient for home buyers who can’t wait for their old home to sell before buying a new one. Cash offer services make it simple to make an attractive bid on your next home — especially if you’re shopping in a competitive market.
But we can’t recommend using Reali for these services because it has poor reviews, hidden fees, and a limited service area.
Instead, we recommend looking into other trade-in and cash offer companies, such as Knock and Flyhomes. They also have better customer reviews and other perks, like interest-free loans for repairs to increase the price of the home you’re selling.
Reali vs. the competition
| Clear Pricing | Guaranteed sale | Interest-free repair loans | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reali | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Knock | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Flyhomes | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
Use your own agent with Knock
Knock is available in 59 metro areas across 15 states, including California. Its Home Swap trade-in service costs 1.25% of the home sale price, plus a $1,450 flat fee.
Because you can use your own agent with Knock, you have the opportunity to save thousands on fees by using a 1% commission agent.
Other benefits of Knock Home Swap include:
- An interest-free loan of up to $25,000 to repair and stage your home for listing, deferred until the home sells.
- A guarantee to buy your home from you for 80–85% of fair market value if the home doesn’t sell within six months.
Knock’s cash offer service — Knock Guaranteed Offer — has a flat fee of $1,450, which is likely to be less expensive than other cash offer services charging 1–2%.
» READ: Knock Home Swap: Reviews, Fees, and How It Works
Flyhomes’ guarantees provide peace of mind
Flyhomes also provides home trade-in and cash offer services in California. It charges 1% for each service, which can be offset to 0% if you use Flyhomes Mortgage as your lender.
Excellent customer reviews mention how knowledgeable and attentive the Flyhomes agents are.
Flyhomes’ greatest advantage is the variety of guarantees it provides for its buyers:
- If your home doesn’t sell after six months, you can choose to leave it listed or have the company buy your home.
- Flyhomes provides a one-year guarantee that it’ll list any home you buy from it for free if you move out within one year.
- You can back out of a purchase after the seller has already accepted the offer — it’ll purchase the home instead.
Trying to decide if one of these services is a good fit for you? Speak to a licensed member of our concierge team who can answer your questions and connect you with a local expert.
Reali Buy Before You Sell
Like other trade in companies, Reali’s buy-before-you-sell service helps clients buy and move into a new home without worrying about selling their old home just yet.
Reali’s service fee is 1% for this service, but there will be additional costs:
- Buyer closing costs (1–3%)
- Listing agent commission on the home you’re selling (2–3%)
- Rent to stay in the new home until the old home sells
» JUMP: See a detailed cost breakdown of Reali’s Buy Before You Sell
Reali will finance a cash offer on your new home, giving you a competitive advantage over buyers making offers using traditional financing.
A cash offer is more attractive to sellers than a financed one because it’s the easiest path to closing. You also won’t need to ask the seller for a buyer’s contingency, which is a favor asking the seller to wait until your old home sells.
How Reali’s Buy Before You Sell works
- Get pre-approved for a mortgage for your new home. A Reali loan officer will provide you with a pre-approval letter, letting you know what you can afford.
- Prepare a selling strategy for your old home. A local Reali agent will visit your home and come up with a plan.
- Shop for a new home. Your Reali agent can help you formulate an appropriate offer when you find a home you like.
- Move into your new home. If the cash offer is accepted, Reali will buy the home on your behalf. You’ll rent the home from Reali until your old home sells.
- Sell your old home. Reali will help you sell your old home and negotiate offers.
- Buy your new home from Reali. Now that your old home is sold, you can secure a mortgage to buy your new home from Reali.
Potential problem areas
Customer reviews suggest Reali has poor communication, forcing you to call often for updates on the buying or selling process.
Other customer reviews complained of missing paperwork leading to delays, so you’ll have to keep on top of many of the details yourself.
💰 How much does Reali’s trade-in cost?
Reali advertises a 1% service fee that’s reduced to 0.5% if you use Reali Loans as your mortgage. But you’ll likely end up paying 8–11% of the final sale price when all of the additional costs are included.
| Costs | Cost on a $300,000 home | |
|---|---|---|
| Service fee | 1% | $3,000 |
| Selling closing costs | 1%* | $3,000 |
| Buyer closing costs | 1–2%* | $3,000–6,000 |
| Realtor commission | 4–6% | $12,000–18,000 |
| Home rental costs (30 days) | 1%** | $3,000 |
| Total | 8–11% | $24,000–33,000 |
🔎 Hidden Closing Costs
Above we use 1–2% for the average buyer closing costs in California, but using Reali may actually require you to pay closing costs on three separate transactions:
- Reali’s purchase of your new home
- Selling your old home
- Buying the new home from Reali
This could add up to an additional 2–4% on top of the 8–11% once the entire trade-in process is complete.
The rental costs can vary. You’ll have to pay rent until your mortgage is approved for you to buy the home from Reali. You’ll pay prorated rent that is equal to about 1% of the home’s value for a 30-day stay.
Given Reali’s track record of poor responsiveness documented in the customer reviews, it’s possible that Reali’s slow pace ends up costing you more in rent payments.
Using Knock and a 1% commission agent is a much less expensive route, adding up to about 7.75–8.75%, plus a $1,450 flat fee. On a $300,000 home, this would end up costing $24,700–27,700 — which is thousands less than Reali.
Reali Cash Offer
Home buyers can use Reali’s cash offer service to make their offer stand apart in a crowded bidding war. This costs 0.5% of the home’s purchase price, but that fee is waived if you use Reali Loans.
