Do you still have a few more questions about Sawbuck? Read our FAQs about buying or selling a home with Sawbuck. If we still haven’t answered all of your questions, feel free to call, email or chat live with a Sawbuck Advisor.
What is Sawbuck?
What is a Sawbuck and why did you pick that name?
What is a Sawbuck Advisor?
What areas does Sawbuck cover?
When and where is Sawbuck going to expand?
How do I use Sawbuck to find a home?
I’m in the market to buy a home, at what point do I contact Sawbuck?
I’m in the market to sell a home, at what point do I contact Sawbuck?
Who is my agent?
How is Sawbuck different from traditional real estate Web sites?
How is Sawbuck different from other new real estate Web sites?
What is the Multiple Listings Service (MLS)?
How does Sawbuck make money?
What does Sawbuck do with its money?
What is the $1,000 Mortgage Guarantee?
What happens to my name and information once I register with Sawbuck?
What if I’ve forgotten my Sawbuck password?
How do I unsubscribe from Sawbuck listing updates?
What is Sawbuck?
Sawbuck is a licensed real estate broker. But we’re a little different from most other real estate companies—our Sawbuck advisors are employees who consult with buyers and sellers by phone, email or live chat during the early stages of the home buying or selling process. Once you are ready to see properties or list a house, we connect you with an experienced local agent. Sawbuck coordinates our unique Sawbuck savings programs and remains involved to make sure everything goes smoothly, right through closing.
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What is a “Sawbuck” and Why Did You Pick That Name?
A “sawbuck” has two connected meanings. Originally, it was an “X”-shaped sawhorse used by pioneers to hold wood as it was sawed into boards for homebuilding. Subsequently, it became common slang for a 10-dollar bill, because the prominent roman numeral “X” reminded people of the sawhorses (a 20-dollar bill—XX—is a “double sawbuck”). We liked the name because it combined the idea of homes (as in building them) with the idea of money (as in saving yours). Plus, it’s fun to say.
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What is a Sawbuck Advisor?
A Sawbuck Advisor is an in-house real estate agent and a full-time employee of Sawbuck. Once you are serious about buying or selling a home, your next step is to contact our advisors to begin the process. Our advisors are available by phone, email or live chat to help you with any aspect of your home buying or selling process.
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What Areas Does Sawbuck Cover?
Currently, our property database includes listings (and recent sales) for Maryland, the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia, Eastern West Virginia, Southern Pennsylvania, most of Southern California, including San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro Area and the Chicago Metro Area. Throughout 2009, we will be expanding to include other areas.
If you are a buyer outside of those areas who would like to take advantage of our Sawbuck Savings Guarantee and top local partner agent services—and can forego our cool search tools for now—call us. We can work with buyers from any state in the U.S.—saving you money and connecting you with a top local agent.
If you are a seller outside of those areas who would like to take advantage of our Sawbuck Seller Savings, call us. We can work with sellers from any state in the U.S.
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When and Where is Sawbuck Going to Expand?
We are continuously expanding to new markets. Learn more...
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I’m in the Market to Buy a Home, at What Point Do I Contact Sawbuck?
The best time to contact us is when you switch from “just browsing” to “seriously looking” for a new home. We can help you come up with a financing strategy, help organize your search and show you how to make maximum use of our online tools. We'll tell you more about our Sawbuck Savings Guarantee and make sure you know exactly how much house you can afford. We can also walk you through the whole buying process so you know just what to expect.
At a minimum, you should call when you want to start touring homes. Instantly, we’ll put you in touch with the top partner agent in your target community. They’ll escort you to all the homes you want to see and give you their local insight on the area and neighborhood.
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I’m in the Market to Sell a Home, at What Point Do I Contact Sawbuck?
The best time to contact us is when you are seriously considering selling your home. We’ll connect you with a top local listing agent to begin the home selling process. The agent will prepare and list your home on the MLS, market your home locally, market your home online and work closely with you to drive the best possible deal by handling the negotiations and contract. The agent will also deal with inspections and any contingencies, and see your sale through to closing. A Sawbuck Advisor will be available to answer your questions and help at every step in the process and make sure you receive back 20% of the listing agent’s commission at closing.
