Sell your house -- get a rebate!
Local residents can qualify for cash rebates on the purchase and sale of their homes under a new program launched by Habitat for Humanity Greater Boston and HomeGift Realty Inc.
One scenario envisioned is that early in the sales process, a seller contacts HomeGift, which then matches the seller with a real estate agent; when the home is sold, HomeGift collects a referral fee from the commission of the seller's agent and rebates up to 70 percent of that fee to the seller.
For example, the rebate to a seller on the sale of a $400,000 home could be $2,100, and the seller would be encouraged to contribute all or part of that amount to Habitat for Humanity, a group committed to eradicating poverty in housing, according to HomeGift, a Sherborn real estate company.
Citing industry data, HomeGift said that 40 percent of real estate transactions already involve referral fees, which can amount to 30 percent of an agent's commission; typically, home sellers can pay commissions of 5 percent of a home's purchase price to real estate agents, though that commission can be split between a seller's agent and a buyer's agent.
Describing how his company makes money on the Habitat for Humanity program, HomeGift chief executive Mark Sennott said, "It's an affinity-marketing program where we work with nonprofits."
The nonprofits urge their members and people interested in their missions to consider contacting HomeGift before buying or selling their homes.
The hope is that so many consumers will want to have a nonprofit benefit from their home sale that plenty of business will come HomeGift's way, Sennott said.
Explaining the appeal of the program for her group, Lark Palermo, executive director of Habitat for Humanity Greater Boston, said in a statement, "This is a great way to engage both supporters and their real estate agents in Habitat's mission."
The program is scheduled to roll out to Habitat for Humanity affiliates in the Houston and Los Angeles markets, and Sennott said HomeGift has a similar arrangement with WGBH, the public broadcasting station in Boston, and its WGBH Realty Perks Program.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
