SAN DIEGO (KGTV) \u2014 Buying a home in San Diego is already a costly decision, often reaching well into the million-dollar range. Now, a new wave of AI-powered real estate platforms is promising to cut costs significantly by changing how buyers navigate the process.<\/p>\n
Some companies are eliminating the traditional buyer\u2019s agent altogether and passing those savings directly to the homebuyer.<\/p>\n
For one Carlsbad buyer, that shift meant real money back in their pocket.<\/p>\n
After touring dozens of homes, they turned to an AI-powered platform called TurboHome and say they saved about $45,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was able to use all the money that I would have spent towards a buyer\u2019s agent and use it towards closing costs \u2026 overall ended up being about $45,000,\u201d the buyer said.<\/p>\n
In a typical transaction, a buyer\u2019s agent commission on a million-dollar home can run around $25,000, often built into the overall deal. Instead of charging a percentage, platforms like TurboHome use a flat fee model, allowing buyers to keep the difference.<\/p>\n
The technology uses artificial intelligence to analyze home values, inspection reports, and market data \u2014 while reducing reliance on traditional commission structures.<\/p>\n
\u201cDue to our flat fee\u2026 you\u2019re able to take that difference between the 2.5% and our flat fee\u2026 and use it to lower your monthly payment, your cash to close, or make your offer more competitive,\u201d a company representative explained.<\/p>\n
In a market like San Diego, those savings can add up quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think especially in a place like San Diego where the house prices are so high, every small percentage matters and it can lead to some significant cost savings,\u201d the representative added.<\/p>\n
AI-powered brokerages are part of a growing trend aimed at reducing commission costs, which can total five to six percent of a home\u2019s price when factoring in both buyer and seller agents. That can mean tens of thousands of dollars in potential savings.<\/p>\n
Some buyers are even using the model as leverage in negotiations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe traditional process is they pay both the seller and the buyer\u2019s agent fees \u2026 I would say, I don\u2019t need you to pay my buyer\u2019s fee \u2014 so I\u2019d like to cut 2.5 to 3% off the price of the house,\u201d one buyer explained.<\/p>\n
But the savings come with trade-offs.<\/p>\n
Without a traditional agent, buyers are often responsible for handling negotiations, reviewing contracts, and making sure they\u2019re not overpaying \u2014 especially in a competitive housing market.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re willing to do a little bit of work yourself, then you can save a significant amount,\u201d one user said.<\/p>\n
For some buyers, that trade-off is worth it. For others, having a real estate professional guiding them through the process still provides peace of mind.<\/p>\n
TurboHome is currently available in California and Texas. While the technology is still relatively new, it\u2019s quickly gaining traction \u2014 especially in high-cost markets like San Diego, where every dollar counts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN DIEGO (KGTV) \u2014 Buying a home in San Diego is already a costly decision, often reaching well…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[123897,74,76,7914,75,7915,123898],"class_list":["post-289902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-ai-real-estate","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-home-sales","tag-san-diego-news","tag-san-diego-real-estate","tag-turbohome"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}