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Who is My Agent?
Once you are ready to see properties or sell a property, Sawbuck Advisors will connect you with a top local buyer’s or seller’s agent, respectively, who knows your area. We specifically recruit only the best agents and teams, without regard for the company they represent. Some are from the largest area brokers; others are from smaller companies that focus on a specific town or community.
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How is Sawbuck Different from Traditional Real Estate Companies?
The most obvious difference is that Sawbuck doesn’t have traditional offices or agents. We don’t try to hire agents, good or bad, in every city, town and village. Instead, we recognize that great agents and teams exist almost everywhere. But their voices are drowned out by the din of 1,000 other less-good agents competing for business. We identify and vet these top agents and make them our partners. We then refer our customers to them, knowing they will be working with the very best.
The most important difference is that we don’t try to milk as much money as possible from you. We try to save you as much money as possible. Instead of having in-house mortgage and settlement companies which charge inflated rates and fees in an attempt to make more money from you, we partner with industry leaders such as Bank of America and First American and negotiate better deals for our customers. We guarantee that our buyers will have the lowest mortgage rate and closing costs in the marketplace and our sellers get back 20% of the listing agent’s commission at closing.
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How is Sawbuck Different from Other New Real Estate Web Sites?
A lot of people are trying to figure out how to use the power of the Internet to do real estate differently; hence several different business models have been created. Here are a few:
- Commission Rebate Model: These companies are licensed real estate brokers and members of the local MLS (multiple listing service). They have a small number of agents who operate out of a central office and deal with buyer clients on the phone and by email (might only have one or two agents for an entire metro area). Their primary attraction is that they rebate a portion of their buyer’s agent commission to the buyer, either at or after closing.
- Pros: Rebate a portion of the commission to the buyer.
- Cons: Less-experienced agents in a central location don’t know the local market, homes and other agents. Lower level of service for buyers (limited or no home tours, might never meet the agent, less personalized advice and counsel). Sellers (and their agents) might not take offers from these agents seriously.
- Sawbuck Difference: Sawbuck gives buyers comparable financial benefits— including thousands in up-front savings and six figures over 30 years—while giving buyers access to the best buyer’s agents in their community. These top local agents have insight whereas a central, office-bound agent doesn’t. They can help buyers get a better deal and their local reputation means their offers are always taken seriously.
- Alternate-MLS Model: These companies are not licensed real estate brokers and don’t have MLS data. Instead, they aggregate data from many other sources, including tax records, assessments and listing data from select real estate brokers. They are supported by advertising, often from agents and mortgage companies trying to get business.
- Pros: Often interesting information; no commitment required to use their site.
- Cons: Can’t show you all the available listings because they don’t have a connection to the live MLS. Agents they would connect you to (their advertisers) tend to be less experienced. Have very limited information on recent sales (comps), often delayed weeks or months until the transfer is recorded in the county/city land records.
- Sawbuck Difference: Sawbuck is a licensed real estate broker and member of the MLS. Buyers can see details on every property—listings, contracts and sales—in real-time on our site. We don’t accept advertising. Sawbuck saves buyers thousands of dollars and connects them with only the best buyer’s agents.
- Referral Model: These companies are licensed brokers who make money by referring buyers to local agents. The agent pays a referral fee to the company upon closing. Agents often pay, bid or compete to get the available leads. Sometimes they include a minor incentive for buyers to go through their system (Home Depot gift card, free furniture, etc.).
- Pros: Buyers get the incentive (free furniture!).
- Cons: The agents they refer to are often sub-par—the best agents don’t want to pay a referral fee to a company that is doing so little work. The incentives are often pretty weak—little reason for buyers to work with a low-end agent.
- Sawbuck Difference: Sawbuck does refer buyers to local agents, but we don’t let them pay or bid to become our partner. Instead, we actively recruit only the best agents and teams for their proven track record. They are willing to partner with us because we do so much of the work (search tools, buyer consultation, mortgage, settlement, etc.). And rather than a gift card, we offer buyers substantial savings—both up-front and for as long as they own their home.
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What is the Multiple Listings Service (MLS)?
