Our Story

I  started off by offering a flat rate listing service. This service charged a flat rate on the listing side, but still offered the typical 3% commission to the buyer’s agent.

But, as hard as I tried, the marketing always felt deceitful.

“$3000 flat rate listings!* ”         * (+buyer’s agent commission)

We also tried lowering the rate we paid out to the buyer’s agents, but the agents looking at the MLS are used to receiving 3%, and they feel like they are getting a pay cut when you offer less than 3%, and nobody likes getting a pay cut.

So I realized that the problem was: expectations.

We had to create a system where people knew what they would be paid to do a job before they started, and they could choose to participate if they wanted to. Every listing pays the same amount. Not every agent will participate.

What I found that is most buyer’s are more interested in finding a property they loved, not committed to working with a particular agent. This means they will seek out the agent that will represent them once they find a property they want. If their preferred agent agrees to the commission being offered by the seller’s on our platform, great. If not, we have agents lined up who are willing and able to represent them.

Once we got all the kinks worked out, I loved it. And that’s how I knew other people would love it. I had been looking for a business model I could truly be proud of, and since I couldn’t find it, I had to create it myself.

We refuse to call our service a discount, since that implies a normal price of which we are discounting. There is no such thing.  We offer fair service, transparent prices, and honest agents. That’s it.

-Patrick Kaiser
Founder of Just 3K