Launch HN: Modern Realty (YC S24) – AI Real Estate Agent for Home Buyers

- We are currently using a 3rd party showing service which has people come and literally open doors.

- Yes we are offering representation agreements to help people tour in light of the NAR suit.

- We will solve the blacklist problem when we get to that size. Not going to start running before catching the ball.

- Incumbents like Zillow have agents as their primary customer, they wouldn't put out their main customer. Redfin's model is to have the human agent at the heart of their product, it would have to be completely remade if the customer was using the interface.

- Liens are analyzed using our disclosure summary tool. Solar loans are often liens, so same applies. Inspections are a disclosure. Contingencies fall into 5 buckets which are fairly standard of inspection/mortgage/insurance/title/appraisal. Negotiations are usually done over text message or email.

Just thinking about a few transactions that come to mind...

1) We've got a feud over two trees and had to call in an arborist and a structural engineer.

2) I've got an orchard with a ROFR and a big city lawyer on the other side of the deal, on a property with a disused fuel tank and questions about former pesticide use.

3) A house where the deal only got done because the other agent and I each threw in 1% of our commission to bring the two sides together.

4) A ranch property where there are water rights that need to be cured and where the tenant is telling lies to prospective buyers and need to be evicted.

5) A neighbor who keeps suing people to stop a bridge from being replaced because he wants to force them to sell their properties and doesn't want anyone accessing their properties.

6) A lodge building zoned residential but that has been used for commercial purposes for decades that has a seasonal spring (yes water) that pops up in the basement.

7) A cute craftsman home with an oil tank buried in the backyard.

8) The seller tore out the carpet when they exited 4 days post-closing and left a giant pile of garbage in the driveway.

I'm just throwing out some example transactions here to demonstrate two points:

A) When people make comments about "normal" real estate transactions or why Realtors aren't needed, to me it signals they know jack shit about real estate. If I get one deal a year that is "easy" I consider it very lucky. I do not see how we automate away all of the crazy things that humans do to their properties.

B) At 3% my services are cheap. In the two states where I do business, I'm held to the same standard of practice as a lawyer, plus I'm a marketer, a home stager, a photo / video / drone expert, a land use and water rights expert, an economist, and half a dozen other things in order to provide a professional level of service to my clients. Only to be constantly told I'm just a useless cog who will soon be replaced. Well, good luck to y'all, have fun suing each other.

You are kinda leaning into an observation I've made as a Realtor... whether I should go get a law degree. In many states, the real estate agent really is just a marketing person, and once it's time for a contract the lawyer gets involved. In those cases, the challenge I see is that lawyers are not real estate people - it has been my experience that they know nothing of zoning, land use, water rights, fencing, schools, soils, construction, and the myriad of things I'm expected to know about or find resources for my clients about.

on the other hand, when I look at the risks to my business and the ever-increasing regulatory environment, it sure looks to me like the future belongs to lawyers. Better to get a law degree and then become an expert in real estate than be a real estate expert beholden to whatever the lawyers are making us do now.