Aalto's Self-Service Real Estate Platform versus Traditional Real Estate: Home Selling 101

How is selling on Aalto different from traditional real estate?

Dear Homeowner,

We built Aalto for people like you who have been looking for a better way to sell their home — one that’s easy, efficient, and enjoyable. Aalto's way of selling is in sharp contrast to the industry-standard high fees, rigid sales process, and opaque communication experience.

On Aalto's self-service real estate platform, you can explore your sale and test the market without commitment. This allows you to make the best decision for your home, family, and finances.

Below, we outline a few of the ways that Aalto is different (and in our opinion, better) than the traditional way to sell your home.

Aalto's Self-Service Platform: An Overview for Sellers

Aalto simplifies the entire real estate process by connecting homeowners directly with potential buyers. We're on a mission to make buying and selling real estate less daunting by shifting the balance of power away from industry insiders and toward consumers. We listened to the problems that homeowners experienced in their past real estate transactions and heard their fears when it came to selling again. This led to the key differences you’ll find between Aalto and traditional real estate. We've created tools and a marketplace with the homeowner at the center, enabling you to sell your home like never before.

Test the waters with no risk

Aalto: Aalto lets you explore your sale by putting your home on the Aalto marketplace with no contract or commitment. With the combination of the marketplace, the Aalto Insights tab, and advice from your licensed advisor, you're able to explore a sale like never before. This allows you to understand the market for your home and make the best decision before you commit. Add to that Aalto features like no days-on-market or logged pricing history, and you can explore your sale without creating a record.

‍Traditional: Traditional real estate can be an all or nothing commitment when it comes to your sale. From signing a contract with an agent (typically 6-12 months) to posting your home to the public, it is impossible to test the market without a downside.

No expensive fees

Aalto: Aalto charges only 1% sell-side transaction fee, paid at closing. We believe that you should be able to maximize the profit from your sale. Thanks to the efficiencies from our technology and marketplace, we're able to dramatically reduce fees for homeowners.

• For the buy-side: When buyers come with broker representation, those brokers request a fee. You’ll have a chance to approve or negotiate. If a buyer is represented by Aalto, your fee remains just 1% total.
• On average, homeowners save up to 80% in fees compared to the traditional model.
  

Traditional: Traditional commission and fees paid to brokers are 5%-6%+ of your home sale price.

Full-time, local, licensed help

Aalto: Aalto advisors are licensed, full-time employees, not contractors. Aalto advisors are not fighting for commissions and therefore support your best interests, even if it means advising against selling your home at this time.

Traditional: The pressure of high commission fees and brokerage splits is part of the traditional sales process that supports a brokerage being able to run a business. Traditional agents receive no income unless they sell a home. This structure is incredibly misaligned with the best interests of a seller. While there are many well-intended and talented real estate professionals in the traditional model, it is in the best interest of an agent to sell your home quickly and at a high fee. Oftentimes, this does not align with your financial needs or your timeline.

Direct buyer connections

Aalto: Aalto lets you directly connect with potential buyers, streamlining communication and enabling both parties to determine what works best for them. On Aalto, you can directly communicate with buyers when they ask questions about your home, request more info, schedule a tour, and more. This allows you to tell the full story of your home to prospective buyers. 

‍Traditional: The lack of direct connection or communication in traditional real estate hinders both sides of the transaction, creating unnecessary layers of complexity and ultimately causing you a headache. We constantly hear sellers telling us they feel stuck in a game of telephone with their agent, “why can’t I just talk to the buyer?” being the common plea. With Aalto, we’ve made this streamlined direct connection possible.

Start on Aalto, sell anywhere

Aalto: Aalto allows you to start on the Aalto marketplace, testing the market and gaining valuable insight for your sale. While many sellers complete their sale on Aalto, some choose to list their home on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) with us distributing it to Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com, etc. This can bring your sale more eyeballs and is very easy to do with the help of your advisor. And if you do choose to list on the MLS with Aalto, your selling fee is still just 1%.

Traditional: The MLS is the main place that agents list homes for sale, without the advantage of a flexible marketplace like Aalto. This can create the all-or-nothing scenarios we've outlined above, with penalties like days on market, logged pricing history, expensive fees, and more.

Flexible selling options

Aalto: As you know, flexibility is paramount in a real estate transaction. On Aalto, you can sell when you want to and on the terms that work best for you. This allows for complete control and peace of mind throughout your selling process. Aalto’s flexible structure is perfect for your complex selling situations, such as needing to find a replacement property, or needing a rent-back period to facilitate your move. Aalto facilitates these unique situations by giving you and a qualified buyer the ability to match your respective timelines and communicate directly throughout the sales process.  

Traditional: The traditional model is static and doesn’t leave room for flexibility. The result? More stress, potentially poor market timing, days on market ticking by while you panic to try and find a buyer, and no turning back once you have put your home on the MLS. The confined selling process of traditional real estate prevents you from reaching different buyers in the market at different times.

Transparent buyer insights 

Aalto: On Aalto, you have insights into a buyer’s needs, questions, and timing on an on-going basis. When you see the market dynamics change, you can make a well-informed decision about your timeline, like what price to list your home and when to open up to tours. When you post your home on Aalto, you receive detailed market analytics specific to your home and your current buyer pool. You can tap into each buyer who has taken an action on your home, communicate with them directly, ask them to tour your home, and more.

Traditional: Buyer analytics are nonexistent in traditional real estate. Insights are dependent on buyers reaching out to agents to express interest and data is compiled on a trailing monthly average. Then, it’s up to your agent to determine what information is pertinent (in their opinion) and relay that select information to you.

Putting it all together

Aalto provides you flexibility and control throughout your entire home selling process. Our first-of-its-kind self-service platform is built to prioritize you, the homeowner, and help you make the best decision possible by providing full transparency at every step. By partnering with our trusted licensed advisors, you have access to clear and direct communication, coupled with expert guidance and support throughout your entire transaction. 

And of course, with our low selling fees, you'll save thousands (up to 80% vs traditional) when you choose Aalto.

Thinking about selling your home? Explore your home sale with us here with no cost, commitment, or risk. Aalto is the only app that can replace your agent. Welcome to the future of real estate, available today.

‍

Nick Narodny

Founder & CEO, Aalto