HomeLight Buy Before You Sell Review 2024
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In this review we evaluated HomeLight Buy Before You Sell features, plans, pricing and other important aspects to help our readers make a more educated purchase decision.
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What Is HomeLight Buy Before You Sell?
HomeLight Buy Before You Sell (BBYS) is a proprietary financing solution created by HomeLight Inc. to help homebuyers buy a new home without having to sell their current home first.
The program enables homebuyers to tap into their current home equity with a down payment loan that they can use for their home purchase.
To achieve this, HomeLight’s powerful algorithms calculate how much equity you can unlock.
Besides buyers, buyer agents and lenders can also enroll in the program and submit clients. HomeLight does not refer your clients to other agents or collect a referral fee.
HomeLight BBYS works in conjunction with HomeLight Cash Offer, another one of HomeLight’s creative financing tools.
The Cash Offer service allows buyers to access cash loans and make cash offers to sellers on the platform.
What Is HomeLight Buy Before You Sell Used For?
- Calculating home equity — HomeLight has a robust Equity Unlock Calculator to help buyers, agents, and lenders accurately estimate the equity of their current home. The calculator uses a rigorous three-step questionnaire to determine how much equity you or your client can access.
- Quick access to loans for non-contingent offers — Once you’ve been assessed and accepted into the BBYS program, you can get access to a percentage of your equity as a loan. You can then make a non-contingent offer for your new home, which is more competitive and likely to be accepted by sellers.
- Making cash offers — BBYS buyers and buyer agents can access cash loans through the HomeLight Cash Offer service, allowing you to close more deals. According to research done by Redfin, cash offers are four times more likely to get accepted by sellers than financing-based offers.
- Financing moving and closing costs — The BBYS service lets you access a portion of your equity that you can use to place a down payment for your new home as well as finance moving, repair, and closing expenses.
- Boosting current home value — Once you have moved out of your old home, HomeLight works with top real estate agents and home stagers to professionally stage the house and attract the strongest offer possible.
HomeLight Buy Before You Sell Users Breakdown by Specialty
Is HomeLight Buy Before You Sell Legit?
Yes. HomeLight Buy Before You Sell is a legitimate financing service launched in 2019 to help homebuyers and their agents buy homes before selling their current properties.
The service was launched alongside HomeLight Cash Offer, a lending program commonly used alongside BBYS.
HomeLight has also amassed huge popularity. The BBYS program has received numerous testimonials and user reviews on the internet, including on the company website, REI blogs and videos, and real estate forums.
Additionally, more than 28,000 agents and thousands of buyers and sellers use HomeLight in their deals.
When it comes to user and data security, the Buy Before You Sell program is safe for all users.
The HomeLight website connects to the internet securely through SSL encryption. HomeLight also doesn’t sell your data to advertisers.
Altogether, users can be assured that HomeLight Buy Before You Sell is not a scam.
HomeLight Buy Before You Sell Customer Reviews
HomeLight Buy Before You Sell Pricing
HomeLight makes money from the Buy Before You Sell program through flat fees.
Once you’ve sold your old home through the program, HomeLight takes 2.4% of the sale price as the company’s service fee.
If you have used HomeLight’s lending and closing services in the deal, the cost drops to 1.7%.
HomeLight also provides the option to use the Cash Offer program in your Buy Before You Sell deal.
If you utilize the two programs in your BBYS deal, the service fee rises to 4.4% of the total transaction. The following is a breakdown of the fee:
- HomeLight Cash Offer fee: 2% of the new home’s purchasing price
- Buy Before You Sell fee: 2.4% of your old home’s selling price
HomeLight Buy Before You Sell Coupon & Promo Codes
HomeLight Buy Before You Sell Features
Equity Unlock Calculator
The Equity Unlock Calculator is a powerful estimation tool built into the HomeLight website.
The tool is used by lenders and agents to verify their client’s eligibility for the Buy Before You Sell program and determine how much equity can be unlocked. The equity estimator has three steps:
- Property Details — In this section, HomeLight collects information about the current property, including the property address, estimated home value, and mortgage balance. You can also check whether the property is eligible for the BBYS program in the Property Details section.
- User information — Here, HomeLight gathers an agent’s or loan officer’s personal and contact information, including your name, phone number, and email address, as well as your company’s name.
- Program Eligibility Check — On this page, you’re required to confirm whether your client meets the BBYS program’s criteria. You’ll be required to confirm whether your client’s credit score is above 620 and if they require a VA, FHA, or other government loan for their new home purchase, among other considerations.