Keep in mind you’ll also be on the hook for other costs such as:
- Closing costs: (1–2%)
- Home rental costs before mortgage comes through: (1% per 30 days)
How Reali’s Cash Offer works
- Get pre-approved. Work with a Reali loan officer to determine how much you can afford and get a pre-approval letter.
- Shop for your new home. Work with your Reali agent to find a new home in your price range.
- Make your offer and move in. Reali fronts the cash for you to place an all-cash offer on the home of your choice. If the offer is accepted, you can move in right after closing. You’ll pay rent until you get your own mortgage for the home.
- Buy the home from Reali. Once you have secured your mortgage, you’ll buy the home from Reali and become the owner of the new home.
Potential problem areas
After winning the home with your cash offer you can move in right away, but you’ll pay rent to Reali until your mortgage comes through, meaning delays on Reali’s end can cost you.
In order to minimize the time you’ll be paying rent, make sure there are no gaps in communication so Reali loans has everything it needs to process the mortgage as quickly as possible.
💰 How much does Reali’s cash offer cost?
Reali completely waives its 0.5% fee if you use Reali Loans as your mortgage lender. You should also expect to pay standard closing costs of 1–2%. You’ll be responsible for paying rent on the home between the time that Reali buys the home and when your mortgage comes through allowing you to buy the home from Reali.
| Costs | Cost on a $300,000 home | |
|---|---|---|
| Service fee | 0.5% | $1,500 |
| Buyer closing costs | 1–2%* | $3,000–6,000 |
| Home rental costs (30 days) | 1%** | $3,000 |
| Total | 2.5–3.5% | $7,500–10,500 |
Other cash offer companies don’t tell you to count on paying rent until the mortgage comes through. In fact, Knock’s Guaranteed Offer service only costs $1,450 and it allows you to start paying the actual mortgage to build equity immediately.
Reali Home Loans
Reali Loans operates in Arizona, California, Colorado, Texas, and Washington.
Customer reviews of Reali Loans mention the same problems the company has in other areas: miscommunication and trouble completing paperwork to move the loan along. This would be a problem especially if you’re paying rent after using the trade-in or cash offer program and you’re waiting for your mortgage to come through.
| Reali Loans offers: | Reali Loans does NOT offer: |
|---|---|
Reali reviews from customers
Reali has a 4.6 rating across 642 reviews from Trustpilot, Zillow, and Google. The company has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, but the only two reviews listed there are 1 of 5 stars.
While there are plenty of positive reviews, almost all of the 1-star reviews complain about the customer service.
Reali’s negative reviews from over a year ago have many of the same complaints, suggesting that the company hasn’t fixed its main problems. Some reviewers mention that this miscommunication has led to extra costs due to insurance policies being canceled and contractual fees for delays in closing.
❌ Not responsive
One review stated that replies are delayed two or three days and reps are only interested in closing, not answering questions. This customer characterized the reps as “aggressive” but not helpful.
Other reviewers mention that Reali reps missed calls and emails from third parties like insurance companies, leading to premiums going unpaid.
❌ Sluggish and inefficient
Another Google review said that Reali’s loan process takes longer than the typical home loan process and even the home searching and buying process was full of gaps in communication.
❌ Lack of basic knowledge
Several reviewers noted that the reps they spoke to couldn’t find information about their loans and they had difficulty getting answers to basic questions. Several reviews use the term “incompetent” when discussing customer service, especially the escrow department.
Where does Reali operate?
Reali Buy Before You Sell and cash offers is only available for buyers and sellers in select markets in California:
- Sacramento
- San Francisco
- San Gabriel Valley
- Inland Empire
- Long Beach
- Orange County
Frequently asked questions about Reali
What states does Reali service?
Reali’s Buy Before You Sell and Cash Offers programs are only available in California. Reali Loans, its home loans department, provides loans in 5 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Texas, and Washington. Learn more about where Reali operates.
Is Reali legit?
Yes, Reali is a legit company. It was founded as a discount brokerage in 2015 and later moved into the home trade-in business in 2019. It also provides financed cash offers and home loans. Learn more about Reali.
Is Reali a lender?
Reali offers home loans in Arizona, California, Colorado, Texas, and Washington. Learn more about Reali Loans.
Methodology
In preparation for writing this review, our team did weeks of research on each real estate company mentioned in order to compare this company with others across multiple points. Our research process included:
- Mystery shopping each company
- Speaking with real estate experts
- Performing a cost-benefit analysis for each company’s services and fees.
We have updated this review to reflect Reali’s current business focus. This post originally focused on Reali’s discount agent service model, which has been discontinued.
Sunny says
Interesting info. My (previous) client who I had gotten into escrow twice in the very tough seller’s market in OC, CA decided they needed to work with Reali because they felt like they kept getting beat out by cash offers. Not true, because again, I got them into 2 different escrows which they ended up canceling during the disclosure/inspection period. They then went with Reali and closed escrow recently. Looking up on public records, it shows that the buyers are not the owner of the home, but instead the legal owner is Bsby LLC. Does the buyer ever get the home in their name?
The Real Estate Witch Team says
Great question, Sunny! As far as we understand, the way Reali Cash Offer works is that the company purchases the home on the buyer’s behalf, then the buyer purchases the home from Reali at the original purchase price.
Reali allows buyers to move into their new home immediately, but the property won’t be in their name until they officially purchase it from Reali.