MLS stands for Multiple Listing Service. It is a generic name for the database of property listings created and maintained collectively by real estate brokers (companies) serving a particular area. There are hundreds of different MLSs around the country. In our home area, Washington, D.C., the MLS is called MRIS. It covers all of Maryland, the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia, and parts of West Virginia and Southern Pennsylvania. In fact, it’s the largest MLS in the country.
Agents create an entry in the MLS database when they list a property for sale. That entry includes hundreds of pieces of information about the property and the listing. Much of this information is available to buyers (address, description, list price, pictures, etc.); some is only visible to other brokers or agents (like lockbox codes or owners’ phone numbers). These entries are updated as the selling process goes along. When something changes, the listing agent updates the entry in the MLS database—price changes, open house dates, new pictures, etc. When the property goes under contract, the listing agent updates the listing’s status in the database to indicate to other agents that it is no longer available.
Once the sale closes, the listing agent makes one final update to the listing to show the sale date, sale price and buyer’s agent. This historical data is then very useful for the real estate community (brokers, agents, appraisers, etc.) because it tracks (nearly) all residential real estate sales in close to real-time. Eventually, these sales make it to tax records, but it can take months before they appear there, and the amount of data about the home that sold is a fraction of what was in the MLS listing.
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How Does Sawbuck Make Money?
Sawbuck receives an industry-standard referral fee equal to 30% of the commission our partner agent receives for closing a successful real estate transaction with one of our referrals. Our partner agents are more than happy to share their commission with Sawbuck for two main reasons: 1) they get a client without wasting time and money on the networking and marketing normally required to get business; and 2) Sawbuck is doing a significant portion of their usual work, including early consultation, providing listing and comparable sale information, managing the mortgage process and overseeing the settlement process.
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What Does Sawbuck Do With Its Money?
Sawbuck built and maintains a live copy of the MLS database. We create, maintain, improve and support a set of industry-leading search tools for our customers. We consult with customers by phone, email and live chat throughout the buying and selling process. We coordinate both the mortgage and settlement processes. We subsidize customers’ transactions with our own money so they get the guaranteed lowest mortgage rate and closing costs. We negotiate with settlement providers to get reduced fees for our customers. We stay in touch with buyers, sellers and their agents through the contract, inspection and contingencies—all the way to closing. We give back 20% of the listing agent’s commission to our sellers at closing.
Our overriding goal is to give customers as much value as possible for our small portion of the real estate commission.
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What is the $1,000 Sawbuck Savings Guarantee?
The $1,000 Sawbuck Savings Guarantee program is offered
only to customers working with a Sawbuck real estate agent partner. Under the program,
if the customer finds a better combination of mortgage rate, points and closing
costs than is being offered by Sawbuck’s recommended lender and settlement providers,
which may also include a subsidy from Sawbuck Realty, then the customer will receive
$1000 from Sawbuck after closing. To be eligible, the competing loan product and
terms must be identical and the rate must be locked on the same day the customer
receives a quote from Sawbuck’s mortgage partner. The customer must supply a Good
Faith Estimate (GFE) from the competing lender plus the HUD-1 settlement statement
and final mortgage note to receive the $1000. Please note that this guarantee is
from Sawbuck Realty and not from its mortgage and settlement partners; also, this
guarantee is only available where allowed by law.
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What Happens to My Name and Information Once I Register With Sawbuck?
Absolutely nothing. Sawbuck offers registration only to support personalization of our site, not as a lead-generation. Sawbuck does not send registrants solicitations from Sawbuck or its partners and it does not share registrant details with any third parties.
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What If I’ve Forgotten My Sawbuck Password?
Don’t worry, simply click the “Forgot my password” link under the sign in page. Then you will be asked to enter your email address. Our site will send you an email with a link. Click the link and you will be taken to a page that lets you enter a new password. You should be all set after that. Contact us if you have any issues.
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How Do I Unsubscribe From Sawbuck Listing Updates?
To unsubscribe from Sawbuck listings updates, either click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the notification email or follow these steps:
- Log in to your Sawbuck account
- Click “My Account” in the upper right hand corner
- Uncheck the box labeled “Email Alerts On” under your account information
Contact us if you have any issues.
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