HomeLight Buy Before You Sell Pros and Cons
Pros
- The HomeLight Buy Before You Sell program allows increased commission revenue for agents since they can close more deals.
- The program eliminates financial burdens, the hassles of mortgage qualification, moving twice, and other complications of buying while selling.
- HomeLight works with top agents to stage your home professionally and increase its value and the amount of equity you can receive once the home is sold.
- You won’t have to sell your house while living there.
- You can act fast on your dream home since you don’t have to sell your home first to get funds for a down payment.
- BBYS is significantly cheaper and more convenient compared to alternative solutions like bridge loans, using your savings, or making contingent offers.
- Guaranteed home sale: If after 90 days you haven’t sold your old home, HomeLight will purchase it.
Cons
- Only HomeLight-certified agents and loan officers can use Buy Before You Sell.
HomeLight Buy Before You Sell Integrations
HomeLight Buy Before You Sell Alternatives
- Opendoor
- Offerpad
- Ribbon Cash Offer
- Knock
- Secure Mortgage
- Flyhomes Inc.
- Orchard.com
- Homeward
- Homie Cash
- HomeVestors
HomeLight Buy Before You Sell Achievements
Awards & Recognition
Best Real Estate Financing Solution (Awarded by Real Estate Bees)
Press & Media
One of the Fastest-Growing Companies in Arizona (Inc. 5000 Magazine, 2022 and 2023)
Real Estate Company to Watch (Fortune Magazine, 2021)
HomeLight Buy Before You Sell FAQs
How many clients does the HomeLight Buy Before You Sell program serve?
We couldn’t find reliable information on the number of users enrolled in the Buy Before You Sell program.
Still, there are over 28,000 HomeLight-certified agents on the platform and more than a million buyers and sellers who have used HomeLight’s services.
Who founded HomeLight Buy Before You Sell?
HomeLight Buy Before You Sell is a financing solution offered by HomeLight Inc., the parent company and agent-matching platform.
The platform was started in 2012 by Drew Uher and is based in San Francisco.
In 2019, HomeLight Inc. launched the Buy Before You Sell program alongside other financing services such as HomeLight Cash Offer and HomeLight Simple Sale.
What is HomeLight Buy Before You Sell’s customer service number?
There’s no dedicated support line for the Buy Before You Sell program.
However, users can reach out through the company’s general customer service number: (424) 297-1583. You can also send written inquiries to HomeLight’s support email at [email protected].
What is the HomeLight Buy Before You Sell cancellation and refund policy?
Once you’ve unlocked a percentage of your equity through the BBYS program, you cannot opt out of the service.
There are also no refunds for the flat fee you pay after you have sold your previous home.
What awards and recognitions has the HomeLight Buy Before You Sell Program received?
We couldn’t find any awards or recognitions associated with the HomeLight Buy Before You Sell program.
However, the parent company, HomeLight Inc., was recognized by Inc. 5000 Magazine in 2022 and 2023 as one of the fastest-growing real estate companies in Arizona.
HomeLight Buy Before You Sell Tutorials & Training
How the HomeLight Buy Before You Sell Program Works
Buy Before You Sell for Lenders — Powered by HomeLight
Is HomeLight Buy Before You Sell Worth It?
Yes. HomeLight Buy Before You Sell is an innovative financing solution that brings unmatched convenience to homebuyers who are looking to sell their current primary residence before purchasing a new home.
The program eliminates certain challenges involved when concurrently buying and selling property.
You can avoid the cost of renting as you look for a new house, sell your current home while vacant, and act fast on your dream home by making a non-contingent offer and placing a down payment.
Additionally, the BBYS service is a much more affordable financing solution for buyers also looking to sell.
Bridge loans are significantly more expensive, while tapping into your savings is financially risky, and because of this, HomeLight Buy Before You Sell is a service worth considering for any buyer, agent, or loan officer.
HomeLight Buy Before You Sell Contacts
- Website: Official website
- Phone: (424) 297-1583
- Email: [email protected]
- Address: 100 California, Suite 800, San Francisco, California 94015, United States
- Socials: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest
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About the Author:
Kristina Morales is both a licensed mortgage loan originator and real estate agent in the State of Ohio. Inspired by her years of working with buyers and sellers and seeing a need for more consumer education, Kristina created loanfully.com, an online educational resource for borrowers and industry professionals. In addition to real estate sales and mortgage lending, Kristina had an extensive corporate career in banking, treasury, and corporate finance. She ended her corporate career as an Assistant Treasurer at a publicly traded oil & gas company in Houston, TX. Kristina obtained her MBA from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and her B.A in Business Management from Ursuline College.